Meg Dowell Writes

Believe it or not, I actually accomplished something yesterday.

I’m not sure what suddenly motivated me to work on my book, after letting it sit for two straight weeks without being touched, but I did. I have 3,000 words left (2,600, to be exact) before I reach my goal of 61,000 words, and I have seventeen more hours until JulNoWriMo comes to a close. Whether or not I can do it isn’t the question here. The question is how long it’s going to take me to do it. Will I do it all this morning, or spread out the work throughout the day? I guess we’ll see.

You know, it’s just like me to procrastinate like this. I’m a big procrastinator. With the exception of one personal narriative, I did all of my pre-AP English papers the night before they were due and got A’s and B’s on most of them. (There were one or two C’s, but that’s just how life rolls sometimes.) I didn’t think I would wait all the way until July 31st to reach my writing goal, but I did. There is something about pressing deadlines, though: they make you work extra hard when you have to.

As for the books sitting on my bookshelf that I should be reading, they’re still there. I kind of took this week off of life, just chilling and losing to my brother at Monopoly and all that. (I did win once yesterday, but when we played PayDay, I learned that I’m a terrible investor and that I save too much money and don’t take enough risks. Go figure.) It’s kind of been nice just watching the first of my three weeks of freedom slide by. Maybe I’ll do it again next week and save all the reading for the last week-and-a-half. What do you think?

I’m finally breaking my hermit streak tomorrow, when I’ll leave the house for the first time since Tuesday morning when I left Katie’s after the Operation. I got invited to a graduation party, which is really exciting! I haven’t been to any sort of party since…a long time ago. (And no, you cannot put Operations in the “party” category. How many times do I have to tell you? They’re Ultra-super-slumber parties!) It’ll be nice to see some friends and pretend like I actually have a life.

I’m in the middle of reading this bookright now, and I have to say that it isn’t that bad. I got it for my birthday, and I honestly wasn’t sure if I would like it. I’d never heard of the author, and it’s hard to predict how a book’s going to be if you’ve never heard of the author. I feel really terrible about saying that—that I’ve never heard of her—because that must be really suckish to be an author and have someone never have heard of you, but I hadn’t. Anyway, once I got past the colorful language she occasionally uses, I fell in love with the story. I was stupid enough to read the summary on the back, so I knew the “big surprise” that was going to happen to Indigo, but it’s still a good read so far. You’d think they’d write better back-cover summaries. I can’t even read them anymore because they give so much away.

Let’s all give snaps and claps for Evie this morning, who’s finally going to the DMV to get her licence! This is really exciting for me because it means I’ll have two friends to drive me around instead of just one. (No, I don’t have a lisence, or a car, and am still dependant on my buddies with licences and cars to shuttle me around, but that’s not the point.) Driving is so overrated. I mean, people pretend they know how to drive during their test, following all the rules and what-not, but then, as soon as they get their licences, they do whatever they want. Stupid drivers are dangerous and really annoying when you’re trying to be the good driver on the road. That’ll be Evie, the “good driver.”

My mom thinks they need different roads for different kinds of drivers, all sort of stacked on top of one another: one for slow drivers, one for people who don’t know how to drive, and swervethrough lanes and such, and one for good drivers, who follow the rules and have earned the “A-Road.” I would totally vote for that bill to be passed. Too many people die in car crashes because of stupid drivers. Not ignorant drivers. Stupid ones.

I’m really psyched that I finally have motivation to work on my book! You should be psyched that I won’t be talking about it much longer.

Have an amazing Friday, and remember: all roads lead somewhere. You think.

Love&hugs, Meg♥