Writing a Short Story

My region is taking a collection of short stories from our local NaNo writers with the express purpose of compiling them into an ebook. The sole purpose of this anthology is for the entertainment of our former ML who had to bail on NaNo completely this year due to her steadily worsening health.

We were told that our former ML has many things that she loves (and so we assume she would enjoy reading about in short story format). This includes: all things Firefly and Nathan Fillion, plot bunnies/ninjas, chick lit, zombies, Doctor Who, Supernatural, getting lost/stranded in Nebraska (that was the plot of a few NaNo novels in our former ML's time), cats, and pirates. By picking at least one element from this list, the current ML's thought it would make a welcome present for our wonderful many-year NaNo ML while she attempts to heal from this debilitating illness.

When I heard that she loves Firefly, I immediately thought that I should write a story about the crappy town where Wash is a hero. Then, I latched onto the idea that reavers are pretty much zombie plot bunnies. It is a stretch, I know. I spent many nights after I hit 50k trying to figure out how to start this damn short story and went to bed frustrated each time. Should I find a script and rewrite that script in narrative with the characters as anthropomorphic critters (so I can fit my zombie plot bunnies in, naturally)? Should I try to write a completely new story, sticking to the regular story of the show? What the hell am I supposed to do here?!

Frustrated with a blank page, I turned to a creative outlet that always lets me rid myself of frustration- doodling. In the end, I ended up with a critter drawing based on every Firefly character. Mal became a wolf. Inara, a sexy cat. The Tams became parrots (cuz parrots are super smart- duh!). Wash- 100% raccoon. Shiny! Zoe became a jaguar. Kaylee is the cutest puffy cheeked squirrel you'll ever see. Jayne- a ferret (because while they sometimes do incredibly funny things, mostly they seem to bite and cause a ruckus). Book- the sage turtle. And last of all- my reaver bunny. The pencil sketches were alright, but they didn't pop on the page until I added ink outlines. I tried to add clothing to each character that would signify who they represented. Wash has a loud obnoxious shirt. Mal has his long coat. Jayne is wearing his hat. Book has his hair. You get the idea. Anyway, I took some creative liberties with my reaver bunny. I colored them in with a combination of markers, wax crayons, colored pencils, and MS Paint with varying results. Most of them looked better as plain ink line drawings.

So that was over a week ago. When I sat down to write this morning, I was nowhere closer to figuring out how to write this short story than I was at the beginning or middle of the month. I gave up. I can officially say this: I do not write fanfiction. It is not my forte at all. However, my reaver bunny stuck with me and I decided to stick with just him. Once I made that decision, the flood gates of inspiration opened for me. I wrote 1.3k in about an hour. No outline. No clue about a plot. I just wrote in my normal fashion- pantser all the way, baby.

This "Firefly fanfic that was" has morphed into a thriller/horror about a zombie rabbit. I read it to L once I finished. She listened like any 10 year old who adores her big sister would. When I finished and asked her what she thought, she smacked me and told our mother that if she can't sleep for the next month, it is all my fault. So I guess I at least got that part right. It is scary enough for a 10 year old at the very least.

So will this short story ever see the light of day? Who knows...I don't have a clue. Maybe it will serve a purpose at some point. If the ML's decide to actually sell the ebook, I'll be sure to provide a link for it for anyone that is interested. Until then, I thought I'd share my zombie bunny (or the "Reaver that was"):

Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS

Writer's Block

The worst thing a writer can tackle is writer's block. It hits randomly, hits hard, and really screws up your day (or week, or year...). Big name writers from every genre have written about writer's block. You'll find countless forums, articles, and blog posts on the topic. It gets to everyone one way or the other.

The dozen notebooks full of story ideas aren't around for nothing. I have thought up hundreds of really great story ideas, character descriptions, worlds, etc. But writer's block kept me from picking them up and running with them. I never completed school assignments until I absolutely had to. So in elementary and high school, I wrote the rough draft the day it was due; in college, all of my papers were written the night before. Immo1 is the first full length first story I have seen through to completion.

In 2009, I spent a lot of time evaluating why I couldn't finish a project. It wasn't because the ideas were boring, or I hated where it was going or my writing skill. I couldn't even get that far to make a determination. The only way I was able to work on and then finish something was a deadline...a very short deadline. It was then that I realized that I work the best under a time frame that doesn't give me wiggle room. That in itself is why I wanted to participate in the NaNo. It gave me everything I craved. A time frame (30 days). A tangible goal (50,000 words). Check points along the way (daily goals, notification if you were behind or ahead). A prize at the end (being a NaNo winner, the blue bar).

Here are some things that may help with writer's block.

• Find your writing setup. Mine is a fresh cup of coffee, music in the background, things to stare at, and a comfortable chair. Non-messy snack foods help too (mints are great). What is relaxing to you? What inspires you? What can you live with and live without while you write?

• Find a time that works. I have read a lot about people that feel writing is best done in the morning, with the sun rising and the birds chirping. Well, I hate the glare from the sun on my computer and birds freak me out. My best writing time is evening. It is mostly quiet. The critters are less active. I am not groggy from just waking up. I've gotten at least five cups of coffee in by then. When are you the most energetic? I'm not talking spastic, just awake and ready to DO things. Temper that with when you CAN work. There are few folks that are lucky enough to make writing their job. Most of us have jobs away from our personal computers. When I wrote Immo1, I was in work mode from 6am to about 4pm five days a week. I couldn't write until evening anyways. Find your equilibrium. If for some reason, you don't have to work (adopt me. seriously.), you are luckier than the rest of us.

• Get rid of your inner editor. Yes, I know. Editing is important, blah blah blah. But if you never write your story, you'll never have something to edit. Get your story down first, then worry about nit picking it to death if you must. That is the first rule of the NaNo and I absolutely love it. You can fix mistakes later. You can fill in missing details later. If it isn't important to get the story running, don't worry about it until after the story is written!

• Think of writing as a job. Yes, for some folks, that means taking on a second or third job. If you want to be a writer, deal with it. Stephen King wrote about writing as a job in his book On Writing. He likened it to a physical, labor intensive job. I agree with him. When you think of yourself as a creator, not of art, but as a craftsman, you are laying the foundation for a great work. You work piece by piece (or in this case, word by word) to make it great.

• Create deadlines. I absolutely must do this in order to write. If I don't have a specific time to turn something in, then I get lazy and stare at it, but never work on it. It is a real problem. I make up short and long term goals and set deadlines for each. It is a learning process in itself. Maybe you think way to highly of your ability to crank out pages and set a deadline to write a 100,000 word epic in a week. Possible? Probable? That is up to you to determine. Figure out what you can work with, and stick to it.

• Multitask. Work on multiple projects when you can. I'm currently writing Immo2 in addition to building up notes for a second series that I will be writing once I finish the last of this trilogy. When I feel like I have nothing to give Immo, I switch gears. Writing a story and planning a story are two very different things. It helps to have something else to work on that is in a different step of the writing process. They are very different projects. Immo is epic fantasy. The untitled series will be young adult urban fantasy. That helps too. Do you have something else you can work on? If you are a writer, you do. You know you have other writing projects sitting around, waiting to be picked up. Blogging is great for this. But make sure you blog about something other than your current main project. Too much repetition makes Jack a dull boy.

You write because you love to write. If you are writing for any other reason, you are doing it wrong. Keep that in mind the next time you get frustrated by the blank screen.