One week and counting

By BritInFrance · Nov 15, 2012 · ·
  1. I joined the WritingForum just over a week ago, and it has already helped me immensely.

    Just before I joined I decided I needed to write something everyday. Anything really, just as long as I was writing.

    I set myself a daily target of 500 words. Not too much to be daunting, and unachievable. Not too little to be worthless.

    Joining this forum has helped me, not only focus on my current project (writing short stories based on some characters in a fictional English coastal town), but experiment as well.

    I have contributed a story to last weeks Short Story Writing Competition, I have joined an RPG (I have never done that before). I have been reading other peoples work, and posts, and contributing too. It is great to think that there are so many others out there motivated to write.

    Looking at some of the ages of other writers on the forum, I wonder if I would have written more if I had had access to something like this "back in the day". I keep holding on to the fact that the author PD James started writing in her forties (first book published at my age - 42).

    I am currently writing a story for this weeks Short Story Competition (Dystopian Fiction). This is more of a challenge for me than The Storm (last weeks competition). For The Storm I thought about different meanings of the word. I had an idea about storms and anger and then was able to write the first draft in around 2 hours. I revised it twice the same day and then posted it.

    Dystopian Fiction is a different animal. I have had an idea for a story, which I have been batting around for three years, but haven't been able to find the right way of getting it on paper. This competition made me think about that story from a different angle. I started it on Tuesday, and on Wednesday started again from a different view point.

    I have still not finished, and am not entirely happy with it. For one thing the length (currently around 2000 words), and also I am not sure how it will end.

    But, yet again WritersForum has come to help. In thinking about this blog post I was going to state that I didn't think it was possible to write a short story in under 1000 words on this topic. And then I thought... unless... and suddenly I thought of a new angle to write the story. It will still be longer than I would like, but already I feel happier about how the story may look, and feel.

Comments

  1. JJ_Maxx
    Brit,

    I too, am working on this weeks short story and I have to admit, I had to do some research into dystopian fiction. It took me a week just to think of a decent plot! (...and I'm still not 100% sure of the ending!)

    Hopefully I can finish the first draft today or tomorrow and then get to work editing. (Ugh.)

    :)

    ~ J. J.
  2. BritInFrance
    I had to start again, today. Mind you, I have more time than I thought I did two days ago (I had misread the instructions and thought the deadline was today!). Good luck - look forward to reading it.
  3. JJ_Maxx
    What was the matter? You just weren't 'feeling' the first one? I just finished my first draft and I'm in the pruning process. Still 2100+ words though. Shorter than my last entry though so I'm getting better! :)
  4. JJ_Maxx
    Oh Brit,

    I just read your story and it was great! Sad, but great! I wish our stories were in reverse order, so your story would bring them down and mine would bring them up!

    So many questions! You left it wide open to whether the Omigos would get their comeuppance or not! Would the democratic nations be able to force human rights on the Omigos?

    This reminds me a little bit of 'The Island'. In my head, I hope that the transport shuttle gets hijacked by anti-Omigo mercenaries and Marc is thrust into a world completely different from his own, and his crown is removed, and he has to go back to rescue his family and take down the Omigos!

    Nice job. :)

    ~ J.J.
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