It has been one month today since undertaking the goal to complete 52 short stories in 52 weeks. I am nowhere near meeting it but I do feel encouraged by what has happened in the past 29 days.
- 3 & 1/2 rough drafts of stories on their way to completion
- 2 drafts of poetry
- 1 submission of poetry to HOOT literary magazine
- 1 sketch (a portrait)
- 1 plan to self-publish my first manuscript of poetry, The Latent Talent of Conception
- Participation for the first time in a “write-in,” six of us scrawling/typing a total of 8,114 words in each other’s company
- Only one half of one book read: Sula by Toni Morrison
- Subscription to Duotrope for manuscript submissions and tracking
- Subscriptions to Glimmer Train and Alaska Quarterly Review
- So many cups of coffee and Americanos. Black.
I continue to find fiction more challenging than enjoyable to write. However, a process is unfolding and it’s getting easier and even fun!
Last night, during four separate sprints in which we wrote continuously in chunks of 20 minutes, I hashed out about 400 words at a time and then returned to add layer upon layer of detail and interest until I could read it without dying of boredom.
As evidenced by my list above, I have a problem finishing stories. On a side note, I write boring plots and characters; I have little imagination.
However…it does seem to be getting a teeny bit easier and the writing has improved.
Mindy Goorchenko 