Category: "story-marathon"
Followup #3: Short Story Marathon, Two Years Later
Two Years On Two years. Wow, I really can't believe it. A lot has happened to these stories since this crazy experiment was finished: 4 stories have sold (over 13%) and I have a few more sales pending...
Followup #2: Short Story Marathon, One Year Later
The Short Version (TL;DR) Time flies when you're writing like mad... I started this whole thing a year ago today, which is so hard to believe. The stories have done well in the market, "The Stars in...
Followup #1: Short Story Marathon
The Short Version (TL;DR) I was a different person during the challenge. Focused. Driven (well, more driven). Exhausted, but happy. I prefer writing stories quickly, just letting the story take you...
Day 34: Short Story Marathon. FINISH LINE
Summary And... done! A quick pass on "Through Other Eyes," a bit of cleanup, and off to Dean! And if you are wondering, I was up early and writing. Started another story that is a follow up to "Wink,...
Day 33: Short Story Marathon
Summary Last story today! Really, can't believe it. Last night when I was pondering it, the pressure descended. Last story of the challenge, better make it good. Nope. By the morning I had shaken that...
Day 32: Short Story Marathon
Summary Late start writing today at 6:45 a.m. (hey it's a Sunday) and wrote a short time travel story called "Goodbye Mrs. Hopkins." I thought it was going to be another piece of flash fiction, but...
Day 31: Short Story Marathon
Summary Another tough start this morning, but not as bad as two days ago. After a few false starts, I dug into a new story called "Last Days with Mary." It's #26 and 2,700 words long and is another,...
Day 30: Short Story Marathon
Summary Finished up "Death by Apathy" and sent it off. That makes 24 stories out the door in 30 days! Aleia really liked this one, but I didn't think much of it yesterday. A little time away, another...
Day 29: Short Story Marathon
Summary So I think I worked too much yesterday. I got up a little late, and made it to writing at 6:30 a.m., but couldn't get anything going. I started several stories but I was either heading into...
Day 28: Short Story Marathon
Summary Another very busy day. #22, "Article Seventeen" out to Dean. Wrote a story about a magician called "One Last Trick." It's #23 and 4,300 words. This one did some big, unexpected twists at the...
Day 27: Short Story Marathon
Summary Busy day, but managed to get #21, "Woody and June vs. the Ex" out the door to Dean. Wrote a short sci-fi story called, "Article Seventeen." It's #22 and at 2,800 words is a much better length....
Day 26: Short Story Marathon
Summary Finally hit the end of "Woody and June vs. the Ex." At 10,000 words it was a blast to write, but a streak buster for sure. Fun was more important here than the streak. With the four of these...
Day 25: Short Story Marathon
Summary Onward with "Woody and June vs. the Ex." Things slowed down a bit today. Our heroes are at the bottom of the Grand Canyon just having escaped a zombie hoard. These stories are very much about...
Day 24: Short Story Marathon
Summary Last night after I posted yesterday's entry, my wife was in kitchen late, cranking the Eagles and cooking. Not wanting to be at my desk anymore, I grabbed my laptop and sipped red wine while...
Day 23: Short Story Marathon
Summary Up in front of the computer just before 6 a.m. again, no idea what to write. My brain came up with an interesting sentence written from the perspective of an android that has just been powered...
Day 22: Short Story Marathon
Summary Did a short session early, but cut it off to go run before the heat hit and the work day started. That sure helped; got my body moving and my emotions perked up too. The pace of this challenge...
Day 21: Short Story Marathon
Summary Busy work day so harder to get the hours in today. Early, lunch, and late. Did another "Death by" story in the world of Shuffled Off. This one is "Death by Cookie" and is about 4,000 words....
Day 20: Short Story Marathon
Summary Had a tough time getting going this morning with writing. While I like "Jump in Time" a lot, it took a lot of energy and I didn't get enough rest over the weekend. This is a pacing issue. I'm...
Day 19: Short Story Marathon
Summary Out for an early run today--the heat wave making it too hot to run later, even up here on the mountain--and the pieces of "Jump it Time" floated around my mind, tempting me. So, back to it...
Day 18: Short Story Marathon
Summary Back to "Jump in Time," but this thing has taken on a life of it's own and is over 5,000 words with a ways to go. Lots more research and a much more complicated story that the other "In Time"...
Day 17: Short Story Marathon
Summary Back to staring at the blank page this morning. I've done it many, many times now but it's always intimidating--and I think that's okay. The trick is to just find something, anything and...
Day 16: Short Story Marathon
Summary Back to the scifi story I started last night, this one has a good, solid title: "With Light Years Between Us." Made some progress early, but something wasn't right. Realized I was writing too...
Day 15: Short Story Marathon
Summary Started up on a new scifi story early, taking on the blank page again--that is, starting with nothing, not even an idea before getting to the computer. What popped out was an idea I had worked...
Day 14: Short Story Marathon
Summary I had trouble sleeping last night and had this whisper of an idea that felt like it would be interesting and short. By the time I got up, my mind was derailed by worries about cultural...
Day 13: Short Story Marathon
Summary Back to "A Long, Hard Fall" this morning. I think I was tired at the end of the day yesterday (5,000 words is a lot for me) and needed to clean up the plot a bit, and the climax got tossed and...
Day 12: Short Story Marathon
Summary Decided to go back to the world of Shuffled Off and have some fun with my ghost detectives Walter and Emily (their first case is in Life After) in a story called "A Long, Hard Fall." I had...
Day 11: Short Story Marathon
Summary Had a interesting image occur when I walked Madison (our ridiculously adorable spaniel) last night of an android walking along a sand dune all alone. So took that this morning and did 1,000...
Day 10: Short Story Marathon
Summary Day 10! Into the double digits here on this marathon of writing. Didn't know what to write this morning and browsed some exiting starts and saw one I had tried 3 different times that had a...
Day 9: Short Story Marathon
Summary Busy day and away from my computer for most of it. First meetings and then a summer picnic with the company I work for. Up early, the early sunrise waking me up earlier than normal which is...
Day 8: Short Story Marathon
Summary Got back to "Home in Time" and finished it. It's ready to read to Aleia, but no time today. It came in at 4,450 words, again longer than planed. Later, grabbed a 875 word fantasy start from my...
Day 7: Short Story Marathon
Summary One week in, 4 stories away, 26 to go. Yeah, this is starting to feel like a marathon. Up very early and threw out yesterday's start on "Home in Time" and started fresh in first person with...
Day 6: Short Story Marathon
Summary Got up early and went back to "Woody and June vs. the Grand Canyon." Corrected my misstep and threw out and redrafted a lot of the end. I had moved the character's relationship a tad too fast,...
Day 5: Short Story Marathon
Summary Interesting day. Yesterday I left "Woody and June vs. the Grand Canyon" at over 5,000 words and not done yet, thinking I might have taken a wrong turn. So, I set it aside and started a new...
Day 4: Short Story Marathon
Summary Two stories out the door! Story #1, "Woody and June vs. the Fungus-Head Zombies," and story #2, the sci-fi android story now with a title,"Daisy’s Heart". I read "Daisy’s Heart" to Aleia this...
Day 3: Short Story Marathon
Summary Found the end of the second story (scfi with an android), cleaned it up, and it's ready to read to Aleia. Cleaned up story 1 (Woody and June vs the Fungus-Head Zombies) and read it to...
Day 2: Short Story Marathon
Summary Busy day with work and life, so writing was slower as expected. Started with a line that came to me when I was going to sleep last night ("I was six the first time I wished I was an android.")...
Day 1: Short Story Marathon
Summary Wow! I think I really wanted to do this thing. Up too early and lots of writing. I grabbed a story start for something I really wanted to write and in a morning session, evening session, and...
A Short Story Writing Marathon: The Plan
Run/Write: The Briefest of Intros I've been writing seriously and regularly since 2009. I started running in 2015 and it has given me great perspective on writing. You see, writing is a subjective...
A Short Story Writing Marathon: Introduction
Run/Write: The Briefest of Intros I've been writing seriously and regularly since 2009. I started running in 2015 and it has given me great perspective on writing. You see, writing is a subjective...