Hey folks. Well, I figured I'd just drop a few lines here to say I'm making progress on my 20-story challenge that I set up for the first part of 2014. One of the things I know I need to do is to follow through with these little challenges I set up for myself. I mean, NaNoWriMo last year was great and everything but I still did not reach the finish line.
Short story challenges seem a more reasonable option of course but it is still all about following through. I'm happy to report that I have TWO stories done so far.
They are:
A WAGER IN CALDRED - 9,757 words
IN A GIANT'S EYE - 5,067 words
I am going to keep a tally of these completed works. All of the stories I'm doing for this challenge will be sent out to various short fiction markets to see if I can score a sale. That's what I'm after, really. I want to see my story in a pro magazine and reap the benefits from that kind of exposure. So here's to hoping one of my stories get snatched up.
Stay tuned for future updates. Later folks.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Dear Writer: Making Course Corrections
Dear Writer,
It's been some time since we've talked. I've been away and doing things to continue my own writing life. Sometimes, real world events pierce what is admittedly a bubble that separates the creative writing life from all the rest.
I've had that happen lately. You see, one of my cousins died recently. It was mostly unexpected and she was only 55 years old. I wasn't especially close with my cousin, but the loss struck me hard and affected me deeply. It made me think about all of life and about death in a way that nothing else can. These kinds of happenings are a part of living. How one views fundamental things like death can shape what they do next.
For me, as writer, I feel like writing about death. I feel like reading about it. I want to understand it more--even if that means coming to terms with its mysteries and accepting that it is a natural part of living. When these kinds of events shake up the normal course of life, all that each of us can really do is try to make course corrections. We cannot change what has happened. Words may fail us when we try to relate these deep feelings we're having. The sadness and the mourning of the loss weigh us down.
But, as writers, we can direct these feelings and these flows into something. Writers can express something of how something like death has impacted us even while we seek to keep going with our own lives.
Some events are so disruptive that we're left spinning and wheeling around in confusion and pain and there is no solace to be found even in the pen or typing on the keyboard. We have to take the time that we need to grieve and then, with hope and luck, we can start writing again (and start living again too).
Dear Writer, I hope you are well. I hope that you are keeping to the course and making the needed corrections so you can keep on writing. What we do is an important thing. Remember that. I know I am trying to. Take care.
It's been some time since we've talked. I've been away and doing things to continue my own writing life. Sometimes, real world events pierce what is admittedly a bubble that separates the creative writing life from all the rest.
I've had that happen lately. You see, one of my cousins died recently. It was mostly unexpected and she was only 55 years old. I wasn't especially close with my cousin, but the loss struck me hard and affected me deeply. It made me think about all of life and about death in a way that nothing else can. These kinds of happenings are a part of living. How one views fundamental things like death can shape what they do next.
For me, as writer, I feel like writing about death. I feel like reading about it. I want to understand it more--even if that means coming to terms with its mysteries and accepting that it is a natural part of living. When these kinds of events shake up the normal course of life, all that each of us can really do is try to make course corrections. We cannot change what has happened. Words may fail us when we try to relate these deep feelings we're having. The sadness and the mourning of the loss weigh us down.
But, as writers, we can direct these feelings and these flows into something. Writers can express something of how something like death has impacted us even while we seek to keep going with our own lives.
Some events are so disruptive that we're left spinning and wheeling around in confusion and pain and there is no solace to be found even in the pen or typing on the keyboard. We have to take the time that we need to grieve and then, with hope and luck, we can start writing again (and start living again too).
Dear Writer, I hope you are well. I hope that you are keeping to the course and making the needed corrections so you can keep on writing. What we do is an important thing. Remember that. I know I am trying to. Take care.
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