That Counts as Writing, Right?

I bought new stationery today (a set of three wine-colored Moleskine squared journals, 7 1/2 x 10 inches). That counts as writing, right?

Saturday I jotted down two new story ideas that came to me while working out. That counts as writing, right?

Last week I submitted a new flash fiction piece that I'd polished up the week before to two journals (one of which has already rejected it, with a very nice form letter that said "we invite you to submit again," a sentiment that I plan on making them regret). That counts as writing, right?

I started planning a trip to Las Vegas for next year, listing the things I haven't done there before (visit the Liberace Museum, fire an automatic weapon, buy an Elvis impersonator a drink, etc.), things that I want to do, as research, so I can write my next set of Vegas stories. That counts as writing, right?

Not to mention that surfing the internet last night, I bookmarked half a dozen good-looking writer's advice pages, including TheReviewReview's links to journals that publish flash fiction, a list of ten types of writer's blocks with advice on how to avoid them, and the best gifts for writers that you could ever imagine. That counts as writing, right?

And after I did all that, I put it all into this blog post. Surely THAT counts as writing, right?

No? What's that you say? WRITING counts as writing?

Oh. Right. Time to get back in the chair.

Thanks for Reading,

Stephen

In the Chair, With Flames

As Ann Patchett said in her Muse and the Marketplace 2009 keynote address, creativity isn't something you wait for. It's something you earn by sitting your butt in the chair and writing.

What she didn't say, though, was that the chair will frequently be on fire.

I've been sitting. Not everyday, not every hour available to me, but I've definitely been down in that chair this week.

And let me tell you something. It burns.

Thanks for Reading,

Stephen

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18

Well, now I've gone and done it.

Done what, you may ask? Put my writing pride on the line in a friendly wager with Cathy Elcik (you can read more about it here) that's all about being the first person to create / revise 30 pages of finished, submission-worthy prose before the end of the year. Pretty much the antithesis of my attempts to become more productive by freeing myself of the sin of perfectionism.

But there's a wager involved. Drinks on the line. What's a little backsliding going to hurt, compared to the joy of shouting "Boo-yah!" in the face of a writer you respect while drinking a Boston Cream martini on their dime?

Of course, that's assuming I'm going to win.

Cathy's working on a novel - I'm writing short stories. Really, really short stories. That's means I'm going to need something like five or six complete, thoroughly revised stories (including one brand new piece) to win this race. While attempting to write during the Christmas holiday season (Holiday parties! Dungeons & Dragons and Call of Cthulhu commitments! Football games!).

Progress so far? Two stories revised and almost ready, although both still needing one final brush-up before going out into the world. One is five pages long, the other is... two. (It's a work of flash fiction, under 500 words. Two pages is actually generous.)

I did get three pages into the new piece tonight, and it looks like it might become a reasonable story, at a reasonable length story. But it's a three-page start that's still very much in the shitty first draft category. So basically I'm at 23 pages to go.

I wonder if Cathy does the fist-pump "Boo-yah!" while doing her Snoopy dance.

Thanks for Reading,

Stephen