A short story has sneaked into my life and decided to stay. Thanks to my lovely group of fabulous and dedicated writer friends, I have managed to write my way through a whole new shiny short story about nothing in general and life’s quirky moments in particular. Deadlines really help me write. When I know that someone is eager to read what I am creating, I am more likely to put aside all the other thousands of little publishing things that I should be doing and dedicate my time to my pen and writing book. Yes, I am one of the antiquated writers who actually prefer to write longhand. It seems to fit better with my precise and concise style. I am a looking-out-of-the-window-far-too-often kind of writer. My eyes get sore if I gaze at the screen all day so I see writing as a relief from the pressure to write quickly and efficiently, the way I might for a web post like this one.
Fiction takes time to germinate. I suck on every word to work out if it has just the right flavour for that particular sentence. It feels good to be back. I can finally reply ‘yes’ when readers ask me whether I am writing something new. One short story is just one short story, I realise this, but my novel The Hum of Concrete is made up of connected short stories and I know that it isn’t all that easy to find the balance when your words are limited. With conventional novels there is more room to move, to expand ideas, to fall for the temptation to describe minute details.
I am looking forward to hearing the verdict from my fellow work-shoppers and reading the story again, this time with my more critical editing eyes on every word.