The other day my girlfriend said something that at first I took as stupid, simply because my feelings were hurt. I told her that in 2012 I plan to finish two novels, and also about one short story a month to submit to 'zines (as well as the occasional special piece for her). That seemed pretty ambitious to me.
She immediately said, "Could you do one a week? I love your stories."
At first I was too hurt to take the compliment. I felt as if she were belittling my plans, and also thought she was speaking out of ignorance about what that amount of writing entails.
But, she asked a fair question, and it's more important than my bruised feelings. It made me consider three factors:
1) Death. I think about this one a lot. I'm 51 and diabetic; how many writing years do I have ahead of me? I want to leave behind a respectable body of work.
2) I know I need more "web presence", more name recognition; I want it to come from my fiction, not from stupid blogging or tweeting or self-promotion. Putting out a lot of short stories is the ticket. It really exercises your writing muscles, and the more publications I've got on my resume before querying about a novel, the better.
3) I'm a lazy bastard. Always have been. If I'm going to break that habit, might as well do it in a big way.
So, I may not make a story a week, but I am going to push myself harder.
