Writing a short story a week for 50 weeks was way overly ambitious. Not that I haven't done it, because, thus far, I have. But last week's story was very short, less than 2k words. And this week's story is nowhere in sight. I was out of town over the weekend, and I came home with a bad cold, perhaps a touch of the flu. Writing a story this week isn't going to happen. So, I'm revising my plans.
The story a week was putting too much pressure on me, anyway. I don't need it. I'm now on the "I'll write a story as I can" mode. Hopefully, I'll be working on something continuously more or less, but no more deadlines. I'd still like to try writing a minimum of 500 words a day, but that absolutely was not happening. There are just too many activities going on in my world to manage it. But I still think it's a worthy objective.
Hope you're meeting your objectives as writers.
16 comments:
Don't put too much pressure on yourself because you might not enjoy writing if you do. Just do your best. I would be so proud of myself if I had one a month.
Good for you,trying it out and resetting things so they match your life.
Even one a month is good!
At least you're keeping up so far - that's amazing that you're able to do that.
Try some flash fiction. Now that you have so much experience with short stories, flash fiction will be a breeze.
I've just finished your story about the radiologist. It was powerful. I like how you let us enter inside the character's life. It feels so real and dramatic. I felt terrible for the character and I even understood why she lost her mind when she finally did what she did. The physician was awful to Elise.
I've had a similar experience this week - realizing my studying and paper-writing goals have been a bit unrealistic. Because of days like today, when there's NO TIME! Good for you for being kind to yourself :)
Clarissa, Tanya, Alex, OE, Julia, Alexandra, thank you for your comments and support. And, Julia, thank you for the nice comments on my story. It's the kind of thing that helps make writing worthwhile.
I am way behind in my targets, Richard. Writing a short story every week was too much. Don't fret over the goals. Take it easy.
Thank you, Rachna. I had to learn the hard way.
You can only do what you can do. I've been posting a photo each day on tumblr.com for over 200 days. Right now I'm in the middle of my mom in a care center, a real estate deal, cleaning out a house, and so many doctors/aids/nurses I can't keep track. I suspect, after tomorrow, my que will be empty. I'm disappointed because I have not kept this commitment but, as I said, you can only do what you can do. Slowing down is absolutely necessary!
Thank you, Helene, I'm discovering that, too. Hope your days return to normal soon.
Wow, a story a week. That is ambitious. But it probably got you motivated, and I'll be if you look back through the ones you did write, there will be some good nuggets to work with. I think 500 words a day is a challenge, too. But it's probably good to have goals, as long as they are flexible. For awhile I was following a book called "Fast Fiction", where the exercises were to time yourself, and with a five minute limit, dash out a flash fiction with a beginning, a middle, and an end. And then just stop. The author gave you a list of topics. I did this when I was in a dry spell, and I must say, it helped. Looking back through them, I got maybe 4 flash fictions I could really work with. But that was 4 more than I would have had, if you know what I mean. :-)
Hi, Elizabeth,
It was too ambitious, but I have written 7 stories that I wouldn't have written, otherwise. Hopefully, there are a few more stories to write.
Hello again, Richard. I left an award for you on my blog.
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