Day 14: Short Story Marathon

Summary

I had trouble sleeping last night and had this whisper of an idea that felt like it would be interesting and short. By the time I got up, my mind was derailed by worries about cultural appropriation and I had no idea what to write. So, I took a few minutes and found an equivalent mythic figure in my own cultural background and just started writing. This one flowed nice and easy and is a fun little story tentatively entitled “A Unexpected Guest” (pretty sure this title won’t last).

Made another pass through “A Long, Hard Fall,” put in a touch of foreshadowing, fixed a character issue, and kicked it out the door. Got to let go and move on. AT 8,500 words it’s waaaaay to long for this challenge, and my longest story yet for this. The streak is alive, though, 5 stories sent in the last 5 days.

Heard back from Dean on story #3, “The Disappearing Neighborhood.” He liked this one too. He’s about a week behind getting feedback to me, which I am really liking. At the rate I’m working, I’m well past the story in a week, and I think that helps with perspective.

And the proper response to his feedback, either good or bad, is: keep writing.

Stats for Today

Strategies Employed: Just write.

Lessons Learned: Shut up and write!!!

Words Written: 3,100

Hours: 3

Stories Sent to Dean: 1

Stats for Week #2

Roundup for the second week:

Total Words Written: 26,500
Total Hours Writing: 28.5
Average Words/Day: 3,750
Average Hours/Day: 4
Stories Sent: 5
Total Words Sent: 25,000
Average Words/Story: 4,600

Stories are still too long on average, but I’ve gained some ground this week. I’ve got family visit and a road trip in early July, so want to keep ahead for then when writing will slow.

Key Lesson of the Week: Have Fun and Just Write! Get out of your head and JUST WRITE.

If you care to catch up on the week, here are the links: Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13.

Story Summary