Hello, my readers. Today, I think I’m going to discuss a little detour I have made in my writing experience. As I discussed in the post about “Mentors, Family, and Friends“, support in your writing journey is very important.
My circle of fellow writers is not very broad. In fact, I personally know, outside of blogging and Instagram, two fellow writers, and one of these (who has chosen to remain unnamed for the time being) writes in a form that can overlap mine. He and I have been encouraging each other in our writing journeys for some time now. He often writes short stories and has been published in anthologies. So, as he was searching for another anthology to submit his work to, he came across one and thought of me, his fellow writer.
Normally, I don’t write short stories. They are difficult for me. I prefer more time to develop plot and characters. I like to delve into the emotions of my characters; what motivates them, what makes them who they are, and why they would react a certain way in certain situations. In other words, short stories are not a form of writing at which I would normally jump. In fact, I remember when my writer friend suggested my writing a short story for an anthology before, or even just writing a short story in general, I balked.
Yet, that was not the end of the story. (Pun intended.) My brain had gotten hold of the idea – a dragon story – and didn’t want to let go. I remembered a story I had started to write (and never finished) back when I was first dabbling just for the fun of it. I stripped the story almost bare, took out a very few key points, and started with those while approaching the concept from where I am in my life now.
Short stories take a great deal of effort from me. In fact, when I started writing this short story “Dragon Brother,” I realized that I had the makings of a novel. I was told, quite plainly, by my writer friend, that – yes, indeed – I needed to shorten it … by a lot. Even when I tried to shorten the story, he had to inform me that I had not been able to write a self-contained story. I had written as though the story would continue in another chapter. It was still basically long form and I went back to the drawing board.
The next attempt was more condensed; it was closer to what I had meant. This time, I was told I had managed something closer to a novella, but had still written as though there was more to the story. There was not enough substance in the few thousand words to hold a reader’s interest. A short story should be pithy right off the bat and all the way through.
My writer friend, not being as close to the story as I, was able to see where the kernel was. He told me that was the part I needed to write about. Of course, the deadline was getting close at that point. Apparently, I work well under pressure and I managed to keep it right around the 5,000-word limit. With much beta reading and editing it was finally ready to send.
Now, here I am, with a short story accepted into an anthology. See how important accountability partners are? As of this writing, we are now not far away from the publishing of the anthology Dragon Dreams, in which my short story “Dragon Brother” will have a place.
What did I learn from this experience? Some of my readers might remember that I am not particularly fond of traditional publishing. That is still the case. I do like the self-publishing route, for many reasons which can be found in my blog post “5 Reasons I Love Being a Self-Published Author”, and I think traditional publishing needs to up its game. Does that mean that I am completely against traditional publishing? No. It is simply my personal preference to avoid traditional publishing as a general rule.
So, what was it that convinced me to take this route? I would like to say that, at least this time around, Storm Dragon Publishing seemed to be fairly reasonable. Editing on my story was minor and changed none of my meaning. It is nice to have an established entity behind my name since I am still early in my career. At this point, I am not getting paid except in free publicity, but that publicity is something over which I am pleased. In fact, you can find my author bio in the Author Page for the Dragon Dreams Anthology on the Storm Dragon Publishing site. This route might not work for me every time, but it does this time.
I think another reason for my choice was the challenge. It put my thoughts into a different form. It gave me variety and helped me look at things from a different angle. I had been going through a bit of burn out from working solely on one novel rather than letting my mind shift gears by alternating projects. (I will address the concept of having several WIP and macro-multitasking in another post.) It was refreshing to have such a different project and my imagination was able to spark again.
I can’t deny that it was a return to the delight of younger years. Revisiting this old story concept and my fascination for dragons, which I held so fondly in my earlier years, was incredibly invigorating. It was a return to that wonder where I simply wanted to write it down because of the fascination with this story about magnificent, intriguing creatures of high adventure. I don’t know what prompted me to come at it from the youthful wonder of a child, but it was the right course because it tapped into deep emotions and brought me back to my original passion for writing. This was a great boon for me. I had missed those easy flowing adventures, and it was wonderful to grasp that again; those times when I could almost feel my hands on the scales of the dragon on whose back I rode.
I am going to leave my readers with a couple of key points. Don’t get yourself stuck in a rut. You are going to get burned out. Mix things up. Even if you prefer to self-publish maybe consider trying for an anthology. It won’t be quite like getting a full novel published traditionally, but it will give you a different experience and, who knows, you might find that you would prefer a route somewhere between traditional and self-publishing, or even prefer traditional publishing altogether.
Also, please remember your circle of supporters. You need that support and that accountability. I know there’s an exception to every rule, but every writer needs someone to make sure they take a step back so that they can see their work better, help them slow down so they don’t burn out, or to keep pushing them when they lag, (as my accountability partner has been doing with my novel. Again, thank you.) The point is don’t neglect, “Mentors, Family, and Friends.”
Last but not least, remember to take time every so often, especially when you feel like the writing experience is becoming a little lackluster, to consider how you might be able to revisit the old stories, the adventures you had when you were first learning to write. These are the stories that, even if they weren’t the best writing, held your passion and attention, that had your pulse racing and your eyes wide with excitement. Remember to go back and recapture that. You might not be able to hold it forever, but you can take hold of it more than once. That is incredibly important. As you go about your writing journey, remember to keep it from going stale. Let others help and encourage you. Revisit that youthful amaze, whether it be literal youth or writing youth, so that as you journey, you can enjoy the wonder.
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