Had a busy few days with commitments on all sides from work and life outside of writing, so very little progress was made in the word count. However, I did spend time at the computer working at my writing in a conscious way. I developed a revision template with notes and things that I commonly get wrong, and I’ve added this to my writing folder to look over for when I revise. I also read through Damon Knight’s Creating Short Fiction (again) and noted certain important theories on the craft that I missed the significance of on my first read through.
One of my big problem areas is that I write too much by instinct and not enough by craft. Instinct served me well in the past, when I had a vague idea of what was working and what wasn’t. But, now after all the lessons I’ve learned from VP, from writing and critiquing other stories, I need to bring a greater level of intention to bear when going through the second or third draft process. Knight’s writing manual and Jeff Vandermeer’s Wonderbook pose certain questions that a writer should be thinking through on second draft, questions which would improve the story and avoid leaning on cliched tropes. I’ve added these to my revision template and I’m hoping to write stories where a greater degree of the final product was intentional. I also purchased David Madden’s Revising Fiction: A Handbook for Writers after Jeff recommended it in Booklife, as a way to systematically address first draft weaknesses in my stories.
Oh, and I got an acceptance for “Of the Dying Light” in Silvia Moreno Garcia’s Fractured anthology. Found out about it last week. Should be out sometime this fall.
Edit to add: Forgot to mention that my friend and VP classmate T.S. Bazelli will be in the anthology as well.
😀
Aruninations 