story time

My friends from writing group have been published! Dale and Caleb have both had short stories published in web magazines recently. They received very little money, but it's a start. As writing credits like these build up, more prominent publishers start to take notice. And it's a good sign for the writers group, showing that our efforts to make each other better writers are paying off. You can read their stories online here:

8 Minutes - Caleb Jordan Schulz

Program Orange - Dale Carothers

I'm proud of them for getting their names out and making real progress on getting larger works published and moving toward the elusive goal of someday actually being paid to write. It gives me hope that I will someday be able to do the same. But it also sparks another emotion: guilt.

I haven't really been writing this summer. First, I was decompressing after the semester and wanted some time off before diving into it. Then my excuse became the fact that I was working 2 jobs. Granted, they do keep me running around, but it's not actually any worse than I've had before. So I really have no excuse for my lack of progress.

I've been trying to be better about this lately. I've been blogging more in an effort to at least put some thoughts in writing on a regular basis, even if it isn't very creative or even interesting. And I've been doing a lot of thinking, which is how my writing process always starts. But I think it's time to move beyond the thinking stage and leap into a project again. I'm not ready to go back to the bear story, because I have a few more things to sort out there. Also, I have 2 sequels in my head for that world and keep having trouble concentrating on only one.

So what will I write? I'm going to try a short story again, something I haven't done for a while. I usually don't bother with shorter pieces because I have a tendency to make stories far too complicated. But that's why trying something short could be a good exercise for me--give me a chance to do something different since I'm stalled out on the more traditional project. And it has the added bonus of finishing sooner--the novel will take months, while a short story should only take days (at least, to get a semi-coherent draft to work with). The idea, which I won't expound upon here--in order to keep you all in suspense--was sparked last night at Bible study, and I spent my first free hour at the library jotting down notes and planning out a timeline. I have the last sentence, but not the first (although, since I'm not dictating this piece to a stenographer, that's no excuse for not starting).

The most difficult part of this project will probably be keeping myself focused and motivated, even if it gets difficult to keep things short and moving. And actually starting! Don't think of this post as a delay tactic--read it as me psyching myself up to start. And now you, my dear readers, can all hold me accountable to actually get this done.

Wish me luck!

-Kim