Last week I was so depressed over a couple of routine rejections that I felt that expending any more energy on writing was futile, even as I sent both pieces forward to the next editor on this list [ yeah, I maintain a list so I know who to torture and curse next.]
Then I had an idea: Hoping that writing something easy would clear the mental cobwebs and dispel the aura of gloom that had enfolded me, I proceeded to through together an "outline" and then write a page for each of its ten lines. There are some stories I can write almost without thinking. The words, the scenes just roll out, one after the other. I manage to sell some of these for some strange reason, but that's by the wayside. The problem was that some of the outlined scenes became multiple pages and, by the end of the third session (I tend to write in four hour sessions each day) I had over seven thousand words, some of which (I say modestly) was pretty damn good.
As I did this the issues with the other WIP became clearer, their paths to completion open, and concerns about their probable sale diminished. The diversion seemed to be well worth it so I continued my usual rearranging of the chairs, putting the scenes in an interesting sequence, trimming a bit here and there, moving snippets about so the reader didn't get lost, and in general touching up the language to improve the literary aspect.
Finally, four days in, I had a well organized tale and could begin turning it into a story. Although this was an exercise to clear the cobwebs it turned out to produce a half-decent short story, which was an added benefit. The takeaway on this is to remind myself to stay creative, even if it means heading off in a completely different direction.
To add to my pleasure, I also received a contract for another piece.
Then I had an idea: Hoping that writing something easy would clear the mental cobwebs and dispel the aura of gloom that had enfolded me, I proceeded to through together an "outline" and then write a page for each of its ten lines. There are some stories I can write almost without thinking. The words, the scenes just roll out, one after the other. I manage to sell some of these for some strange reason, but that's by the wayside. The problem was that some of the outlined scenes became multiple pages and, by the end of the third session (I tend to write in four hour sessions each day) I had over seven thousand words, some of which (I say modestly) was pretty damn good.
As I did this the issues with the other WIP became clearer, their paths to completion open, and concerns about their probable sale diminished. The diversion seemed to be well worth it so I continued my usual rearranging of the chairs, putting the scenes in an interesting sequence, trimming a bit here and there, moving snippets about so the reader didn't get lost, and in general touching up the language to improve the literary aspect.
Finally, four days in, I had a well organized tale and could begin turning it into a story. Although this was an exercise to clear the cobwebs it turned out to produce a half-decent short story, which was an added benefit. The takeaway on this is to remind myself to stay creative, even if it means heading off in a completely different direction.
To add to my pleasure, I also received a contract for another piece.
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