Have you entered GiggleFest2010?! If not, head to Tuesday's post to submit your entry.
In other news: I am quitting writing.
Ha. Made you squint. But, I am trying something new: short stories. My CP suggested I do this since I have been struggling to get more than 250 words out a week. I love that short stories have to be quick, efficient, and if you use one wrong word the whole thing can fall apart. Another CP of mine wrote a titillating short story which was published through an online literary magazine two months ago. She is now Well into what will be a full-length novel. Watching this progression was amazing and inspiring. She knocks out over 500 words a day, sometimes over 1000. Yeah, in one day. I have done that three times in the year I've been writing.
That reminds me. I wrote my first story one year ago on Saturday! At that point writing was an unknown for me and it took the aid of Benadryl and a wasp bite to set things in motion. What I wrote was a story about a lost balloon and his quest to be reunited with his owner. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be where I am today: 22 PB WiPs, 14 MG WiP's, 10 YA WiPs, and 20 or so odds and ends related to my dream of writing (including a screenplay, go figure).
While these numbers may seem like a lot, let's put them in perspective. Some days I look at the files and think, wow I am set for life, those are the times that the files feel like an unexplored horizon. But most days those files feel like a wall. My ADHD prevents me from focusing on just one project and by the time I buckle down it's midnight and I am falling asleep. Oddly enough the ADHD does not prevent me from successfully chatting, twittering, blogging, facebooking, youtubing, or social networking of any kind. That's because I am also an extremely visual person and social networking sites are set up to constantly change and present something new and fascinating.
This is in stark contrast to the scene I have been writing for two weeks which keeps replaying in my mind, but I cannot capture on paper. Yo, this post is too long, especially since I am exploring short stories. Durr. Lessons learned: social networking is fun, but bad for me right now. My WiPs and concepts are clambering for my attention. I need to spend more time on schoolwork. My CPs and writer friends are the most supportive people in my life right now.
So, author-friends. Tell me 1.have you written short stories? 2.did you do well? how? or why not?
Holy catfish, that's a brilliant idea. I think it's definitely worth giving it a go. You have so much writing under your belt already, but I think finishing something will really help you feel confident. I bet you would excel at the short story. I like to read them, but I tend to create plots that can never be finished quickly, so I haven't written many short stories in recent years. BUT, I can't wait to see what you turn out.
ReplyDeleteI was lucky enough to take a wonderful class called "Writing Short Stories" a few months ago, and I loved it. What I learned most in that class was that a lot of times, instead of writing a short story, it's easy to write a chapter... leaving off with a cliffhanger that actually needs to be explained, or not having a beginning, middle and end are common mistakes. Your character needs to go through a significant change and have a conclusion. If you want, I'm happy to send you any of the short stories I wrote, or talk with you about ideas. I think this is a great idea! :] Good luck!
ReplyDeleteOMG, that is BRILLIANT! Yes, short stories sound PERFECT for you at this point in your life! YAY, write one and send it to me! I wanna read!
ReplyDeleteShort stories are the best. thing. ever. If you want to try submitting them, go to duotrope.com. They have a nice list of online magazines/regular magazines/journals/etc. that publish short stories. That's how mine was published!
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking me!!! :-) You da man!
Short stories are a great way to work on creating tension and story arc (and to give you that sense of accomplishment). I say go for it! Regarding the fact that you're such a visual person, have you ever considered writing graphic novels? They're hard to do because you have to visualize a scene and write the script for it, but it sounds like it might be right up your alley. Happy writing!
ReplyDeleteGo for it.
ReplyDeleteFor the past year, I've been submitting short stories to build a list of writing credits. Figured it might look good to a prospective agent and would be a great learning experience in-process. So far, I've been right. But no agent yet...
i've never been a short story writer or reader. when ever i read a short story i find myself wondering, and then what? i just like the character developement potential of novels so much more.
ReplyDeletebut even if i don't read short stories, lots of people do. and there are lots of literary mags that publish them. and lots of writing contests where you can enter them. and lots of other great ways that writing short stories can help establish you as an author.
i often wish i did write short stories for all those reasons. i'm just incapable of telling a story in less than 50k words.
I've never been a big short story person, probably because I despised them in high school (with the exception of Poe). I can't believe how many WIPs you have, Jon. Wow. You are my new hero. :-)
ReplyDeleteShort stories no, not since school. But flash fiction yes. Does that count?
ReplyDeleteI started with short stories. Took workshops (note, "workshops", not "classes"). Worked on structure, sentences, characters, what to say & not to say... Invaluable for me.
ReplyDeleteShort stories led to screenplays, led to novels. Not that your path has to be so long... I'm just saying all the work along the way paid off. Of course at the very beginning I tried novels... they're practically an anthology of the first halves of first chapters.
Short stories are an amazing way for honing skills.
Hi, my name is JennyB and I found you're blog on Ali Cross' blog. I really enjoy you're blog, it's refreshing and interesting. I have the same problem with ADHD, I start working on my novel then I get distracted and start working on my book of short stories. Sometime it's good to work on two things at once, it helps you get more things done faster.
ReplyDeleteYou guys rock! Thanks for the words of encouragement. I get excited when I feel like I am on the right track for once.
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you, JennyB. Ali is one of my most favoritist ppls ever.
J--Yay for short stories. Also--I wonder if you talked about the scenes that run through your head into a voice recorder or something--that might be a better medium for you than going directly to paper. There are some voice recording apps that would type for you (or I would do it--you could dictate to me... I'm pretty quick.) If the issue is the ADHD, we can figure out how to get around that. Don't give up on what is working--the social part. Let's just figure out what to do with the challenging parts.
ReplyDeleteokay, I love Heather's idea of a voice recorder and not going straight to paper. And the love you are getting from the comments is spectacular. You have a ton of good friends that love you. I'm guessing that is in part because of your social networking love and energy. I don't know why this whole thing has my hackles up. I think it must be me. I should apologize in advance probably and shut up. But I am not going to. I just don't think that ADD thing is such a deficit. Look at how you focused and got that Mylar story and Roy G. Biv and the biginning of stepbrothers. Look at how much love and energy and excitement you put into a million of things. The thing about finishing and writing well is big a** skilz (that comment is for H and D) and that is the stuff that takes time to learn. You might be a millions time better off that me because you spent your time learning on a billion beginnings and not the 4 years (7 if you count the grad school and the bunch of essays that I never did nuthing with). I love the idea of short stories. Go for it I think it would be great. Or try making Mylar into a novel. Or do both. And do SfM with me. I am convinced you could do it all if you let yourself instead of struggling against what is your natural writing predator instinct. Hunt all the ideas down and keep learning how to finish.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if this is convincing or even on the subject anymore. But it sure is heartfelt.
Hey Jon! First, I want to give you a great big ((hug)) because you deserve it. And, like, a zillion more. I've got 'em, you can have 'em whenever you want.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I haven't written any short stories, but I think your CP was brilliant to suggest it. What a great way to establish a habit of completion, to feel the satisfaction of writing THE END. Then when you turn to your novel-length WiPs you'll know you can do it - you can reach THE END!!
Tina, you're too cool. Re:MYLAR, I was high on Benadryl, so I am not sure if focus is the right word. And re:ROY G BIV, I was during a lucid period AKA autumn 2009, which is when I wrote about 100,000 words. That time is long gone though and getting that kind of focus back will take calculated steps and support. I have the support, clearly, and I appreciate it soooo much. Heather has done research re:the 'calculated' steps, so I think autumn 2010 can be another period of success.
ReplyDeleteAli - *huggles*
ReplyDeleteThe first short story I wrote was in high school. It was great. Too scary, though, so I ripped it up. Then I entered a contest and sucked. Then I entered 2 more much later and won. lol
ReplyDeleteDo children's story's count? They are short. :D
I'm excited to see how this works out for you...might be just the thing. Oldest Daughter says she has ADHD because she has a hard time focusing when other people are talking. I tell her she has RUDE.
ReplyDelete