Writer
Well, we are at the end of a year of Stories I Love. It was a worthwhile experiment for me. I read 367 stories, most of them very good, many of them astoundingly good, and I learned a lot about what impresses me as a reader and what kind of writer I want to be. All of these stories that I read, an editor paid for. That means they loved them. And what is clear …
I’m discovering something interesting about the stories I love. There are a few common qualities: Immersive. Beautiful language is nice, but what I want is a story that pulls me in and takes me somewhere else. Strong ending. I need some plot. I need things to happen. And I need that to resolve in some way at the end. I’ve read lots of stories that are gorgeously written but spend all their words on description …
I was lucky enough this year to attend the Austin Film Festival, which is about film, but is focused on writers. I went to four days of an amazing conference listening to and meeting some successful screen writers and podcasters. It’s a different world, but it’s still storytelling and I learned a lot I bring it up because I really wanted to hit the story-a-day goal this month and knew I wouldn’t have time while …
Well, September was not like last month, I actually got some short stories read, but not up to the old pace. Earlier in the challenge I worked well ahead of that one story per day pace, but with August off and September at half speed, I’ve really got to step it up. Streaks have power (like when I never missed a day) and losing the streak has made it hard to get things going again. …
Last month I said I was going to take a break from reading short stories, and boy did I. I did’t read any. Not one. And this is a good thing. My wife and I desperately needed to get out of town, so we did just that, rambling through beautiful locations in Utah, Arizona, and Colorado. For some of this time, I didn’t read any fiction, didn’t watch any TV, or really consume stories beyond …
Time has a way of changing the game on you. My initial goal for this challenge was not to read a story every day, but to read 365 short stories this year (subtle difference). But, through July, I managed to not miss any days and to read at least one story a day (I can be a bit of an overachiever). But, that goal, was carefully worded to give me wiggle room that I am …
So, the 2018 is halfway over, how did that happen? Somehow spring always seems to be that way, gone in a flash of lengthening days, a warming sun, and fresh air. I’m well over half way to my goal of reading 365 stories this year and haven’t missed a day yet (thanks to the abundant supply of very short stories being published). I’ve been thinking about beginnings a lot. Short stories in particular. When a …
Artists should get paid. Woops, I probably just lost a bunch of people there, but bear with me. A lot of the short stories I list in this series are “free,” but I encourage you to find a way to support the publications you love. I put free in quotes on purpose up there, because all the publications I list here pay their authors, most all of them pay professional rates, so the stories are …
Everything is a tradeoff, including this goal of mine to read 365 short stories this year in a quest to become a better short story writer. Several things have gone by the wayside to make room for this reading: Non-fiction reading. I’m so far behind reading Wired Magazine it’s ridiculous and I’ve got a shelf full of non-fiction books I haven’t gotten to. Novel reading. I’ve only read two novels this year, one in April …
Short stories are important. For readers and writers. The “short” part allows for risk taking and experimentation. It allows both the writer and the reader to try something new with a much smaller investment in time. On the writer’s end, it has the additional benefit of being a great way to learn. The act of finishing a story, feeling that, doing it over and over is very important. As a reader, short stories are valuable …