Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

Another Bryant Street Story

November 20, 2017 /

Three of the Last Four…

And all of them have come in around the same length. I have no idea why that happened. Never usually does. My stories tend to vary all over the map in length.

But nine stories done so far and I’m enjoying the process and so far Kris has liked them all, which has shocked me, to be honest. And a couple of them can be novel starts.

Today was a pretty standard day. Went to the writer’s lunch at 2 p.m., worked out at the stores for a short time, then back at WMG offices until I headed home to work at home on household stuff and then take a nap and cook dinner.

Then did a bunch of email and got to the story around 2 a.m. after watching some television. Story took 2.5 hours to write with one short break in the middle and came in at 2,200 words.

So far, here is the November Short Story Challenge. (10th through 30th.. I will have covers in a few days as well.)

1… Under the Skin of Death… 4,400 words…. Total words so far… 4,400 words.
2… Half a Clue… 3,700 words… Total words so far… 8,100 words
3… That Human Fear… 1,700 words… Total words so far… 9,800
4… The Remarkable Way She Died… 2,100 words… Total words so far… 11,900
5… Under Glass… 2,700… Total words so far… 14,600
6… Remembering the Last Laughter… 1,700 words… Total words so far… 16,300
7… A One-Shoe Victory… 2,100 words… Total words so far… 18,400
8… The Man Who Tasted the Other Side… 2,100 words… Total words so far… 20,500
9… Stranger in the Shadows… 2,200 words… Total words so far… 22,700

So total writing time today… 2.5 hours.
Total work time…7 hours.

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SIGNING UP FOR WORKSHOPS…

There are now two ways to sign up for the Regular Monthly workshops. Either write me directly and have me sign you up on the list or simply click sign up on Teachable.

Those of you with credits from either the Kickstarter or the certificate special we just offered, you must write me to sign up.

Those who would just like to sign up directly can do so on Teachable at any point. December workshops are there. November workshops will be closing down on Tuesday for any signups coming in late. But until then, if you don’t mind jumping in late, you can get into any of the November workshops just fine.

Nice to have some options on that.

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2 Comments

  • Sheila

    November 20, 2017 at 4:34 pm

    I’ve been watching your challenges for a long time now. But I’m getting a really different perspective now that I’ve done the short story challenge. Watching your hours spent and words produced and length of story. Noting “novel starts”. (Ha! It feels somewhat triumphant to know that you experience this as well. Grin.) And whether or not they “worked” (ie Kris liked them). I did not achieve 30 stories that “worked”. I wonder if you expect to have 30 “good” stories, or if you also have stories that you know are really novel starts or need to be put through the mill or set aside for pondering, shall we say?

    • dwsmith

      November 21, 2017 at 5:21 am

      Sheila, I would never set aside a story to ponder. I am done with a story when I finish it. Period. Nothing to ponder.

      Do I write stories that don’t work? Well, Kris might say she didn’t like one or something, but I put it out to readers anyway. One reader or my tastes are not the best measuring stick. I have had stories that got soundly trashed by readers when I was doing workshops that went on to be my bestselling short stories.

      So sure, I write stories that are novel starts, but by and large they still work as stories. If I get into a story and realize it won’t work as a story and it is a novel start, I just stop, call it a novel start, and start a new short story. Hasn’t happened this month yet, but three of my ten stories so far could easily be novel starts.