Do you ever surprise yourself?

There isn't much that I don't tackle, as I am a freelancer. I usually say 'yes' and figure out how to do it later. Having said this, there have been several times where I've surprised myself. Some of the topics I tackle in my freelancing life are so far out of my element that I honestly can't believe I wrote them when I look at the finished copy on paper. I got a copy of a magazine in the mail this week that had something I wrote on the back cover. I don't even remember the stuff in the article...it's not only out of my element, man, it's out of my league. My reaction to things like this is invariably the suspicion that I have multiple personality disorder. (-;

Yes. I'm a novelist, too, and figured I could never condense my thoughts enough to write anything short. My fantasy universe evolved out of an idea which was supposed to be a short story. That was several novel drafts ago.

Then I tried some of the AW flash fiction challenges and the SF/F monthly challenges and realized hey, this is fun, and I can keep it short if I concentrate on a single idea. I think it helps that the prompts have been one word prompts. I've been using the challenges to fill in back story from my fantasy universe and to explore character issues.

It's good to stretch and try something different. You might discover something you enjoy.

I virtually always write in an old-fashioned style. Once though, I wrote a story (for a contest) which was thoroughly modern (I think, lol). I love that story as much as anything I've ever written; ironically, nobody else liked it at all!

'Urban Legend':

http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewshortstory.asp?id=38396

A lot. It's not necessarily a good thing.

caw

zanizh said:

I write fiction novels...

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AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

scarletpeaches said:

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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lol. Yep. I had a problem with that too. I was trying to be nice though. Don't ever write: 'I WRITE FICTION NOVELS' IN YOUR QUERY.

*sucks thumb and whimpers in the corner*

zanizh said:

I write fiction novels. Nothing else has ever appealed to me. Now, I've finished my first short story and I'm astounded by it. I've never had an interest writing short fiction and now that the story is done, I can't believe I wrote it.

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Honest to goodness, Zanizh, I'm glad you're proud of your work. It's always nice to successfully finish a story, look back at it, and realize how great of a story and how well-written it is.

BUT--I'm really hoping that you believe there is still room left for improvement. There is no perfect work out there, and just because you think it's amazing, doesn't mean everyone will think so.

You can't set yourself up to be let down, so always make sure you're open to suggestions and are willing to take a little constructive critisism.



-KG

kathleen_grant said:

BUT--I'm really hoping that you believe there is still room left for improvement. There is no perfect work out there, and just because you think it's amazing, doesn't mean everyone will think so.

You can't set yourself up to be let down, so always make sure you're open to suggestions and are willing to take a little constructive critisism.



-KG

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I'm not sure how you took that from their post. I certainly didn't.

Zanizh-I think it is great you are expanding your horizons and dabbling a bit outside of the usual for you. It's fun and guess what, you learn a lot about yourself in the process.

If you enjoyed writing a short, you should try the Sunday night
Flash Fiction Challenge. We are given a prompt and 90 minutes to come up with a story and we post it in the forum. I have gotten some awesome ideas from doing these prompts and it has been a great learning experience. Others over the last two years have helped me to see where I can improve as a novelist.

And, if you can't make it Sunday night all you do is go to the thread with the prompt for that Sunday, read the prompt:90 minutes later you post. Pthom calls it the honor system.

Hope to see you there.

kathleen_grant said:

Honest to goodness, Zanizh, I'm glad you're proud of your work. It's always nice to successfully finish a story, look back at it, and realize how great of a story and how well-written it is.

BUT--I'm really hoping that you believe there is still room left for improvement. There is no perfect work out there, and just because you think it's amazing, doesn't mean everyone will think so.

You can't set yourself up to be let down, so always make sure you're open to suggestions and are willing to take a little constructive critisism.



-KG

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Isn't this a little patronising? There's plenty of the other kind of criticism on here too, which is enough to put many people off ever going public again. If something is re-written too much, it is no longer that author's work, but a committee effort. Who is to say what is "good" or not? Every piece ever written has its fans and those who don't like it. It's personal taste at the end of the day.

Scarlet, I love you but you already knew that. LOL

I get surprised when I am editing/revising and come across and awesome line. If I can make myself giggle with my OWN writing when I KNOW what is going to happen, then I feel I have to be do something right... or at least something I like.

I don't think Kathleen's post was patronising. But then, that's just my opinion, on top of the 'fiction novels' pet hate of mine, which in itself needs a 50% edit.

scarletpeaches said:

I don't think Kathleen's post was patronizing. But then, that's just my opinion, on top of the 'fiction novels' pet hate of mine, which in itself needs a 50% edit.

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*taps desk while reading*

ahem...we don't need to nitpick every freaking thing someone says on this forum.

the POINT is-- the OP has merit in spite of the pet thing you hate, miss SP.

I think it's great that they are finding new experiences and enjoying them. For me, writing is all about stretching, trying new genres and new venues.

You are right though, SP...Kathleen's post isn't patronizing, it is off topic and certainly extrapolated out of thin air as nothing in the OP remotely calls for such a response.

And that's my two cents worth.

Try the challenges in the Science Fiction & Fantasy SYW forum. They last a month.

zanizh said:

Sunday night! Sunday's the only day of the week I work outside my home and am not doing some sort of writing. By the time I get home, I'm dead and just want to crawl into my bed.

Thanks for the invite, though. I do participate in a weekly writer's challenge in another forum which I've found to be both fun and very therapeutic.

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That's why I said if you can't do it then, you've got time. Just don't see the prompt until you are ready.

TheIT said:

Try the challenges in the Science Fiction & Fantasy SYW forum. They last a month.

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And just why don't I see you on Sundays? hmmm?

We all have pet hates. One of mine is people who leap on other people's posts and ridicule them.

zanizh said:

I guess I need to start editing, revising, and rewriting my posts here.

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Why? If everyone did that, the number of posts would drop. We often see poor sentence construction and/or spelling errors in posts, but none of us are submitting posts for professional consideration.

zanizh said:

When you're writing, do you ever "mistakenly" write something that is completely out of your element? What was your reaction to it?

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To get back to the original post - which was an interesting one, BTW - I haven't done it mistakenly, but have deliberately stepped out of my comfort zone and surprised myself with the result. One time was when a mag I sold a short story to said they wanted ghost stories.

What? Me write a ghost story! But, with a nothing ventured, nothing gained shrug, I had a go and sold three ghost stories.

qwerty said:

We all have pet hates. One of mine is people who leap on other people's posts and ridicule them.



Why? If everyone did that, the number of posts would drop. We often see poor sentence construction and/or spelling errors in posts, but none of us are submitting posts for professional consideration.

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What you call leaping and ridiculing, others would call having standards.

Everything you write should be written well - not just submissions, but office memos. Christmas letters, and e-mails, absolutely everything. Practice good grammar, thoughtful construction, and original metaphor all of the time, and it will become a habit. If you dash off meandering, run-on, badly punctuated paragraphs, it will be that much harder to dial up quality when you need it.
-Michael Wiecek

In other words...

Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well.
-Earl of Chesterfield

scarletpeaches said:

What you call leaping and ridiculing, others would call having standards.

Everything you write should be written well - not just submissions, but office memos. Christmas letters, and e-mails, absolutely everything. Practice good grammar, thoughtful construction, and original metaphor all of the time, and it will become a habit. If you dash off meandering, run-on, badly punctuated paragraphs, it will be that much harder to dial up quality when you need it.
-Michael Wiecek

In other words...

Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well.
-Earl of Chesterfield

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Quoted because SP got it right this time.

You wouldn't believe how many times I read that before posting and I bet there's stil a typo in it somewear.