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11/1/2017

Wrote for an Extended Block of Time.  Experiencing Joy.

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“I'll quit procrastinating in the form of research, outlines, synopses, taking classes, reading how-to books, talking about writing, and actually write something.”
                                                          J.A. Konrath Advice for Newbs
PictureMy amazing daughter, Simona. Don't let that sweet face fool you. She is a harsh task master.
Finally!  I got to write, and also really think about the plot of The Harvest.  There is always some obstacle to actually writing (like my son staying home from school this morning, and my husband not getting up until 10a.m.), but I managed to write despite my daughter being right next to me bossing me around to grab random objects.  Somewhere in the back of my mind I remember that Dickens managed to write in tight quarters despite his brood of children.

This morning, I actually got to the end of the novel, which is getting close to 100 pages, and I decided to add a spin to the plot.  I am reviving some of the old ideas I had when I first started the piece years ago.  To move forward, I am about to start writing in Alan’s point of view and rehash one of the old plot lines. 

I am hoping I don’t hit a wall this time.  I have blogged about this disaster before, but I literally hit a writer’s block when I originally wrote this piece, and Alan, the main characters, got to the edge of the city with nowhere to go.  I think that plot was too dystopian and hopeless.  Yeah, it was really depressing.  The hero reached a vast desert wasteland with nowhere to go.  I killed the plot, but that won’t happen this time because hope should always be central to this genre.

Yet, hope is not the same thing as a happy ending, but there will definitely be hope at the end of this novel. 

(Revised) Weekly Writing Goal:  My writing goal this week is to write at least one hour a day, not just make corrections, between work breaks.  The goal of writing at night almost worked, but I got caught up watching Netflix and lost track of time, and then when I was going to start writing, my daughter wanted to nurse.  I can’t hand peck.  Instead, I went to bed at 11p.m. after the upstairs neighbor stopped with his late night home improvement projects, so I could have energy this morning.  That worked, more or less.

Well, I am off to trudge through my creative writing syllabus and read, read, read.  Daddy is awake now, and my Pamper Mistress is entertained.  

Here's to overcoming our writing obstacles and getting back on track. 


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    Dr. Jesú Estrada,
    Pen Name: 
    María J. Estrada
    Chicago, IL

    You can also follow me on Twitter @drmariajestrada. I give away a book to celebrate every 1,000 followers.

    Subscribe to my YouTube channel, Radical Books and Politics, where I gift original work to my subscribers, every 50 to 100 subscribers. 

    *********************
    MARIA J. ESTRADA is an English college professor of Composition, Literature, and her favorite, Creative Writing. She grew up in the desert outside of Yuma, Arizona in the real Barrio de Los Locos, a barrio comprised of new Mexican immigrants and first-generation Chicanos. Drawing from this setting and experiences, she writes like a loca every minute she can—all while magically balancing her work and family obligations. She lives in Chicago’s south side with her wonderfully supportive husband, two remarkable children, and two mischievous cats.

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  • Home
  • Mi Biografía
  • Books
  • Un Blog de Writing Musings
  • Author Interviews
    • Eric Allen Yankee
    • Mehreen Ahmed
    • Steve Carr
    • Martin Eastland
    • P.S. Malcolm
    • P.C. Darkcliff
  • Announcements
  • The Harvested Draft
  • Poetry
  • Barrio Blues Press
  • Useful Bits
  • Contact