I see a dinstinctive difference in productivity between my short story writing vs my novel writing. Novels are scarier to screw up, so I’m much more careful with the world building and outlining. Which means it takes me as long to outline and research the novel as it does to write it. Part of it is in short stories, I have to measure my worldbuilding carefully, and in a novel, I can go crazy.
Except that I shouldn’t. The writing phase needs to start soon. I can’t worldbuild forever. I could, but that wouldn’t get the novel finished.
So this week I’m going to focus on the environmental details and get this book started. I just need to confirm how they live, the food chain, shelter, etc, all within an acceptable level of make-believe. That’s the fun of fantasy, but it still has to be grounded in a reality that makes sense for the book.
In addition to this, I’m trying to revise one short story for a contest deadline at the end of the month. I just started a new short story (2 days in, I think I might come close to finishing it tonight), and I’ve been making time to read.
In between all this, I’m putting the finishing touches on a short story workshop I’ve written and am going to teach on FMwriters at the end of the month. It’s designed to help people who want to write a short story and for whatever reason (I have some theories), just can’t. I’ve had so much fun with my short stories, that it just kills me to hear someone say they can’t write one or they don’t know how. I’m constantly writing, editing, revising, studying, trying to write better. I’m happy to take a few days away from it to help other writers type “the end”.
Tick-tock, my friends, I’ve got to get to that story.
Happy Writings!
Dawn
DAWN BONANNO 