Sobriquet 51.4

All right. So, I started outlining the Disgrace chapter this evening. Since it involved actually typing and arranging words thoughtfully on the page, I have decided to say I have begun the chapter. I haven't necessarily begun writing it, maybe, but it is undoubtedly underway.

Finally.

After, like, six months or something equally insane.

At any rate, I had a brief meeting with my advisor this afternoon and, it seems, she thinks that my general approach to this behemoth of a chapter is a reasonable one so, with more anxiety than I would care to admit, I sat down at my computer a few hours ago, strained to remember as much of what I told her as I could, and begun shaping the course of the chapter-to-be.

And, boy, was it a nerve-wracking experience. Since it's been a half-year or so since I last wrote anything, I suspect it will take me a bit longer to work myself into the sort of writing-rhythm I'd had by the time I finished the seemingly endless chapter on The Master of Petersburg in April or May of last year. So, basically, I had to turn the key a few times for the ignition to catch but, eventually, I sputtered my way into producing a few pages of an outline.

So, yeah. There're still some hurdles left to clear, memories to dust off, notes to consult, but the trip has begun. Again. Still, when you've been off the road for a while, it's kinda exciting to pull back onto the great concrete expanse, look in the rearview mirror at the distance you've come, and forward to a road sign on which, for the first time, the milage separating you from your destination is displayed, even if the number is pretty big.

For tomorrow: Read some of Elizabeth Costello or work on the outline some more.