The Plan

Major rewrites on Shade, my current WIP, are at 95% but that last 5% has been driving me nuts.  I’m not sure how it’s supposed to end.  I really wanted to get it done, even if it was extremely far from perfect so I could put it into cold storage for awhile, but nothing is coming.

The BFF suggested I put it into cold storage anyway and that perhaps time away from my WIP will reveal my ending to me at a later date.  So after a week of doing nothing but blogging and feeling frustrated, I’ve decided she’s right.  Into cold storage you go Shade!

That suddenly frees up a lot more time, but time that won’t be wasted.  I’ve always wanted to try my hand at writing short stories.  I even began prepping for it a few months back, cramming my head full of Ernest Hemingway and Ray Bradbury short stories.

This time I still intend to cram myself full again of short stories from the masters, but now Anton Chekhov is on the list.  Since I’ve heard from a number of sources to make sure to read his stuff, I will attempt for the next month or so to get through his 201 stories available on Eldritch Press for free.  We also have a massive Hemingway book I can dig into as well.

I’ve already started reading A Living Chattel.  Not typically my kind of story, but it’s amazing how well these stories are written considering most are 100+ years old.

I also plan to read Donald Maass’ books Writing the Breakout Novel and The Fire in Fiction as well as Robert McKee’s Story, and perhaps Stephen King’s On Writing, and take copious amounts of notes for improvement on Shade while it remains in cold storage.

So, here are the official goals for October/November/December:

1. Write at least 3 short stories intended for publication.  I’ll probably try my hand at several more than three, but the hope is to find three gemstones among the rocks.
2. Read the helpful books to prepare me for the editing fest that will be late November early December on Shade.
3. Have read all 201 available Anton Chekhov’s short stories from ibiblio, sprinkled with Hemingway and Bradbury.
4. Once December hits, tear Shade apart and polish it to pure awesomeness!

I’ll keep you updated on my Fall Goals as time goes on.  I think this will be a great time for short story inspiration as well.  Especially when you have sights like these:

This fabulous sight I’ve dubbed the Rainbow Tree I see every night I drive home from work, though only recently have I taken notice of it.  I know, the red isn’t technically part of the tree, but it’s the whole package that counts.  There are some other beautiful trees in my complex that take until almost winter to change, but they turn into real rainbow trees.  One of them I’ve nicknamed Rainbow Brite.  But I’m digressing into my love of Fall…. Focus Jae…

So yes.  I’ll post my progress here.  Maybe I’ll join up with Row80.  In fact, let’s consider this my post for Row80.  My goals are stated, I’m in.