Two full days left (counting today) of the residency, and everyone is freaking out. We have either met our goals and deadlines and never want to leave or we’re losing our shit because we haven’t gotten enough done—why have we wasted all of our time?—and never want to leave.
I had no concrete goals when I came here, I just wanted to work very hard at finishing the Fucker. I wanted to do the kind of work that I can’t fit between editorial jobs and second job at [college redacted].
I have spent a good portion of my time here cutting and pasting. This sounds like nothing when I write it down. But I’m querying each chapter: Who are you and what are you doing? I’m trimming the shit that doesn’t belong. I’m taking beloved paragraphs and jamming them into places that I think they will fit. They don’t. So I pick them up again, as if they were delicate china, and place them somewhere else.
I think I’ve done what I came here to do. For the first time in the three-ish years I’ve been working on this project, I am a few days of hard editing from having a few sample chapters and a detailed outline. Let me say that again because it sounds all professional-like: Sample chapters and a detailed outline.
Where are you?
Fangs and Clause 
I feel like I went on a writing retreat with you. I doubt I got as much done, but I’ve been home alone (for the most part) and have worked hard every single day on The Fucker. I continue to wake up every morning excited to work on The Fucker again. Thank you for inspiring me.
“How far have you come?”
I have come full circle and have gone all the way back to the beginning.
Your dedication to the project got me to do a final rewrite of my first novel, which I am not yet ready to ‘drawer’. Like I told someone lately, of whom I am seeking help, I am not yet ready to put the old broad to rest without a new-do and proper make-up.
It’s like I’m visiting a friend I haven’t seen in ages and we’re picking up like we’ve never been apart.
To repeat Teri, “Thank you for inspiring me.”
Thanks for coming along, I am glad you are here and super-glad that you are working/writing/revisiting. Now get the fuck off the Internet and write/revise!
Still home, still inching along. I’m glad your time has been productive. Bring it on home, sister.
Yes, ma’am.
Sample chapters and an outline? Congratulations, and what a change from yesterday’s stress. Keep going! Also, I wouldn’t hate reading some of that stuff you’ve been working on…. let me know when I should check my e-mail 😉
Be careful of what you offer or I’ll send you the whole damn thing.
Right now, I’m trying to keep my research from taking over the actual writing of this thing . . .