New Stories
Because I was nearly done with a couple of stories at the end of the year, which I finished early into 2018, I’m currently in a position where I’m starting lots of new stories rather than revising completed stories. It means that my brain is in overdrive working out all of the details, figuring out the plots of the stories, and doing all the research that I need to keep me writing.
Even for short stories, I like to have at least a rough outline before I get started. It’s not like a novel outline, but it’s at least the rough course of the story. And I’m far more likely to diverge on a short story than on a novel, which is why I sometimes wind up with an almost 6,000 word story that ultimately has to get carved down to no more than 5,000 words. But, then again, it also sometimes means that I sit down to write and realize that I can do the whole thing in under 1,000 words.
When I can, I prefer to have a mix of working on old and new things, because it lets my brain do different things. That way, if I get stuck on drafting, I can turn to editing, or vice versa. When I don’t have that option, I just have to keep on trucking.
In a couple of weeks, I’ll be able to get back to a mix of revising and drafting. And then, soon after that, I’ll start having completed stories going out to markets. But for right now, I’m dealing with a lot of blank pages and just charging in when I’m able to!
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