Story Challenge 2014: Update #4

Finally back with another update on the short story challenge I committed myself to this year. Time has kept ticking away and I've found more than a few reasons not to get words done on stories since the last time I posted anything about the challenge. My last update period was a good while back now and it makes sense to at least touch base here on the site. It's been idle long enough. Might make sense to do monthly updates, maybe.

As stated before, I have made some progress, just slow progress.

WALKING BACK - 2,886 words
THE SAPPHIRE SWORD - 3,533 words
BORN OF SILVER FIRE - 5,057 words
MARCH ON THE MOUNTAINS - 7,579 words
A WAGER IN CALDRED - 9,757 words
IN A GIANT'S EYE - 5,067 words
THERE BE MONSTERS - 7,094 words
TALE OF THE WATER THIEF - 4,572 words

So, I have 12 stories left to write to finish this challenge. I might just make it.

Story Challenge 2014: Update #3

Didn't think I'd be back with another update, did you?

Well, here I am. I wanted to say that I've added a couple of stories to the "done" category. I hope I'll be adding more here in the coming weeks, but only if it stays a fun thing to do. I'm still working out or maybe working through some issues. The creativity is waxing and waning, as always, but I might just be in the upward arc right now.

The last update was back in April so it's been a long gap. You'll have to accept my apologies for that, but well, I just haven't been writing all that much. Still, progress is process, right folks?

Here's the list of challenge stories thus far:

BORN OF SILVER FIRE - 5,057 words
MARCH ON THE MOUNTAINS - 7,579 words
A WAGER IN CALDRED - 9,757 words
IN A GIANT'S EYE - 5,067 words
THERE BE MONSTERS - 7,094 words
TALE OF THE WATER THIEF - 4,572 words

I'll be back sooner with a new update; I promise. Catch you later.

And Write, And Write, And Write...

Okay, I get it. I'm taking this writing thing too seriously. I know I didn't start out that way. I remember writing short little stories when I was kid on my Dad's electric typewriter. I was swimming in sci-fi and fantasy visions even then. I can still remember the hum of the machine, the heavy striking of the keys that sent hammers out to cover the page of paper with letters, and inevitable use of the whiteout function. My dad brought home scrap paper that I used to tap out the little stories when I wasn't filling them with scribbles and pictures.

There was no thought for plans or hashing out details of career building. I  mean, I was a little kid. I was having fun playing with the typewriter. I was using my fertile imagination to create. I rekindled that  fun years later when I started messing with comic book writing. I wrote a short story in school. It was the only one I wrote and finished. Nothing more came of this thing called writing until I had consumed a fair amount of fantasy fiction. I am talking Tad Williams, David Eddings, and, yes, Robert Jordan. Epic stuff.

I started a novel and, a long time later, I did finish it. I've told that story enough. I've done tons of freelance writing, including articles and ebooks. I've written lots of short stories. I've written nonfiction and fiction books. The point is…I have been writing. I keep writing posts about how I'm having so much trouble writing, but I have produced a body of work. Am I meeting some self-imposed expectations? No. No, I'm not. And you know what? That is really okay. Or at least it should be.

I keep setting these goals and laying out expectations that I consistently fail to meet. Why do this? I reason that I need some level of organization if I am going to be consistent producing work and then finding paths to publication for the work. That's the more sophisticated thinking that I've picked up listening to other pro writers and since I became publisher.

But, I've misplaced the fun parts. I've got to recover the fun parts. So, I will keep writing.

NaNoWriMo 2013 Update #2

Well, I'm still writing the novel. Currently, Killer Of Dragons is at 10, 268 words. Given it is the 15th of November, I'm behind by about 15,000 words. It is the halfway point in this challenge and I still believe I will get to the end of the month with 50,000 words written on this book.

I've had gaps in writing this month which has upped the number of words I need to get written each day in order to cross that finish line. At this point, I have to write at least 2,500 words to have a shot at hitting this milestone. A few really good writing days where I could get over 2,500 maybe even double that would help give me more room to work out this book and have it completed ahead of the deadline.

Still, I am happy to be in this race. I've had enough of failure and am committed to seeing this through. I'm trying to see NaNoWriMo as a fun experience and one that can help liberate me. As  a writer I have goals. One of those is to be fast and free with my writing so I can write stories faster and in the white hot heat of the creative flow. And I want to be able to do it repeatedly.

I am trying to regain my footing so I can write every day though life does intrude with other important matters I know that I will make my way back to it. I hope everyone else participating in National Novel Writing Month this year is having fun creating stories and that you all consider publishing your works afterwards. Some of the best stories are written fast and furious.

See you at the finish line.

Dear Writer: It's Okay Not To Write Sometimes

"I advise writing to oneself. If you don't want to read it, nobody else is going to read it." ~ S.E. Hinton

Dear writer, if you read my last message, you know that sometimes life gets in the way and you experience what is called a "life roll." It's bound to happen at one point or another. If ones takes over and you found you haven't written for some time, or at least not written to whatever level or standards you declared to yourself, you might feel guilt or disappointment. It is easy to blow things out of proportion. After all, most fiction writers are drama queens to one level or another. It's a bi-product of making things up all time in the stories we write.

Even if the events that sent you off on that life roll are now over or you're adjusting to a new paradigm, you might be wondering why the writing hasn't bounced back. You might be wondering, 'why haven't I gotten back on that old horse and resumed the pace I had set?' I don't know your reasons, but I have a few reasons besides the adjustments I've been making since I had to take on a part-time job.

I've been second-guessing myself and evaluating what I really want to do as a writer or maybe as a storyteller. I am really thinking about the subject that the quote at the beginning of this post mentions. I am not writing because I really am not sure whether I'm writing to myself or getting caught up in the idea of writing to readers or to some market in particular. The expectations that this can foster affects whether I am going to produce something or not.

I forget that I need to write stories that I find interesting and entertaining, first and foremost. All of the other considerations have to come somewhere beyond a distant second. I need to enjoy the stories I'm spinning. Otherwise, I have to wonder what it is I'm doing. I've said before that writing has to be fun or just won't do it. That basic philosophical point is a hard one to swallow at times. I believe it, but putting the ideas into practice can be difficult.

I do believe that if I'm not writing something that touches me on these kinds of levels that, ultimately, they will not be enjoyed by readers. What do you think, Dear Writer? Do you agree with me or no?

It's okay not to write sometimes. Especially when you just don't know whether what you've tried to write just isn't fitting that important criteria of being fun and entertaining. There no reason to beat yourself up about not putting down new words, if those words aren't ones written first for yourself. Just give yourself some time, seek out the stories that are fun for you and that speak to you. Then you'll be amazed at what might happen.