Merrilee Faber is running a Creativity Workshop that will run from now ’til August. It involves writing lots of short stories.
Even though I’m in the middle of a novel edit, I joined because I’m still not done with my novel, and I’m feeling quite bad about that. In the long run, I’ll benefit if I give this workshop my all; it should help me complete works in a more timely manner.
Our first assignment is to assess our weak-points or other things we’d like to work on during the workshop when it comes to writing short stories.
So without further ado…
Speed~~
I’m too slow at finalizing my work. I don’t know if it’s a lack of self-imposed deadlines, lack of discipline, some form of deep-seated perfectionism, or something else entirely holding me back, but I want to get over this hurdle and produce works at a more professional rate of speed.
The goal of this workshop is to generate an idea, write it, edit it, and have it be presentable within the course of a single week, multiple times over.
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Quantity~~
I’ve been writing since late 2007, and all I have to show for it is three presentable short stories and the rough draft of a novel. I feel like I should have more notches in my belt by now.
If I follow the guidelines exactly, I can add a dozen presentable stories to my short story count.
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Writing at home~~
When I’m at home on the weekdays, besides the usual family stuff, I have this tendency to lay around, play video games, watch movies, read, surf the net, … basically do anything but write.
It’s not that I don’t ever write at home, and it’s certainly not that I dislike doing it, but it’s rare enough that I felt it was worth mentioning here, so take that for what it’s worth.
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Flowing words~~
If I could write short stories as easily as I write posts, I’d be dangerous. I have 220 posts here. Imagine if those were short stories instead….
It’s pretty rare to hear about an author with a long, accomplished career having any more than 100 short stories to their name; there’s clearly a difficulty gap between a typical blog post and a short story, but it’s food for thought.
Is writing a short story really so much harder and so much more time consuming than a blog post? Why? Does it have to be? These are the questions I wish to examine during the workshop.
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Ideas~~
I don’t have trouble coming up with ideas per se. Just ones that are good enough to inspire me.
They say there’s ‘good’ ideas and ‘bad’ ideas, and a good writer knows which is which. But I’ve taken that so much to heart that I’ve never bothered to take what I think is a bad idea and try to cultivate it into a good one.
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Planning~~
While I planned out my novel as if I were constructing the Great Pyramid itself, I’ve always been a pantser when it comes to writing short stories. I wonder what it would be like to work out a short story from an outline?
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NotFantasy~~
Most of the time, my short stories end up being at least slipstream fiction, if not, out-and-out literary fiction. I want to produce more genre fiction, because frankly, that’s what I enjoy reading the most.
So there you have it– My list of shame. If I can iron out some of these wrinkles, maybe the rest of my novel will come easier. Only time will tell.
Oh, and if you’re interested in this workshop, by all means check it out!
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Comment by Merrilee Faber — April 30, 2010 @ 10:04 pm
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Comment by Nick Enlowe — April 30, 2010 @ 10:39 pm
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Comment by Merrilee Faber — May 1, 2010 @ 5:21 am
For instance. one of my short stories ended up being a modern dramatic romance with a female lead.
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Comment by Nick Enlowe — May 1, 2010 @ 6:52 am
“I have this tendency to lay around, play video games, watch movies, read, surf the net, … basically do anything but write.” Ah, who doesn’t?! My biggest distraction is my iPhone – I’m slowly learning that I need to leave it in a different room if I actually want to get any writing done!
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Comment by Davina — May 2, 2010 @ 3:49 am
Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind about speed. It does make me feel better :)
It’s strange; what usually gets me in front of the keyboard (at home) is either GUILT, or being inspired by something I just read. Then sometimes I surf the net instead of write. Maybe I need to get one of those cool AlphaSmart units like you have.
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Comment by Nick Enlowe — May 2, 2010 @ 6:21 am
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Comment by Yuuko Ichihara — May 3, 2010 @ 5:01 pm
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Comment by Nick Enlowe — May 4, 2010 @ 6:26 pm
I identify with the writing at home one. I have a certain place in the house where, if I can drag myself to it, I will write. It’s that getting there that is the hard part.
Coincidentally (or not) it is the one seat in the house where I can’t see my TV, playstation or library books.
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Comment by Eliza — May 4, 2010 @ 6:50 pm
Still, it’s hard for me to get down there, too. Especially when I can snuggle with my laptop on the couch upstairs, opposite my X-Box 360 :P
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Comment by Nick Enlowe — May 5, 2010 @ 6:34 pm