Quilted writing

I've been reading Claire Potter's posts about writing in chunks, a method that makes a lot of sense. The manuscript I'm working on finishing is complete in some ways but has gaps with placeholders like "write up  review of criticism on this" or "expand on this reading" or "write about this one work." These are all texts I've read, so it's more a matter of "reread and write" than doing something entirely new.

When I open up the chapters, filling in the gaps seems overwhelming.  But if I think of this as a quilt where I need to finish just one square a day, maybe it'll be easier.  Needlework isn't my forte at all--I recently hemmed some gray pants with light blue thread because it was the only kind in the house--but I can visualize a quilt even if I can't make one.

The same holds true for the chapters.  When I look at them in Word, or even in print, I throw up my hands and am afraid to start.  But if I put them in Scrivener, where it's easy to see the tiny pieces separately, that works. That's not unnerving.

One quilt square a day, one patch of writing a day.  Surely I can do this.