Challenge,  On Writing

Challenge Still Going Strong

27 Short Stories in 27 Days…

I will start tomorrow doing covers for them and getting the raw manuscripts up on Patreon.

And finally get all that done there, including issues of Smith’s Monthly. But going to take through the weekend because I still have other stuff to catch up.

A number of times my critical voice (which only exists in the form of “Why am I wasting my time.”  I have all other critical voice wiped out.”) came roaring up. A few days I was just too tired, but wrote a story anyway. So just getting each story done each day and having fun writing. I talked about all this on this coming week’s Motivational Monday videos.

So my focus now is to get caught up on all the covers. Get Patreon in shape and the raw stories there. And keep writing.

I also made some progress today on the first novel. It is jumping from a short story done this month and should be a short one, around 30,000 words, maybe. That’s what it feels like at the moment. That can and often does change.

So now finally, for the first time this month, I can actually focus on the writing and the challenge. Going to be fun because wow was this a rough month for more than one reason. I feel like Dorothy and Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion waking up in the poppy field. Open road forward until the next thing. (grin)

7 Comments

  • Judy Lunsford

    That’s awesome that you have made it to 27 days. The first month is the hardest. By the middle of the second month, it feels like there is something wrong if you don’t do it. February should get so much easier (depending on your schedule, of course.)

  • E. R. Paskey

    Congratulations! This is inspiring, especially given all the craziness that has happened this month.

    Really enjoyed all the Motivational Mondays so far. Several of them were timely reminders of some things I knew but had forgotten to do anything about. Lol!

    I knew going into 2022 I was going to have to keep my goals modest starting out, due to some inescapable work/family things, but even with that I’m hanging in there.

    I was going to ask about January 2022 updates to the Decade Ahead class, but given how crazy your month has been…

    • dwsmith

      Kris and I have actually worked on the restart of the Decade Ahead classes. Just got to finish recording them and get them up, so soon.

  • Mihnea+Manduteanu

    Heh can’t wait for the “diary” for this month to see just how you manage to keep it going with all the work you had to do this month.

  • Lawrence

    Since the beginning of this month, I’ve written 100,000 words. I’ve finished one novel and am about to finish another. Next up, I want to write like eight or nine novelettes in one month. All thanks to you and your wife, Dean. Love you guys.

    Don’t burn out!

    • dwsmith

      Not sure how anyone sitting alone in a room and making stuff up can burn out? English teacher myth that tries to make fiction writing hard. Not hard. Burn out is a myth in fiction writing. Reality in the real world and with business and jobs. But not with fiction writing. Just critical voice buying into what others think about fiction writing and then finding a way to stop you.

      So at least for me, no fear of burning out.