Success in six months!

Six months since my last post. Implemented my plan to write, revise, and send out short stories to publishers. Six months later I received an email from Fountain Magazine informing me I'd won "Honorable Mention" in their 2014 writing contest. Yippie! Not only will my story Twenty Forty-Six be published in Fountain Magazine's 100th issue this summer, a cash prize of $200 was awarded too! Publication and money. So excited. Now I can call myself an author, not simply a writer. Inspired I move forward writing, revising, and sending off my short stories to publishers.

Sending Out Stories

Throughout the summer I diligently wrote, revised, and rewrote scenes for our book with my writing partner. We added a forth writing day and write together over the internet. Recently we decided we each needed to get a few short stories or articles published. I have a dozen or so pieces in various drafts and started reviewing and rewriting these. My writing partner and I critique each other's pieces. We see ourselves as our own mini critique group. We encourage each other and hold each other accountable for sending out stories. We are committed to sending out two stories/articles each month. This is the motivation I need to get my stories out to publishers. Acceptance or rejection of my stories is not what matters. Just sending out my stories is important.

Life Interrupts Art

Three months. Life interrupts! When last I posted in March, my coauthor was on a three week vacation. The week she returned my dear out-of-state friend came for a two-week visit. May brought family events and travel issues. But come June, life settled and my coauthor and I devised a writing schedule -  we write Mon. Tues., and Thurs. mornings from 9:30 to 12:30. Three days a week is manageable as we organize the main plot and subplot scenes along the story timeline. Together we write new scenes as well as rewrite previous ones, brainstorm ideas and clarify scene goals. Joy-joy-joy it is, writing again.

Write something each day

My co-author is on a three week vacation so I have turned my writing attention to other projects, an advantage of having several writing pieces at different levels of development. I continue reorganizing Dubious Grief writing scenes and letting the material flow. I've given up trying to impose a predetermined structure on the story. For my historical novel I'm mostly done with the research and now think about how my protagonist will react to specific events and write short snippets to develop into scenes later. I write whatever interests me on a daily basis. My goal is simply to write, write, write something every day.

Complementary editing styles

Yesterday during my writing session with my co-author we discovered our minds work very differently as we approach editing and organizing the book. We are using a spreadsheet to identify each scene we have written, it's purpose/goal, and the take away for the reader. I'm a plodder. I work best if I can concentrate on one editing task at a time. My co-author tends to see many tasks as we work on organizing the material. Her mind is like a pinball, easily moving from one task to another. So we discussed these differences and decided my focused approach and her ability to see all the other editing issues actually are complementary strengths. As we plod along identifying each scene goal, she notices where the 'holes' in the story are and records these in a note column. Reminders of editing tasks to pursue next. Once we figured out how our different styles complemented one another we were able to edit in a way that suited both our styles.

See new post on Dubious Grief page.

Rejecting the 'lone writer' ideal

I have never been comfortable with the 'lone writer' image. For me writing works best as a collaborative experience. Writers need feedback from other writers on their stories. Critique groups are one way to collaborate as is enrolling in a writing class. A third collaborative options is co-writing stories with another writer. Writing stories together may sound risky to those writers who have not experienced this collaborative process, because our 'writing ego' gets in the way. My writing partner and I agree our co-writing experience works for us. Often she reads aloud what I have written, suggests edits, and I do the same for her. When she suggests I "kill a darling" I put my ego aside and discover I often agree with her analysis. Because we are writing a novel together, this helps me refine my characters, story threads, and offers ideas about how my characters might react to the characters and scenes my colleague writes. Co-writing our novel keeps the story moving, provides valuable feedback, and keeps me laughing as I write.

Keeping the winter blues away!

January ends tomorrow and my writing has moved forward significantly during the month. Writing several pieces at various stages of story development has kept me on my toes. Most helpful has been designating specific days and times for each project. Two days a week I write/revise with my writing colleague. One day I work on my Dubious Grief material and this keeps my memoir project moving along even without the writing class I usually participate in. In the evening I ponder new story ideas and file them away for a later time. I have also taken up watercolor painting - so nice to have a truly free creative activity outside the structure of writing. All in all this month has confirmed my belief that variety in my writing and other creative activities is key to keeping the winter blues away.