I had a fascinating conversation with another writer, Kirsten Weiss author of ‘At Wits’ End’ ‘Of Mice and Mechanicals’ ‘Pressed to Death’ and ‘The Mannequin Offensive’ (among others) and I came away from our chat with renewed energy. I needed that boost. It’s the feeling of “powering through” until you reach THE END that had been sadly lacking in my fiction writing life. I’ve been managing to get in gear for the few summertime freelance assignments that crossed my desk, but fiction was flagging. I needed to get back to my usual confidence.
Or maybe, I needed to reignite the spark of fear that fuels me to the conclusion of a tale. There’s a will she OR won’t she game involved, and I’ve come to the conclusion that some stories (novels & novellas) don’t deserve to be completed, but I don’t know which is which until I try. Unfinished stories were piling up. And story fragments, ideas, character sketches, and stray concepts were accumulating at an alarming rate!
What’s a writer to do?
Get back into the game.
The morning after my conversation with the prolific Kirsten, I woke up with a better, funnier, more pointed ending to one of the stories languishing in the—something must be done to make this mush into a real story category of unfinished drafts. The new version is all of that, but more to the point, I wrote the new ending because I sat my butt down and did it.
We also talked a little about the fragment/sketch of a fifth Candy’s Monsters novella that is suspended in fiction limbo on my desk. I’m going to read it and decide if I should go forward with it or find a new concept. Those determinations are hard, but it’s time to make some decisions. It’s time!
I feel a little bit more like my old self—the ‘I want to WRITE RIGHT NOW’ self! And that is the way to get to THE END.
A little fear goes a long way.
There’s something that always energizes me about sitting down with other writers. Maybe it’s because so much of writing is solitary, but writers need other writers!
In general, I’ve avoided talking writing with writers—or with anyone else—but maybe it’s time to rethink that approach?
Thanks again for reigniting the fire!
Kirsten is pretty amazing. I’ve been lurking around her blog for ages and I have no idea where she gets her energy. As for you, I’m thrilled that you’ve rediscovered some of your energy. How about jumping in at the deep end and publishing a book of /your/ short stories? I really enjoyed the Bite stories but I know you have heaps more of your own coz I’ve read them over the years.
Anyway, welcome back to the world of words. 🙂
Lots and lots of things in the early planning stages!
Good to know that readers enjoy my short fiction. I will have some kind of plan nailed together by the end of the year. Some kind of “shareable” plan, because there is nothing like going public with a plan to make it happen for real.