What two things did you never thought you could do as a writer, but did them anyway?
When you started writing seriously, what were two things you thought you could never do, but did them anyway? And it worked! Either because it seemed overwhelming, a lack of experience, etc.
For a long time, I never thought I could write short stories because everything somehow became a novel, or an idea for a novel. Then way back in '05, I jumped head first into writing a story, and what do you know, it was a short story!
Granted, it was on the long side at around 8,000 words, but it was the first draft, and it wasn't a novel. Fast forward to 2008, I've whittled it down to around 4,000 words, and it still amazes me I can write something interesting that isn't novel-length, because I write long by definition, even when I tighten it up.
I've written five more short stories since and I've found them a joy to work on. It helps get a lot of my story ideas out without committing to a novel, and it's still a solid story. Of course, there are some stories that demand a novel-length tour de force, but that's fine, now I have the best of both worlds.
Another daunting challenge I attempted was writing in first person. I love reading first person stories, but every time I tried writing it myself, either it read like a character bio, or the MC came out vain and self-centered, and not in the good way.
This ties in perfectly with my challenge of writing short stories because the first short story I wrote that worked was in the first person, so I met two challenges head on and I made it work.
I find I love writing first person in my short stories in particular, and my use of first person keeps getting better. I've yet to write a whole novel in first person yet, but I'm plotting one now that I know will be told in first person (Wish me luck!
)
I'm interested to see what others have found daunting that they've accomplished.
When you started writing seriously, what were two things you thought you could never do, but did them anyway? And it worked! Either because it seemed overwhelming, a lack of experience, etc.
For a long time, I never thought I could write short stories because everything somehow became a novel, or an idea for a novel. Then way back in '05, I jumped head first into writing a story, and what do you know, it was a short story!
Granted, it was on the long side at around 8,000 words, but it was the first draft, and it wasn't a novel. Fast forward to 2008, I've whittled it down to around 4,000 words, and it still amazes me I can write something interesting that isn't novel-length, because I write long by definition, even when I tighten it up.
I've written five more short stories since and I've found them a joy to work on. It helps get a lot of my story ideas out without committing to a novel, and it's still a solid story. Of course, there are some stories that demand a novel-length tour de force, but that's fine, now I have the best of both worlds.
Another daunting challenge I attempted was writing in first person. I love reading first person stories, but every time I tried writing it myself, either it read like a character bio, or the MC came out vain and self-centered, and not in the good way.
This ties in perfectly with my challenge of writing short stories because the first short story I wrote that worked was in the first person, so I met two challenges head on and I made it work.
I find I love writing first person in my short stories in particular, and my use of first person keeps getting better. I've yet to write a whole novel in first person yet, but I'm plotting one now that I know will be told in first person (Wish me luck!
)I'm interested to see what others have found daunting that they've accomplished.
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