I pledge to write 50 short stories in the next six weeks - defining a story as at least 1000 words and contaniing a beginning, middle and end.
This is the write-a-thon goal that launched my professional career. You can read about that on my blog.
If you donate, please feel free to leave a comment requesting a character name, plot element, what have you! I will reward you with inclusion in my fiction. After all, I have fifty stories to come up with!
41/50
Day one:Two very crappy rough drafts created! One is a locked room mystery in space, the other a story about the swan brothers adjusting to human life.
Day two:Banged out a 2.7k story on an old topic - building a velodrome on Mars. Went easy. Not as serious a story. Also found a half-complete draft of something and completed it. Feels good.
Day three: Finished a story started day one and picked at on day two. Longest so far at 4,700 words.
Day four: Finished a story started yesterday, on an old idea. Space food. Not sure I quite hit the point? Starting another story that I hope is more cozy, near-future, personal stakes.
Day five: struggled to finish that story. It's either heartbreaking or a mess. Maybe both?
Day six: struggled on three different stories, finished a micro-flash, can't count it. It's only 400 words, but doesn't feel like it can be longer. So a wash.
Day seven: finished one of the stories from yesterday. 3.6k - it kept needing more plot. And a 2k very literary thing. and a flash
Day eight: finished a fantasy piece started, um, two days ago? About stepmothers being nice.
Day nine: four started stories, nothing going over the finish line, then I had an idea while brushing my teeth and finished one. About my childhood.
Day ten: started 6 drafts, failed to hit the finish line on any.
Day eleven: finished one of the drafts from yesterday. A ghost story that needed more theme. Then I wrote a silly piece based on a prompt.
Day twelve: Started a thing... no idea how to finish it.
Day thirteen: Drove to a convention - did not write
Day fourteen: Finished the thing from day twelve!
Day fifteen: Wrote some longhand in a panel, started shaping it into a story. Drove home. Was exhausted.
Day sixteen: Typed in the longhand story and gave it an ending. Also finished off a story I started in my journal at the convention.
Day seventeen: Day job haaaaard.
Day eighteen: should I be updating this every day? Ugh. Um... tried to write.
Day nineteen: Dashed off a literary thing.
Day twenty: finished a thing I started a while ago, about trying to grow an oak tree in space. Then I dashed off a flash that is ... eh, it is. I'm at 21 for 20 days - need to be at 25-ish though because tomorrow is the halfway point!
Day twenty-one: wrote a micro flash abecedarian. I decided a whle ago that I would count three micro-flash as one, so since this is my third, I'm giving myself one point.
Day 22-24: slowly eeked out a longish story that's pretty bad about cultural anthropology in space.
Day 25: whipped up a rather quick draft of an old idea. Robot Van Winkle. I think I'm three stories behind now?
Day 26: Wrote something a bit literary, but I like it. woo half-way!
Day 27-28: Started three things - but like just a paragraph each. At a convention.
Day 29: Yay! Finished one of those things. A story about sisterhood at a space gas station.
Day 30: Finished another one of those things started at the convention, a sort of "The Borg are the good guys" thing and also started and finished something about patriarchy being bad for men. I estimate I am about 6 stories behind goal right now.
Day 31: Finished the third of the one-paragraph starts from Confluence! It's on the old "Take me to your leader" trope also wrote a reimagining of an old horror story I wrote in college about a romance novelist.
Day 32: Worried my day count is off. Ten days to go? Sounds about right, actually. Anyway, found an old outline for a story titled "Vacation on the shore" and wrote that.
Day 33-36: I got siiiick. Didn't write for several days. Completely lost track.
Day 37: Three story day! Woot! I'm back in the saddle!
Day 38: Two solid days in a row, I'm up to 37 stories!
Day 39: Finished one to take me to 38. Not sure it works. I say that a lot, don't I? Prompt was "Sexy Gargoyle Librarian". Then I dashed off a quick thing on a formula I like, three scenes. 39! Can I make it to 42 for a story a day?
