A Small Thought on Process

Writing is coming pretty furiously lately. I have so many notes right now I feel as if I am writing to keep up with the trajectory of the work. I have notes for at least another 4 or 5 chapters of the Little Lolo project. And they seem so clear to me–scary because I hate to lose that feeling of ease in drafting/free writing the chapters. But I feel like I know where the story is going–and I will write them here so I do not forget–but I feel I know that the foster kids need their own chapter as they come and go from the family; also the Metedio trip to dog track and trip to the Mexican Drive In needs to be resolved; I also feel that Metedio will go to jail like the real Tio and the family will visit him in Canyon City–probably for petty theft; I also know that the Abuelita will become pregnant with another kid and also that Relles and Lolo get into it over work and chores; Lolo will push Relles of the roof while playing and fracture his skull.

I know these things because I have them down in my notes and I can fully explore them while I free write. I seem to allow myself to fail in more powerful ways since I started this weblog and force myself to write everyday. Along with rough work and failing, I also seem to find some gems or real powerful threads to the narrative. Allowed me to find little Lolo from the pictures I have and also has allowed me to find Metedio and the fosters.

What I am worried about though is the ending notes of the Cornbread project–I feel as if that one will take quite a while to resolve.

In that project I feel later scenes from the time line of Cornbread’s and Manito’s life–more up to date experience. I also need to rewrite or continue to work on the material I have with Lolo and Manito. Hopefully I will have a breakthrough on that project the way the research about the real Cornbread Baca gave me insight into that project–helped me to find Bea and also to find Rudy and Rosalie.

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john paul jaramillo

John Paul Jaramillo’s debut story collection The House of Order was named a 2013 Int’l Latino Book Award Finalist, and his most recent work Little Mocos is now available from Twelve Winters Press. In 2013 Latino Boom: An Anthology of U.S. Latino Literature listed Jaramillo as one of its Top 10 New Latino Authors to Watch and Read. He is currently a professor of composition and literature at Lincoln Land College-Springfield, Illinois.

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