I’m behind. I know.
I think I’m going to skip Bess and Charlie, at least for a while, because Daniella is almost ready. I have an outline for Eb, which is a start at least, but I should have had all of those done and an F story out this week if I was keeping on schedule. But I’m not.
The long and short of it is, writing is hard. One short story per week was a ridiculous idea. I know I’m holding myself to a high standard with my writing, and I also know I’m not setting aside enough time to write, but writing isn’t just writing – it’s also coming up with a new idea each week, outlining, writing, revising, and editing, then revising and editing all over again. It’s a lot of work.
I’m not giving up. I would love to have fifty-two short stories under my belt by next February.
But if I’m being realistic, it’s probably not going to be more than thirty.
Which would still be thirty more short stories than I’d ever written, and thirty more than I would have if I hadn’t started this project. And that’s something for me to look forward to.
weeklywordsmith 
I’ve been binge reading Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. The main character has been having some trouble writing a short story for class. She says, “it’s like swimming upstream. Or… falling down a cliff and grabbing at branches, trying to invent the branches as I fall.” I’ll be looking forward to reading whatever you write, whenever you write it.
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Nails hit so thoroughly on the head like that (“inventing branches as I fall”) always make me even more insecure about my writing, because now I not only have to put words on a page, they have to be BRILLIANT?? But ironically, I think I’ll be holding on to that description for comfort for a long time, too.
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Hear, hear! I think the main thrust of this challenge for all of us is to improve our writing, so whatever we accomplish, it’s better than nothing at all.
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I can live with that interpretation! I am trying to include “meta” posts when I don’t have a story ready, so hopefully critically analyzing my “process” will also help me grow as a writer.
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I’m enjoying everything you’re writing so far – stories and meta – and I think you’re taking the right attitude about the project: it’s all progress, even if it’s not meeting an overly ambitious standard. But a word of caution from someone who knows all too well: nothing is easier than writing process instead of writing story, and comforting oneself that it counts.
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Okay, so I took a page out of your meta book with my most recent post. I didn’t know exactly how to account for being behind, so I had to invent a way to catch up so I wouldn’t have to drop out. Which I think is also part of the challenge of this – and of NaNo also – what will you do to avoid giving up, when things aren’t going as planned?
The meta posts aren’t exactly like a plot ninja for a blog, but it’s not too different. Words spent figuring out why ninjas attacked your original plan are productive words that may help get you back on track. And also — dare I offer a NaNo style dare? I’ll post a real update if you’ll post a story!
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