So, I accidentally wrote a short story when I should have been working on the last book of the Daemonva trilogy. I’m sure everyone who’s waiting for it is really disappointed right now… all two of you.
Truth be told, I’m not even waiting for this book. I’ve grown to absolutely hate this series. I’ve been bogged down in it so long that I’m utterly sick of it. It’s the reason I can’t move on to any other book that I’d rather write, because my pride is just enough that I won’t just abandon it completely and leave the story unfinished.
The story has to be finished. It has to be. Stories are made to end, and the ending must be a real ending, one that brings closure to the author and reader alike.
But I can’t keep being stymied by this monster. Hence, I sort of… stepped back a bit. I was browsing around the Submission Grinder (highly recommended for anyone looking for traditional professional markets) and I spotted a few webzines that interested me. And one of them, well… I read their submission guidelines, read a few posts of what they were looking for, and I got an idea. That idea grew into a short story overnight.
A week of tweaking, editing, sending it to a few trusted friends for feedback, more tweaking, and I submitted it. Me! The writer who’s written maybe three short stories ever! But regardless of whether they accept it or not (and it’s likely not, let’s be honest here), I think I needed to do this. From constraint comes creative catharsis. It pulled me out of my box and out of my own head, and hopefully out of the rut I’ve fallen into over the last year.
So it goes. I’ll have to see what happens next. I joined another writers’ group as well, one specifically for commercial fiction, so at least I’m in good company.
I should be finishing this and I’m not right now. I’m sorry.