Weekly Writing Check In – Page 9

Weekly writing check-in: peering into February

So, I’m already peering into February because I have stories to post.

I spent some time in Photoshop this week, creating the images for each story, and I’ll get those posts scheduled ASAP. I like being able to set and forget, at least as far as having the stories magically appear on the blog. (And it’s not magic; we all know it’s not magic. It still feels that way.)

And February’s stories will truly be all about love, because … why not? We’ll have romantic love, star-crossed love, a bit of unrequited love. You name it, we’ll have it next month.

In actual writing this week, I did some writing on a time travel story and got a notion for a pirate adventure. So. There’s that as well.

International Talk Like a Pirate Day is in September. (Did you know that? I did not.) So maybe I can post the pirate adventure then.

Weekly writing check-in: taking inventory

I spent this week looking at what I wrote last year. Mind you, I didn’t write as much as I wanted to.

Still, I managed eighteen short stories along with a bunch of story starters.

Since I’m committed to doing that 2020 project, I need to make sure I have enough material.

I also excavated some stories I’d forgotten about, some of which will work very nicely for the above-mentioned project.

So … I think I’m good to go. I do need to write some new stories, but I can certainly get through the next few months on what I currently have.

Whew.

Weekly writing check-in: starting 2020 with a sale!

Not only did I kick off the (Love) Stories for 2020 project this week, but I made a sale!

I sold a story to one of my “bucket-list” markets: a flash fiction piece to Daily Science Fiction.

So, yes, that was an excellent way to start the year. More details when I have a publication date.

I’ve been busy offline over this holiday. It’s a good thing I scheduled January’s story posts early. Otherwise, my 2020 project would not have started in 2020 (or at least not right away).

I’m looking forward to doing some new and creative things with my writing this year. Not so much goals and New Year’s resolutions–but I do have plans. I hope to talk about those in the next few weeks or so.

In the meantime, you can go check out the year’s first story: Gretel and Hansel.

Weekly writing check-in: the weather outside

It’s still so very cold here. I think I’ll be saying that until at least March, maybe April.

I did a small amount of story work this week, scheduled all my Free Fiction Fridays through the end of January, and even managed some holiday shopping.

I’ve also been doing a lot of reading lately, both novels and short stories. I have a bunch of movies on my to-watch list, but I’m all meh about them. What I really want to do is read.

And so far, this year, I’ve read 110 books. This is my best year so far since I’ve started keeping track.

I’m by no means complaining about this. I’ll keep the streak going as long as I possibly can.

Weekly writing check-in: holidays, snow, and cold

We’re getting snow; we’re getting some cold heading our way. It’s the holidays!

Even so, I managed some work on both my writing and my 2020 project this week. That’s one of the great things about flash fiction and short stories. You can make progress even when things get hectic.

And since I’m running behind this morning and we have a Girl Scout meeting later on today, I’ll leave you with this lovely picture of a snowplow.

Weekly writing check-in: announcing my 2020 project

I took last week off from the blog.

I was ruminating on what it is I might like to do next year.

Actually, I’ve been pondering that for a while.

I want to do something completely different with my Free Fiction Friday posts.

So I thought to myself:

Why don’t I post one of my stories every single Friday for a year?

If you’re thinking: because that’s crazy. Well … I thought that too.

But you may have noticed I’ve been a little vague with the writing updates. That’s because I have been writing a lot of short fiction, mostly flash, or at least stories that clock in at 2,000 words or so.

Some I could (and have) sent out to various markets. But, I want to do something different, something challenging, something fun.

Thus, the (Love) Stories for 2020 project was born.

Because I think we could all use a little love, compassion, and kindness as we head into 2020.

I already have January’s stories ready to go, and February’s and March’s slotted (I’m going for challenging, not completely stress-inducing). I also have about 25 – 30 stories I can use, plus I plan on writing some more.

At year’s end, I’ll collect all the stories in a compilation and publish it in ebook and paperback.

So. Yeah. As my son might say. That’s how my 2020 is shaping up.

Wish me luck?

Weekly writing check-in: start before you’re ready

So, after I posted about writing “seaside ghost” (which may not even involve the seaside or a ghost) and WWII, I had a mini-freak out.

I was all:

Wait! Why did I say that! I know nothing about WWII!

I then proceeded to have this conversation with myself*.

Other me: Why don’t you check your reading log to see how many books on WWII you’ve actually read?

Me: Wow … that’s a lot of books.

Other me: Now, why don’t you take a quick inventory of all the WWII books you own.

Me: Even more books.

Other me: So maybe if you don’t know something, you could look it up?

Me: …

Other me: …

Me: Okay. Fine. Use logic.

The lesson here (at least, I think there’s a lesson somewhere in here) is not so much start before you’re ready, but start before you feel ready.

In other writerly news, I made progress on some short stories and the project I’m still hoping to do in 2020.

And I finally, finally consolidated all the audio for Coffee and Ghosts and submitted the three-book bundle. I checked, double-checked, triple-checked the files, but I’m still worried I’m either missing one or they’re out of order.

*What. You don’t talk to yourself?

Weekly writing check-in: seaside ghosts will interrupt your plans

So you may have noticed that I’ve been writing a lot of flash fiction lately. I have a notion for a project I might like to do in 2020, which involves a certain amount of flash fiction.

Years ago, when I was doing write 1/sub 1, I began a story I referred to as “seaside ghost” since it was about a ghost and involved the seaside. (I know. Sometimes the last thing I do is come up with a title for a thing.) I had the thought I might take the seed of that story and create a flash fiction around it.

Narrator: She didn’t.

I’m closing in on 2,000 words, which is well out of flash range. I don’t know what I’m looking at right now. A novelette? An actual novel? Who knows? The reason I set the original story aside is it involved WWII, and I didn’t have the background to write it. I figured I’d return to it once I did a little research.

Apparently, the muse has decided I’ve completed the necessary research. I guess now we’ll see where she leads me.

I’m still hoping to complete my flash project for 2020.

Narrator: She is optimistic.

Weekly writing check-in: flash and a half

A flash and a half this week. Sometimes I start a story and then let it simmer, maybe for a couple of hours, or overnight. Occasionally, I’ll get stuck, and all I’ll need to do is stand up and walk about three feet from my computer when all the ideas hit me.

Creativity is weird.

It was a quiet Halloween here, probably because it was so cold.

I love seeing trick-or-treaters, but with three rescue dogs, it’s problematic. All three have varying responses to the doorbell ringing, but it is uniformly loud.

So these days, we set a bowl of candy on the front steps.

Even though we don’t do Halloween up like we used to, it’s still one of my favorites.

Weekly writing check-in: pumpkin spice and flash fiction

Okay, not really. I’m not even sure if I’ve had a pumpkin spice latte.

But!

I love pumpkin scones, and bread, and muffins, and pie … and… and.

You get the idea.

This week, I wrote two complete flash stories and started a third.

I’ve also been contemplating 2020 and what I might do, writing-wise.

2019 wasn’t my best year for productivity. I’m mulling on that, starting small (see above about the flash fiction stories), and I have some plans for what I might do.

And that’s all I’m going to say at this point. Yeah, I know, vague-blogging. But the other thing I’ve come to realize this year is I’m not one of those writers who can talk projects while working on them.