Size Matters

"Every writer I know has trouble writing." - Joseph Heller


I have a writer friend who has already produced 7,137 words this month (I'm talking about you, KL) towards their NaNoWriMo goal. Another friend is workshopping one of their novels in one writer's group, and a second, written in a completely different genre, in another group. Yet another friend has made a contract with herself to write as an (unpaid) part-time job, for fifteen hours each week, in order to finish her novel within a year.


Me, I squeeze out short stories. And we're not talking 16-20 page short stories, but rather flash fiction (under 1,000 words), or 1,500 - 2,500 word tidbits of stories. One first draft of such a miniature every three to four weeks, if I'm lucky. It's not because I write slowly. It's because I don't write that often. And this month, I'm starting to get a bit of a complex about it.


I'm a guy, after all. Size matters.


Having a heart attack brought home to me on an intellectual level how limited our time on this earth can be. To turn that understanding into a change in the habits of a master procrastinator, however, may require some professional help.


So, this coming Saturday I'll be back at Grub Street for a Time Management / Stop Procrastinating seminar, "The Time of Your Life," taught by productivity coach Hillary Rettig. I've heard good things about her seminars, and hope to be able to internalize her approach to get more writing down. I'm not talking writing a novel in a month, but even a 3,000 word story, or two or three new 1,500 word masterpieces, would be nice.


I'm also going to attempt to revive this somnolent blog, shooting for weekly updates every Sunday night. 


Short updates, of course. It's what I do.


Thanks for reading,


Stephen