Retexturing Stories: Refilling the well (that’s already full)

I was going to name this post just “Refilling the Well.” But the well isn’t dry and I certainly don’t need more ideas on top of the three hundred I already have. So, instead, I titled it retexturing stories.

I have been reading this month. That was my goal and I have made good on it. Almost every day, I read. It’s a huge change from going months without glancing at a book page. You can see my progress over on my Goodreads profile.

Nonfiction, fiction, poetry. I’m reading all of it. I’m reading entire books, select pages, and snippets. And I’m not judging myself if I don’t want to keep reading a book. I love to consume books whole–I really do. But after the US election, the realistic fiction I was reading became…no longer an escape. It morphed into an amplifier of real worry and anxiety. So I’ve been escaping.

Speculative fiction has given me a lot to consider. I revel in the detail on the page. I look at what is working and what doesn’t quite read smoothly for me. I’m taking those lessons and applying it to my stories, my writing, my details. I’m figuring out how to bring my story to lush life without stalling my fast-paced, economic style of storytelling.

The main list I’m picking reads from is the Sirens Conference Reading Challenge for 2017. There is a chance I could finish the challenge this next year (still unsure if I can attend 2017 Sirens), but I’m just loving going after the selections so far. I’m not x-ing off a whole category at once. I’m hopping all over the list given what I already have physical copies of.

Here’s hoping I can complete the challenge–and glean skill for my own storytelling in the process.

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