MADE IT! 30 Stories in 30 Days
So That Makes Ten Short Stories in Four Days!
30 stories done in April. Challenge Hit!
And that was with all the moving. I am headed back to the coast tomorrow morning very early. Moving stuff from the big house there into a smaller place near one of our stores and then getting ready to bring more stuff down here to Vegas.
So everything on target so far.
Day and The Stories
Made it out of bed about 10:30 and actually got to writing right after 11 a.m. Finished the first story in two sessions with only a short break by 1 a.m. when Kris got back from her exercise. The story was called “Center Drive” and clocked in at 2,300 words.
So we had lunch, then we headed off to see Avengers. No comment.
We got back and I took a nap, then we had dinner and watched some news.
Then Kris and I spent an hour or so doing more planning on the move. I got to writing around 9 p.m. on the last story and finished it in one session by 10:30 p.m. Story is called “Viewing Susan” and clocked in at 1,650 words.
I then went down to walk laps around the pool area with Kris for exercise, now am back here doing this before heading to bed to get up at an ungodly hour to head back to the coast.
Challenge made. Book on writing and moving will now be a reality and you can read all the stories either in the book or in Smith’s Monthly as they fire back up shortly.
For me, the lessons on this one were a couple big ones. First off, a character can really take over. All the stories are stand-alone, but after Sky got started, there was no writing anything but stories with her and Marble Grant and Sims, my ghoest agents.
I tell people that when they get behind to never try to catch up, yet it worked for some reason this time. I think it sort of became a mini-challenge inside the bigger challenge for me. Could I really do 10 short stories while in Vegas working with Kris on moving stuff and away from my writing computer? Answer is yes, seems like I can.
That’s a real excuse killer. (Grin)
So feeling pretty good. And not really behind on anything. Just in the middle of moving still.
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Day One… Scared Money… 2,700 words…. Total April words… 2,700 words.
Day Two… Rainbow Peak… 4,900 words…. Total April words… 7,600 words.
Day Three… A Beautiful History… 2,300 words…. Total April words… 9,900 words.
Day Four… A Song For The Old Memory… 2,050 words…. Total April words… 11,950 words.
Day Five… A Brush with Intent… 1,000 words…. Total April words… 12,950 words.
Day Six… Ghost Diet… 2,700 words…. Total April words… 15,650 words.
Day Seven… Rescue Two… 3,300 words…. Total April words… 18,950 words.
Day Eight… The Woman Who Knew The Time… 3,200 words…. Total April words… 22,150 words.
Day Nine… Long Hair Henry… 4,400 words…. Total April words… 26,550 words.
Day Ten… I’ll See You… 1,500 words…. Total April words… 28,050 words.
Day Eleven… Girl on the Bed… 2,000 words…. Total April words… 30,050 words.
Day Twelve… Everything Got Colder… 2,050 words…. Total April words… 32,100 words.
Day Thirteen… (did not write)… 00 words…. Total April words… 32,100 words.
Day Fourteen… (did not write)… 00 words…. Total April words… 32,100 words.
Day Fifteen… Old Memories… 2,700 words…. Total April words… 34,800 words.
Day Sixteen… Models’ Four.. 1,900 words…. Total April words… 36,700 words.
Day Seventeen… (did not write).. 00 words…. Total April words… 36,700 words.
Day Eighteen… Green Canyon.. 2,500 words…. Total April words… 39,200 words.
Day Nineteen… (did not write).. 00 words…. Total April words… 39,200 words.
Day Twenty… Something In My Darling.. 1,600 words…. Total April words… 40,800 words.
Day Twenty-one… (did not write).. 00 words…. Total April words… 40,800 words.
Day Twenty-two… Reluctant With Intent.. 2,000 words…. Total April words… 42,800 words.
Day Twenty-three… (did not write).. 00 words…. Total April words… 42,800 words.
Day Twenty-four… Two-Handeed Stand.. 2,150words…. Total April words… 44,950 words.
Day Twenty-five… Dead Woman Walking.. 2,100 words…. Total April words… 47,050 words.
Day Twenty-six… Cherry Jones.. 2,700 words…. Total April words… 49,750 words.
Day Twenty-seven… The Story of Jean.. 2,550 words…. Total April words… 52,300 words.
…………………. Debbie Does the Desert… 3,400 words…. Total April words… 55,700 words.
…………… A Time and A Place for April…. 1,600 words…. Total April words… 57,300 words.
Day Twenty-eight…. Come Around Cindy.. 2,600 words…. Total April words… 59,900 words.
…………………… Patty Bluff… 2,450 words…. Total April words… 62,350 words.
Day Twenty-nine…. Penny Dead…. 3,700 words…. Total April words… 66,050 words.
…………………… Lost Louise…. 1,750 words…. Total April words… 67,800 words.
…………………… Pleasing Pearl…… 1,900 words…. Total April words… 69,700 words.
Day Thirty….. Center Drive…. 2,300 words…. Total April words… 72,000 words.
…………………… Viewing Susan… 1,650words…. Total April words… 73,650 words.
THIRTY STORIES IN THIRTY DAYS… Average about 2,500 words per story.
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Class #49… May 1st … Depth #3: Research
Class #50… May 1st … Author Voice
Class #51… May 1st … Dialog
Class #52… May 1st … Writing into the Dark
Class #53… May 1st … Writing Fiction Sales Copy
Class #54… May 1st … Writing and Selling Short Stories
Class #55… May 2nd … Depth in Writing
Class #56… May 2nd … Business
Class #57… May 2nd … (open)
Class #58… May 2nd … (open)
Class #59… May 2nd … Novel Structure
Class #60… May 2nd … Writing Fantasy
23 Comments
Martin
Congrats, Dean! You are an inspiration for all writers! Greetings and best wishes from Germany.
Kenny
Well done Dean!
Anthony
Congratulations Dean ! Very inspiring.
Céline Malgen
Well done Dean, congratulations!
And thank you once again for sharing the whole process, it’s so full of interesting lessons. First and foremost, have fun (and you do seem to be enjoying yourself a lot in this new series of yours – can’t wait to discover it when this book is out).
And the value of a challenge, and of being stubborn (in the good sense of the word): when you were faced with several days of not writing, instead of just throwing the towel, you worked a way around, building a new challenge within the challenge, on days when you would have less heavy moving to do. Granted, not everyone of us can write at your speed (yet!), but the same principles can apply at a lower scale.
The main catch I see with allowing yourself to catch up is that if your critical mind uses it as an excuse. “Why bother writing one story today if I could be writing two tomorrow?” And of course if you continue that reasoning, you get faced with eating the whole elephant at once the end of the month, which is of course impossible. So I guess that’s why the rule of “no catching up” still holds most of the time. But you did manage to find a nice way out, great for you!
Good luck with the rest of the move, and continue having fun!
Harvey
Congratulations, and what can I say but Wow. I’m happy and proud for you. Honestly, after your streak broke fairly early, I didn’t have all the faith in the world you’d get 30 stories in 30 days. But when you had only five to do over two final days, I was certain you’d do it. Keep chargin’, Dean.
Kate Pavelle
Dean, slaying excuses with his light sabre! Congratulations, that’s big. Writing on the move can be an interesting challenge. It says a lot about your mental habits, too. It’s not just about sitting down, it’s also the pigheaded determination to shove everything else aside and choose to have fun for an hour. That, for me, is the hardest part 😉 I’d be curious how you go about giving yourself the *permission* to forget about all the outside-life or real-life things that need to be done and insulate yourself to write? How do you keep your to-do list from intruding?
Karen
Yay, Dean! Way to go! I am happy for you!
Karen
Scott Gordon
Awesome. Congratulations!
Mike Southern
So “Center Drive” is a Marble Grant story?
Tony DeCastro
Incredible! Thanks for sharing that journey. Very inspiring. I recently hit a speed bump, where I saw my streak of writing fiction every day for 60 days end. So, it was particularly helpful to me to see how you were able to keep at it after falling a little behind. My new streak is at one , as of this morning.
Kenny
That’s great, Tony!
My writing streak is now at 10, 11 later on today. (I only count writing on weekdays as part of my streak.)
Robert J. McCarter
Amazing! Congratulations. Thanks for once again doing this publicly and being an inspiration.
John D. Payne
Dean, you magnificent lunatic. Would that we were all so crazy.
John D. Payne
Also, you realize that having completed 13 stories in seven days, you’ve kind of set yourself up for another challenge somewhere down the line. I can see a book called, “How to write 14 stories in one week.” Or 15 stories. Or 20?
John Meaney
From the start, it was obvious that writing 30 stories in 30 days is impossible. Except, uh… Wait a minute. YOU DID IT!
Well done, that man!
Isabo Kelly
Well done and congratulations, Dean! That was a very inspiring month.
djmills
Yes! Well done!
A month of fun while packing to move and working a day job.
Rob Vagle
Great finish!
Scott Gordon
Again, congratulations on your accomplishment.
Here’s my update:
Wrote another 4,234 words and finished up Secret Agent Disco Dancer: Frosted Flake. I also added an Author’s Note, Wendy’s Disclaimer, etc., so not all of it was story content. All of those words will make it in the final release, though; that’s why I’m including it in the tally.
63,752 words in 14 days. I’ll take it!
Sean Monaghan
Question about writing in so many different places (by the pool, in the condo, back in Oregon, etc.), related more to novels than this challenge – how do you manage that legal pad with the notes/outline as you go? Do you carry the pad around with you as well as the laptop? This is an issue I face, as, while I have a dedicated writing space, I’m finding more and more that I’m writing on the go in many locations (none, though, as luxurious as by the pool, grin). Thanks.
Also, nice job on 30 in 30. Inspiring. I look forward to the books.
dwsmith
Yup, I almost always have the legal pad with me. Or close by. My memory is so bad, if I don’t do that and take notes about what I have written, I won’t even remember a character’s name.
Juli Hoffman
That’s awesome!!!! I’ve been pushing past my fears this year and reading that you were able to write 30 stories in 30 days…it’s inspiring. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!
dwsmith
Juli, do what I do. Make the extreme fear be not finishing. That way all the other fears sort of fall away when the real fear is not getting a story finished. Silly trick, but does work.