C.M. Simpson's Blog, page 166
July 11, 2015
Progress Report: Week 2, July 2015
This week, I enacted change – and a lot of writing happened. I’m pretty happy with this.
Overview
New words produced: 28,616Old words revised: 0Works completed: 39 (4 stand-alone short stories; 35 shorter works for incorporation into 4 longer collections)Works revised: 0Covers created: 0Works published: 0Works submitted: 0Competitions Entered: 0Bloggery: 8,225
Publishing Tasks
Created 7 blog posts for this blog;Created 0 blog post for the C.M. Simpson Publishing blog;Created 2 blog post for the C.M. Simpson Art and Photography blog;
New Arrivals
The following pieces arrived last week:
Poem569—Voices in the Mist: Don’t Look Back: a horror poem about things in the mist;Poem570—We Dwell Among You: a series of reverse cinquains forming a crown cinquain about hidden protectors;Poem571—First Days at University: a series of cinquains forming another crown cinquain inspired by the young folk I go to university with;Poem572—In the Creativity…: a short series of verses about what some writers find in being creativity;Poem573—The Kelpie Trap: a fantasy poem about kelpies;Poem574—Moonlit Promise: a series of englyn penfyr verses about a promise being kept;Poem575—The Answers in Your Mind: a series of englyn milwr verses about finding the answers within;Poem576—A Long Time Away: a science fiction verse about finding a place for friends even when you haven’t heard from them for a long time;Poem577—Overthrown: a science fiction crown cinquain about the conquered;Poem578—Human Vic’try: a science fiction series of englyn unodl union verses to do with human defiance;Poem579—Bright in the Medilo: a science fiction poem about another encounter with the Medilo swamp’s inhabitants;Poem580—Alone with the Throne: an englyn about doing the right thing at personal cost;Poem581—Waiting for Judgement: a poem set in the world Odyssey and Koschade’s Grove;Poem582—The Sea Troll in the Sand: a poem about a sea troll;Poem583—Two Worlds, New Worlds: an urban fantasy poem about two worlds meeting;Poem584—Living through Time: a speculative poem about living and life;Poem585—Where You Go: a poem of mourning;Poem586—The Pirate Ship: a series of haiku like verses describing star piratesShortStory463—Treating with the Ilycrom: a piece of science flash fiction about a treaty and the role of dogs on another world;ShortStory464—Living Legends: a piece of science flash fiction based on the military tradition.ShortStory465—Right-Crossing Rutherford: a piece of science flash fiction about the practice of archaeology on another world;ShortStory466—Flip-Side Farewell: a piece of science flash fiction about alternative means of travel;ShortStory467—Why the Rain Falls: a piece of science flash fiction about an alternative ecology;ShortStory468—The Plibisek Alliance: a piece of science flash fiction about an alliance of convenience;ShortStory469—Colonial Error: a piece of speculative flash fiction about the errors of colonialism;ShortStory470—Corporate Life after the Sheparwar Invasion: a piece of flash science fiction about world corporations, international bodies and alien negotiations;ShortStory471—Retirement: a piece of flash science fiction about retirement;ShortStory472—Returning to the Sky: a piece of flash science fiction about an invasion;ShortStory474—Hammer and the Trolls: a short science-fiction-fantasy blend about rescuing royalty from trolls;ShortStory475—Hasken’s Luck: a piece of science fiction flash about arriving on a colony world;ShortStory476—Tani’s Fate: a piece of science fiction flash about Odyssey recruitment;ShortStory477—The Starmen and the Sand: a piece of science fiction flash about colonisation;ShortStory475—A Question of Rabbits: a piece of science fiction flash about rabbits;ShortStory476—Eye of the Elves: a piece of fantasy flash fiction about an elven seer;ShortStory479— Miss Delight’s Mistake :a science fiction short story about an investigation of disappearing family members and other tourists;ShortStory480— Tischa’s Rescue : an urban fantasy short story about the rescue of Tischa and a bunch of pixies;ShortStory481—Melerom Joins the Dance: a science fiction story about a humanoid reptile exploring the stars;ShortStory482— Tamran’s Trees : a piece of speculative flash fiction about one man’s attachment to a tree
The following pieces arrived earlier this year and have only just been assigned a work code:
NonFiction7A;NonFiction7B;NonFiction7C.
The following pieces arrived this week and are currently incomplete:
ShortStory473—The Sevarine Sidestep: a short science fiction about family betrayal and personal independence;ShortStory478—To be Titled: an Australian steampunk tale;TchNotes4A: a set of classroom activities;YANovel27—A Planet’s Ransom: about some young people and a planet’s ransom.
The Story Match Challenge—Day 5: July 11, 2015
Before:
I woke and checked out how Dean Wesley Smith was going on his July Story Challenge. He’d completed another story, amongst all the other publishing things he does, and then he talked about short stories and how they’re helpful in discovering novels. On this, I have to agree. I have found three or four different worlds in writing my flash fiction and poetry pieces, and there are several of those that are demanding to have novels of their own.Today’s word goal is 2,400, match or minimum, depending on what the story wants, and then I hope to catch up on some other work. I also didn’t want to still be typing at midnight.During:I started writing at 09:30 with the opening line: Serpent by name, serpent by nature, and the idea that I wanted to revisit one of the worlds I had discovered. My mind was hedging towards the pixie dust or Odyssey settings, and I ended up finding myself writing about one of the lizard creatures from yesterday’s story. I tried to keep the story short, but it just didn’t want to be crowded into a short version, so I ended up with a 4,600 word story.Sometime during that time, I read an article about Melbourne’s trees being given email addresses so people could report problems with them, and I had the spark for a flash fiction story. I jotted down the idea so I could get to it later.Between chores, family and food, it took me 8 hours to complete today’s words.After:I finished writing the idea I had for a piece of flash fiction (455, speculative), but decided to call it a day without writing the other two flash pieces of 3 poetry pieces. I wanted to spend some time with family.Results:Story Match: Completed— Melerom Joins the Dance (4,607 words-science fiction);366 Days of Flash Fiction: Partially completed (1/2)— Tamran’s Trees (455 words-speculative)Blog Entries: 2—The Story Match Challenge, Day 5 (356 words) and Progress Report, Week 2, July 2015 (726 words)Word Total for the Day: 6,182 words
July 10, 2015
Spiders in my House - May 2015
This not-so-little lady was roaming around the house. She was low enough on the wall that I almost walked into her, but she wasn't aggressive and I caught her in the plastic container you see there, using a piece of thick cardboard to close the top. The trick is not to put your hand on the base of the container above the spider, where it will look like a predator about to strike. That causes the spider to panic. This one, we put outside to make her own way. She'll be around somewhere if one of the other spiders didn't eat her.
The Story Match Challenge—Day 4: July 10, 2015
One of the things I’ve noticed since doing this challenge is that my hourly wordage has increased. At the beginning of the month, it was sitting around 595 words/hour—and that was with revisions of pre-written words as opposed to pure new words. This month, my average has so far climbed to 538 words/hour of pure, new words. I have written every day, as opposed to having many days off, and I’m happier. I’m also enjoying my writing, and I am discovering what Dean Wesley Smith terms the ‘power of the challenge’.
In other news, I have decided to experiment with universes in a separate short story challenge, because it’s something I really want to try. Even though I got a bit of a taste of that yesterday, I want to take it further. I’m really looking forward to that challenge.So, back to this challenge. Yesterday, I had a nap, and it proved both much-needed and disastrous. Much needed because I didn’t get enough sleep the night before – all my own fault; I do tend to push things. But it meant that at 10:20 at night, I only had 500 words of the 4,550 world goal done, and I had to accept that maybe I wasn’t going to get that story done on time.Needing a bit of a break, and being aware of the time difference, I took a peek at Dean’s blog, to see if he had the story results up yet… and he did. Only this time, he’d done twostories, both fairly short, but still two. The word length minimums for today are 1,250 and 2,950 words. Cool.Again, I went to bed a bit past midnight, and I was up at 6 a.m. and straight into it. I had two stories to write, three pieces of flash and three poems… and I had to create two spreadsheets, one to track my short work, and one to act as a random poetry generating spark, but those are for a later blog.I also had to collate what I’d written on the different worlds, but that could wait until I started working a world set in one of them. I double-checked the word count damage, and got to work… right after I’d rigged a quick title generator. I rolled my percentiles and got 59-Welcome to the and 17-Ruins, and away I went. I tried to ignore the story demand for a first-person perspective, but it just refused to work, so I caved and the story came a lot easier. About 300 words in, I realised this was a Miss Delight story, and that made me very happy. About 3,000 words in, I realised this story had a ways to go. It went to 6,030 words before it was done and demanded a title change, so it was goodbye Welcome to the Ruins and hello Miss Delight’s Mistake .The second piece ended up being a short piece of urban fantasy titled Tischa’s Rescue . It rounded out at 2,078 words at a quarter to one in the morning.Challenge Hits and Misses:Today I didn’t get any poetry or flash fiction done, but I did get two short stories finished, one of which was 6,000 words long. Both were written from scratch and I had no idea what they were about when I started typing, so I’m pretty pleased with that. I also learned the value of typing to music. It helps me focus and get lost in the story. I wish I’d thought of it earlier in the day.
Story Match #1: Completed – Tischa’s Rescue (urban fantasy-2,078 words)Story Match #2: Completed – Miss Delight’s Mistake (science fiction-6,030 words)Blog entry: 622 wordsTotal words: 8,730 wordsMusic to type to: 2Cellos
July 9, 2015
The Story Match Challenge—Day 3: July 9, 2015
After finishing at half past midnight, last night, I thought I’d try something different today—like actually writing first thing, instead of distracting myself with a bunch of other stuff, like blogging, reading blogs, playing Facebook games (which I tend to do when I feel stressed and which I’m quite addicted to as a result—fortunately, I’m more addicted to writing, so it’s just a matter of switching tracks). Anyway, I digress.
I got up early—it’s the only way to kick the habit of staying up late—and headed straight into the first flash fiction piece, which ended up being a weird bit of science fiction about rabbits. By midday, I had managed to complete the three flash fiction pieces and poems that go along with this challenge, but I hadn’t even started the short story. It had been 6 hours since I started writing. I was a bit concerned about that, until I remembered I had been writing blog entries and sorting out my head during that time, as well. By 1:30 p.m. I had written 3,528 words, done the washing, made lunches and breakfasts and done the dishes. All in all, not too bad an effort.I finally checked in on Dean’s blog to see what the word damage was for the day—to be met by a picture of cats. I love the cats. We don’t have any, so I live vicariously through other people’s. Writing? Oh, right.So, the writing target for today’s short story is 4,550 words. Again, sounds easy, but it’ll be a challenge. Yesterday, I discovered I really needed to practice writing short stories between 3,000 and 6,000 words. My more recent stuff tends to either be very short (under 1,000 words), or very long (9,000-12,000 words). Yesterday, I also kept catching myself going for an ending well before the word limit. I guess that tells me the flash fiction pattern is firmly established. Now, I need to learn another pattern.I am also contemplating trying another experiment—I know, an experiment within an experiment, but it fits. I’ve been noticing that most of the stories Dean’s written this month have ended up fitting into one or another of his existing universes. I think, all bar one to date, and I wonder if it’s any easier to write with a universe in mind, or if that makes it just a little harder.And that reminds me that I have several universes which appeared when I was writing my first flash fiction and poetry anthologies, as well as the universes that already exist in the novels I’ve written. So, I’m starting to toy with the idea of seeing what the difference is between writing blind and writing with a universe in mind.I also note that Dean has yet to start a story with a universe in mind; his stories just seem to gravitate towards one, and then he double checks to see if they fit. If I do this experiment, it’ll probably be a lot more artificial than that, as none of my worlds are developed to that point. It’s interesting to see the differences in writing with forty years behind you, and four. I think I’ll be trying another short story challenge in the future, just to see how that difference grows as I keep writing.Today, I’m feeling a little flat, starting this challenge after 6 hours of being up and mostly writing, so I am turning to M.D. Benoit’s random title generator link supplied by Chuck Wendig for his latest flash fiction challenge to help me get started. The six titles generated were as follows: Every Girl, The Green Legacy, Game of Soul, The Dream’s Sword, The Child of the Man, Vision of the Dream . I didn’t like any of them, so I tried again and got: Broken Servants, The Cold Windows, Shores of Secrets, The Tale’s Rive, The Lord of the Souls and Silk in the Door . Still no sparks, so I just started writing.And then I had to have a nap. Late night, early morning, by afternoon my body was reminding me I wasn’t as young as I used to be. Three hours later I emerged, and the story was still forming in my head. Looked like I was going to be able to test that setting theory out early, so I started writing, and got slowed down by the need to research, but I did discover a couple of things:
It only helps a little bit to have the setting in your head, when the setting is in the formative stages of its development;Factual research will slow down your writing, but it's worth it;Putting accurate facts in your writing is a good way to shape the story and helps with the word count;Putting accurate facts in your writing without losing story momentum is tricky, but well worth the effort;I still like dinosaurs.
I hit 11:45 p.m. and ran out of steam. I’ll be up early in the morning to meet the next challenge. Hopefully, I’ll be able to come back and complete this tale before the end of the month.Am I having fun yet? Why, yes, yes I am.Challenge Successes and Not-So-Successes:
366 Days of Flash Fiction: Completed— A Question of Rabbits (science fiction-306 words) and Eye of the Elves (fantasy-1,106 words);366 Days of Poetry: Completed— Where You Go (fantasy-83 words) and The Pirate Ships (science fiction-59 words);Another 365 Days of Flash Fiction: Completed— Bereskaven Welcome (science fiction-273);Another 365 Days of Poetry: Completed— Slumber and Come to Me (science fiction-78)Story Match: Today—Incomplete—an Australian steampunk story (1,593/4,550 words) Words today: 4,486
I got up early—it’s the only way to kick the habit of staying up late—and headed straight into the first flash fiction piece, which ended up being a weird bit of science fiction about rabbits. By midday, I had managed to complete the three flash fiction pieces and poems that go along with this challenge, but I hadn’t even started the short story. It had been 6 hours since I started writing. I was a bit concerned about that, until I remembered I had been writing blog entries and sorting out my head during that time, as well. By 1:30 p.m. I had written 3,528 words, done the washing, made lunches and breakfasts and done the dishes. All in all, not too bad an effort.I finally checked in on Dean’s blog to see what the word damage was for the day—to be met by a picture of cats. I love the cats. We don’t have any, so I live vicariously through other people’s. Writing? Oh, right.So, the writing target for today’s short story is 4,550 words. Again, sounds easy, but it’ll be a challenge. Yesterday, I discovered I really needed to practice writing short stories between 3,000 and 6,000 words. My more recent stuff tends to either be very short (under 1,000 words), or very long (9,000-12,000 words). Yesterday, I also kept catching myself going for an ending well before the word limit. I guess that tells me the flash fiction pattern is firmly established. Now, I need to learn another pattern.I am also contemplating trying another experiment—I know, an experiment within an experiment, but it fits. I’ve been noticing that most of the stories Dean’s written this month have ended up fitting into one or another of his existing universes. I think, all bar one to date, and I wonder if it’s any easier to write with a universe in mind, or if that makes it just a little harder.And that reminds me that I have several universes which appeared when I was writing my first flash fiction and poetry anthologies, as well as the universes that already exist in the novels I’ve written. So, I’m starting to toy with the idea of seeing what the difference is between writing blind and writing with a universe in mind.I also note that Dean has yet to start a story with a universe in mind; his stories just seem to gravitate towards one, and then he double checks to see if they fit. If I do this experiment, it’ll probably be a lot more artificial than that, as none of my worlds are developed to that point. It’s interesting to see the differences in writing with forty years behind you, and four. I think I’ll be trying another short story challenge in the future, just to see how that difference grows as I keep writing.Today, I’m feeling a little flat, starting this challenge after 6 hours of being up and mostly writing, so I am turning to M.D. Benoit’s random title generator link supplied by Chuck Wendig for his latest flash fiction challenge to help me get started. The six titles generated were as follows: Every Girl, The Green Legacy, Game of Soul, The Dream’s Sword, The Child of the Man, Vision of the Dream . I didn’t like any of them, so I tried again and got: Broken Servants, The Cold Windows, Shores of Secrets, The Tale’s Rive, The Lord of the Souls and Silk in the Door . Still no sparks, so I just started writing.And then I had to have a nap. Late night, early morning, by afternoon my body was reminding me I wasn’t as young as I used to be. Three hours later I emerged, and the story was still forming in my head. Looked like I was going to be able to test that setting theory out early, so I started writing, and got slowed down by the need to research, but I did discover a couple of things:
It only helps a little bit to have the setting in your head, when the setting is in the formative stages of its development;Factual research will slow down your writing, but it's worth it;Putting accurate facts in your writing is a good way to shape the story and helps with the word count;Putting accurate facts in your writing without losing story momentum is tricky, but well worth the effort;I still like dinosaurs.
I hit 11:45 p.m. and ran out of steam. I’ll be up early in the morning to meet the next challenge. Hopefully, I’ll be able to come back and complete this tale before the end of the month.Am I having fun yet? Why, yes, yes I am.Challenge Successes and Not-So-Successes:
366 Days of Flash Fiction: Completed— A Question of Rabbits (science fiction-306 words) and Eye of the Elves (fantasy-1,106 words);366 Days of Poetry: Completed— Where You Go (fantasy-83 words) and The Pirate Ships (science fiction-59 words);Another 365 Days of Flash Fiction: Completed— Bereskaven Welcome (science fiction-273);Another 365 Days of Poetry: Completed— Slumber and Come to Me (science fiction-78)Story Match: Today—Incomplete—an Australian steampunk story (1,593/4,550 words) Words today: 4,486
The Story Match Challenge—Day 2: July 8, 2015
I woke up on July 8, 2015, to find that Dean Wesley Smith had met his challenge with another 3,000-word story—A Matter for a FutureYear. Seeing the final count, I breathed a sigh of relief, because I’d been dreading he’d write more and I was still just feeling my way. I noticed his story was set in his Seeders Universe, and envied him being able to draw on a developed setting. I’ll add developing my novel settings to my task list - as in, focussing more on writing them and so forth, which sounds silly, but I know what I mean. I see lots of writing ahead.
The opening line came when I glanced up and saw a butterfly flitting across in front of Princess Alexa in Barbie and the Secret Door —so, no one said where the inspiration had to come from. Of course, there was no gilded lawn in the scene, and the palace was out of sight, so where the rest came from… well, of that, I’m not sure.
I was 68 words in when I realised I was writing science fiction and not fantasy. It was a hard piece to write. 3,000 words—piece of cake, right? Should be 3 hours work, right? Yeah, right. I was into the sixth hour in a stretch interspersed by more breaks and a nap than I had planned before the first thousand had been reached. Shame on me, right?
Maybe, or maybe this is just what writing, real writing is like. Or maybe it’s just me. Who knows? And that is what this challenge is all about: discover the writing, swim deep instead of just getting my feet wet.
Anyway, the challenge, success was as follows:
Story Match: Complete at 3,676 words, a fantasy-science-fiction blend – Hammer and the Trolls 366 Days of Flash Fiction: Complete, two science fiction— Tani’s Fate and The Starmen and the Sand 366 Days of Poetry: Complete, urban fantasy— Two Worlds, New Worlds , and speculative— Living Through Time Another 365 Days of Flash Fiction: Complete, science fiction – Hasken’s Luck Another 365 Days of Poetry: Complete, a fantasy poem – The Sea Troll in the Sand
Word total for the day, including blogging: 7,108.
The Story Match Challenge—Day 1: July 7, 2015
So, in Australia, it was July 7, 2015, and in the U.S. it was the still July 6, which, according to the rules of my private challenge, meant I had to write a 3,000-word short story. As part of his personal short story challenge, Dean Wesley Smith finished BestEaten on a Slow Tuesday. I had had a very unproductive day—couldn’t settle, was still suffering from the flu, constant interruptions and so forth, and today I had come the decision that I needed a way to push myself past the excuses and onto the next level, so I let his challenge inspire me to undertake a challenge of my own, and today was the first day.
So. The result? Well, let me see.
I started the challenge late—at around 10 p.m., because that’s when I finally decided to go for it—and I didn’t finish writing the short story before midnight, so it counts as a loss. On the upside, though, I reached 2,315 words by 0013, and I’ll finish it on Day 2.
This piece surprised me by being science fiction. It starts with a family betrayal, and I have a vague idea of how it’s going to finish. It should end up just on or over the 3,000 word goal. I’ve called it The Sevarine Sidestep .
There were other parts to this challenge. I succeeded in writing the two pieces of flash fiction for 366 Days of Flash Fiction , but not on the other three components.
So. The result? Well, let me see.
I started the challenge late—at around 10 p.m., because that’s when I finally decided to go for it—and I didn’t finish writing the short story before midnight, so it counts as a loss. On the upside, though, I reached 2,315 words by 0013, and I’ll finish it on Day 2.
This piece surprised me by being science fiction. It starts with a family betrayal, and I have a vague idea of how it’s going to finish. It should end up just on or over the 3,000 word goal. I’ve called it The Sevarine Sidestep .
There were other parts to this challenge. I succeeded in writing the two pieces of flash fiction for 366 Days of Flash Fiction , but not on the other three components.
July 8, 2015
Books Read: June 2015
Being sick for pretty much all of June was not fun, but it did mean that I got a fair amount of reading done. Another of my favourite authors - and a book I remember ordering through book club when I was still in junior high. My, how the years have flown.
Learning to be a ‘Real’ Writer: Part 2—Inspiration from Dean Wesley Smith’s Short Story Challenge
Okay - so, I wasn't going to post this until August... but then I decided it was time to have a bit of courage. So, here goes:
On July 1, 2015, professional writer, DeanWesley Smith, started a challenge he’d set himself: to write a short story each day for the entire month of July, which he then intended to publish in a single volume. In his blog posts leading up to the start of the challenge, he blogged about what he was going to do and why he was going to do it, and then he blogged about the power of the challenge as he wrote. You can find the first ofthose blogs here, and I recommend them. I didn’t come to it until early in July, and I read it backwards from where he was at to where he had been. It was nothing short of inspiring.
And I thought, I thought, I should try that.
So I looked over the challenge he’d sethimself, and I realised I had been doing what Dean was doing, but more inconsistently and on a much smaller scale. He’d been writing a novel a month and was now setting to writing a short story each day. I’d only been writing a couple of pieces of poetry and flash fiction every day. This was encouraging, and it made me think about what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be.
Along with novels, I wanted to write short stories. The aim sitting at the back of my head was one a month published, and then anthologies later. I also wanted to submit more work to other markets, crowded though I knew the markets were, which brought me back to where I was.
University resumes in a fortnight, my little one is home on school holidays, and I am very, very behind on my other writing commitments. Still, it was very tempting. Dean Wesley Smith’s methodology for writing short stories was very similar to the method I used for writing the flash fiction and poetry pieces I set each day… except he chose a title first. Well, that was okay, our methodologies didn’t have to match.
So I thought: what if I try to match each of Dean’s stories by writing one of my own? In other words, I’d see what he wrote, and then I’d write a short story of a similar length. Would I share the titles? No, no that didn’t seem right. What about the genre? No, we write differently. Okay, then, what if I just settled for matching the length?
Matching the lengths, the day after each was written. Yeah, that sounded right, and fun. And maybe, I could match the length or make it the minimum that would let the stories be what they wanted to be. Yeah, I was gonna try that—let Dean’s stories set the length. I have to get back into the practice of writing longer, and I need to hone that skill.
The problem is, that I lacked confidence so, on the day I decided to try this, I decided I would keep it as a pact with just myself—at least for a little while. And I would either succeed or fail on my own, without pressure from outside. Is it fair? Perhaps, perhaps not, but it was something I could handle, and that mattered a lot at the time.
To increase the challenge, I must not only catch up on what has already been done, but maintain my commitments to the anthologies I was working on. This, I decided, was all part of learning to be a writer, a ‘real’ writer. I had to learn my limits. I had to write. And I had to work on next year’s release schedule. The challenge could help me in all these.
The Task?
- To match Dean Wesley Smith’s short story writing in July, as a means of learning how to produce words and to increase writing discipline... also to find limits and capabilities, and to hone.
- To catch up with what he’s already done this month. To date:
1 x 4,000-word ‘warm-up’ story ( The Library of Atlantis )1 x 3,700-word story ( The Case of the Dead Lady Blues )1 x 4,050-word story ( A Bad Patch of Humanity )1 x 3,450-word story ( They were Divided by Cold Debt )1 x 4,550-word story ( Best Eaten on a Slow Tuesday ).
- To maintain production on 366 Days of Poetry and 366 Days of Flash Fiction , which consists of a minimum of 2 pieces for each collection- To maintain production on Another 365 Days of Poetry and Another 365 Days of Flash Fiction , which consists of 1 piece for each collection.
I decided to call it The Story Match Challenge. And, no, I will not be publishing it in a big anthology at the end. Each piece will be published separately over the next twelve months, and all pieces will appear in the annual round-up of short pieces to be released next year... and some will appear in other anthologies, but the main purpose is to move to the next level... whatever that might be.
Let's see how it goes.
On July 1, 2015, professional writer, DeanWesley Smith, started a challenge he’d set himself: to write a short story each day for the entire month of July, which he then intended to publish in a single volume. In his blog posts leading up to the start of the challenge, he blogged about what he was going to do and why he was going to do it, and then he blogged about the power of the challenge as he wrote. You can find the first ofthose blogs here, and I recommend them. I didn’t come to it until early in July, and I read it backwards from where he was at to where he had been. It was nothing short of inspiring.
And I thought, I thought, I should try that.
So I looked over the challenge he’d sethimself, and I realised I had been doing what Dean was doing, but more inconsistently and on a much smaller scale. He’d been writing a novel a month and was now setting to writing a short story each day. I’d only been writing a couple of pieces of poetry and flash fiction every day. This was encouraging, and it made me think about what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be.
Along with novels, I wanted to write short stories. The aim sitting at the back of my head was one a month published, and then anthologies later. I also wanted to submit more work to other markets, crowded though I knew the markets were, which brought me back to where I was.
University resumes in a fortnight, my little one is home on school holidays, and I am very, very behind on my other writing commitments. Still, it was very tempting. Dean Wesley Smith’s methodology for writing short stories was very similar to the method I used for writing the flash fiction and poetry pieces I set each day… except he chose a title first. Well, that was okay, our methodologies didn’t have to match.
So I thought: what if I try to match each of Dean’s stories by writing one of my own? In other words, I’d see what he wrote, and then I’d write a short story of a similar length. Would I share the titles? No, no that didn’t seem right. What about the genre? No, we write differently. Okay, then, what if I just settled for matching the length?
Matching the lengths, the day after each was written. Yeah, that sounded right, and fun. And maybe, I could match the length or make it the minimum that would let the stories be what they wanted to be. Yeah, I was gonna try that—let Dean’s stories set the length. I have to get back into the practice of writing longer, and I need to hone that skill.
The problem is, that I lacked confidence so, on the day I decided to try this, I decided I would keep it as a pact with just myself—at least for a little while. And I would either succeed or fail on my own, without pressure from outside. Is it fair? Perhaps, perhaps not, but it was something I could handle, and that mattered a lot at the time.
To increase the challenge, I must not only catch up on what has already been done, but maintain my commitments to the anthologies I was working on. This, I decided, was all part of learning to be a writer, a ‘real’ writer. I had to learn my limits. I had to write. And I had to work on next year’s release schedule. The challenge could help me in all these.
The Task?
- To match Dean Wesley Smith’s short story writing in July, as a means of learning how to produce words and to increase writing discipline... also to find limits and capabilities, and to hone.
- To catch up with what he’s already done this month. To date:
1 x 4,000-word ‘warm-up’ story ( The Library of Atlantis )1 x 3,700-word story ( The Case of the Dead Lady Blues )1 x 4,050-word story ( A Bad Patch of Humanity )1 x 3,450-word story ( They were Divided by Cold Debt )1 x 4,550-word story ( Best Eaten on a Slow Tuesday ).
- To maintain production on 366 Days of Poetry and 366 Days of Flash Fiction , which consists of a minimum of 2 pieces for each collection- To maintain production on Another 365 Days of Poetry and Another 365 Days of Flash Fiction , which consists of 1 piece for each collection.
I decided to call it The Story Match Challenge. And, no, I will not be publishing it in a big anthology at the end. Each piece will be published separately over the next twelve months, and all pieces will appear in the annual round-up of short pieces to be released next year... and some will appear in other anthologies, but the main purpose is to move to the next level... whatever that might be.
Let's see how it goes.
Learning to be a ‘Real’ Writer: Part 1
Yeah, I know, right? You’all thought I was already a writer. Well, so did I, but I was a writer who had to have a day job, who wasn’t allowed to devote herself to being a writer full-time and so I never felt quite real. See, and that’s wrong. Because I was a writer. I wrote with the idea of making a living from it, but I came to realise that I also wrote with the knowledge that I would never be allowed to go full time, that making a living from it was a long way away, even unlikely, and then that wasn’t true any more.
In the last six months, I’ve had to come to grips with some fairly major changes, both to things I thought I knew, and to personal circumstances, and that hasn’t been easy. For one thing, I lost my job.Actually, I was forced to choose between accepting having working conditions withheld and keeping my job, or completing the degree I had started with the permission and encouragement of my boss. “We not only support this kind of thing,” he’d said, “but we encourage it.” Well, what happened? Because he sure as shit didn’t say a word when his subordinate—yes, subordinate and a new manager to boot—decided to deny me access to working conditions that would allow me to continue my studies, the studies the boss had given me permission to begin, and which I was successfully working around my employment.The new supervisor decided I had to choose, and I was very fortunate that my husband decided to support me so that I could stop working at that poisonous place and complete my degree. Now, when we made that decision, I had coped with four years of this kind of bullying—and worse, and I did not understand why it was happening.I was hitting my deadlines ahead of time (yes, even studying full time), my customers were happy, I met my colleague’s needs, my work was above the standard expected, and I was exceeding expectations… and I didn’t realise that this was a problem, that I was too low in the food chain to be doing what I was doing and be allowed to get away with it. I didn’t even realise that by doing my job well, I was seen as a threat to the career paths of not just my direct supervisors, but by the next rank of managers above them – even when I was going for different areas to where they were located.You see, I had been raised to believe that if you did a good job, your superiors would appreciate that and that your contribution would be recognised and valued. I believed in looking after my team mates, even if that meant sometimes putting their interests ahead of my own. I didn’t know that not only was that not valued, but that it was seen as a weakness, a signal that you could be attacked with impunity. Hell, I even believed in the supervisor’s responsibility for helping you progress in your career, all in accordance with the training and doctrine of the organisation I worked for. I thought cooperation and mutual support was all part of being in a team.Unfortunately, I forgot that I was surrounded by humans, and that, in the real world, those who are seen to be potentially more effective than their superiors or colleagues are to be kept in their place and out of the competition, that favourites exist and that one’s ability to do, is not as important as one’s ability to be liked. Well, it took me four years, but I learned – and it nearly broke me, especially as I have come to accept that I will never be ‘liked’. I’m not hated, but I won’t ever be ‘liked’ in the way that counts in a human herd. It’s not personal; I’m just too different, and I can’t change it, or hide it. And, believe me, I’ve tried both.So, when my husband said I didn’t have to return to work—ever—and I could make a go of my writing, I found that hard to believe. We’d spent so long needing to have a double income that I’d gotten used to the impossibility of writing full time. And now it’s real, and it’s something many writers would kill for, something I thought I would once kill for, and I’m afraid to take that step and really go for it. And that’s just dumb.So, now, I have to actually step out onto that thin platform of what I believe in, and I have to do, and that’s not as easy as it sounds. I’ve discovered I’m not quite ready to walk away from the path I was following, but that I can move along both for a little longer while I decide. It’s a hard thing to do, because I *did* want what lies at the other end of the study path, but I’ve also wanted to write for a living for a very long time. Unfortunately, I know the writing can be worked on at a slower pace, that the other path will provide experience and knowledge I can use in my writing, and I’m not ready to let that go. I also don’t like leaving things unfinished, including this degree, and that is a bigger element than I’d like.So, with this in mind, I’ve taken to observing what other successful, more experienced writers are doing and I’m comparing how they go about things with how I go about things. Not because I want to copy them, because that won’t work. Everything I’ve read makes that very clear.What works for one writer, will not work for another. Instead, I’m looking and listening and learning. And that means reworking my priorities, reworking how I see myself, and reworking how I go about things, and it’s not as easy as I think it should be, so bear with me as I learn to be a ‘real’ writer in the way being a ‘real’ writer works for me.First step—learning to produce words on a regular and reliable basis: because I don’t, not yet. I try and bend my writing to the other demands in my life. I tend to let it slide in the face of those demands. It has always come last, and been the first thing to be dropped when things get tight. And that can no longer be. If I am going to make a living from my writing, I have to put it closer to the top. Family is important. Fitness and study are also important. These must be balanced. At the beginning of July 2015, I started to work on that in earnest.Second step—publishing what I produce. Not as easy as it sounds. I need to write, but I have to acknowledge that writing is pointless unless it is published. Because I have decided to take an independent path, that means I have to make time for formatting, editing, cover creation and uploading. That’s all part of the decision that, as long as publishers try to buy rights and have ‘for the life of the copyright’ in their contracts, and as long as they don’t guarantee to keep in print the work they purchase, or utilise all the rights they purchase in a timely fashion, then I can’t contract with them. It’s my work. It has to be available and selling for me to make a living.Third step—establishing a publishing schedule that I can stick to. Right now, I have no idea of what I can and can’t do, or the time-frame it takes to do it in. I am still recovering physically, mentally and emotionally from the last few years, and now that I have realised that, I realise I have to give myself room to heal. I also have a lot of odds and ends to tidy up. I am giving myself until the end of 2015 to sort out a light schedule, and I’ll rework the kinks from there.Rules going forward?Write more.Write frequently.Finish what I write.Publish what I write in the best condition possible.Improve in my craft.Improve in my business.Develop professionally as a writer.I’ll let you know how it goes.
