Wrote the opening 1100 words of my new short story competition entry. Before I can continue though, I need to fully plot it. I only have the general outline at the moment.
If it's the one I think it is, I'm not entering it this month, been too busy with the upcoming one here.
Filling up a notebook on the train to New York. I was inspired by a particularly bitchy Karen-type who said some dumb shit to me. She is being immortalized without noticing it!
Edited a couple more drafts. Definitely going to have to expand on some of these chapters, maybe even add in a few character focused chapters. Some of these characters feel like appendixes to the story. Unimportant and possibly detrimental if left unchecked. The knights and squires barely even exist. I'm probably gonna have to read through one of the Guardians of Ga'hoole Books and see how the unamed guardians were handled there because I can't remember.
It's not our writing competition. (for once) I'm entering a big one, with hundreds (maybe thousands) of entries. Just thinking about the level of competition and the quality that my work should be makes me cringe about entering it.
Awesome! Good luck with it! And I wouldn't worry too much - I imagine most other competitors will be thinking exactly the same thing as you.
Now worked out most of my plot, with just one loose end to either tie up or remove entirely. This will be my first piece of non-Vancian writing in a while, but I'm looking forwards to it!
Been stagnant for over a year on my writing. Trying to dive back in. So no progress today but trying.
That is really impressive PiP!! Carry on!! Allow me to offer a different view towards competition. I used to play badminton to a very high level (I had a coach who was a national champion) and I was really poor in the few tournaments I entered. It wasn't a skill thing, but a mentality one. I joined a club my uncle played in. Their level wasn't great as it was really a 'keep fit' group but one player told me something that I hold onto everything. I am sure most will know this, but he said that if you go into a competition thinking you will lose, you have already lost the match. It is because of this that I take a bold stance in having super faith in my stories even though I know my writing standard is not that great. It's not being foolish or blind or even being so arrogant to think my stories are the best, but the mindset in believing in something knowing a million people can knock me down ... because they want to. You got this Mish! Clarity in mind will translate to great writing. All the best! I am always buoyed when reading someone returning back to writing. It isn't easy after stopping for any period of time but keep going... slowly slowly and develop those routines that made you write. Keep us posted!! You can send me a snippet of your work anytime... I will be more than happy to have a look and offer some views! Good luck too!
This was followed by Venture Capital guy in a Mercedes Benz hat talking about "deals" at the hotel bar last night. There's something about NYC that gets my notebook full of random shit. Keep being you, humans....
I was very pleasantly surprised to find out this morning that I won the October Poetry Challenge on .com!
I didn't know you wrote poetry! I find it so hard to write which is strange since a few of my readers have said I have a poetic style?!?!? Well done Louanne! You're turning into the superstar who is soaking up all the awards on both sides!
It feels like a while since I gave feedback to a writer on their stories. I did this privately here, but still keep in touch with other writers from another site and gave them some views on their piece via email, reminded me of fun times learning with other writers to improve my own writing. So the feat? Well I had to break down this story into 3 parts and just completed and sent feedback for the final part of their story. Doesn't sound like much but I miss following my friend's stories. There are many of those I wish to read stories from again. They are very talented, supportive of me and I do miss those days when there was time to talk about writing and exchange stories. Will bug some of them and see how they are.
Neither did I! But I find when your story-writing is not going as planned, sometimes it helps to take a break from it and write a poem. A way to still express a little bit of creativity. Thank you! I look forward to seeing you in the contests in the future!
Drafted two more chapters the past two days. Feels like this one ended a bit more abruptly then I would've liked. They were more character focused than anything. I wanted the one to reveal his backstory in the last one but he's too closed off, guess I'll have to save it for the next one which is fine. It gives people a bit more to speculate on. Almost done getting the basic plot written. Once I do that, I'll take a break then fill it out a bit more. I'm also rewriting the food served during the meal scenes, right now it just feels too basic.
I finally submitted my entry for that huge writing competition. Feeling uncertain, I've never written this type of political story before, I hope it doesn't rub anyone the wrong way. At the same time, I like reading what I wrote, which is always a good sign. Looking forward to April 2025 when the winner will be announced.
I've submitted a slightly edited version of Fael the Apprentice to a publication. I've got another place where I want to submit it as well. I took some of @Louanne Learning's advice re the opening paragraph, so thanks for that! I'm back in the business of collecting rejections again.
I originally thought "well, I need to keep it like this because this is how Jack Vance writes" - but you made me go back and re-read some of his openings, and it actually isn't how he writes - that was just my impression!
