Writing Update

I said I was going to make myself write, and I've really been doing it. I have about 5600 words - 10% of the way to an acceptable novel length! Woot! And I'm trying to look at the positives too, aren't you proud of me? 10% finished rather than 90% left to go. For some reason, the story that I have now is just flowing out of me like crazy. In fact, I've written a lot of it by hand and typed it up later after I got to a computer. I'm not ready to reveal any information, because the story is not cohesive at all yet. But I have a lot of it sort of mapped out in my head. I just have to get everything in the right order. Right now, the story consists of several vignettes that I will weave together once I get the main plot points written up. They say to write what you know, and I guess there's a part of me in each of my protagonists, but I think this time is a little different. My protagonist is female, but she's married, eventually with children, and she is all about being a housewife. I mean, she loves it. Probably part of me wants those things, but that life isn't what I know at all, so that's a step in the right direction, I think. Most of the time, my "heroines" are post-college moaners, but I feel like this time I've moved on to a character with a real problem, rather than one that goes through life all "woe is me" all the time.

I have trouble with linear thinking, so that's why I've ended up just working up the story in chunks. It allows me to get to the issues, and then I can add in the filler (description of appearances, locations, that sort of thing) later. Plus, that makes it easier when it comes time to decide if I'm having a straight beginning to end story, or if I want to work in flashbacks, or if it's going to be a story with the end as the beginning, and then going back and building up the backstory.

I know I'm not the kind of writer that's going to end up with a Pulitzer some day, but if I can churn out one decent story that people want to read, that would make me really happy.