Hey, would ya look at that? It’s Friday! Time for a happy dance.
My week went pretty well–much better than last week. I’ll admit I didn’t get any writing done, but that’s because I was participating in the second (and best) part of the NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge: reading all the amazing entries. On Tuesday, the forum on the competition’s website opened up, so many competitors, including myself, posted our stories for others to read, enjoy, and critique. Thankfully, work was super calm this week, so I was able to read, enjoy, and critique many of them. Like, over 40!…Yeah, my eyes are starting to hurt, lol.
In addition to reading stories, I received terrific feedback for my own, Chasing Monsters. So far, the general consensus has been positive! I think that calls for another happy dance 😉
Here are just a few comments people have made:
“That was an incredibly suspenseful and horrifying story…”
“Wow. THAT was one of the best short stories I’ve ever…“
“Wow Jen!!! What a story!!! You had me right on the edge of my seat from start to finish!”
“I LOVED this story.”
“I wanted to let you know I am still thinking about/cringing over your story a day later. Can’t think of higher praise for a suspense story.”
“Very Guillermo del Toro-esque and I mean that as a compliment.”
“Wow – an espresso coffee hit of a child’s tale! (Laced with rum!)“
“Love your writing! This was like a modern Grimm tale!“
Okay, one more happy dance? Yeah?
Success! Thank. God!
Honestly, I didn’t expect this positive response for Chasing Monsters. I was so, so, soooo nervous and “ugh” about it. Why? Well, mostly because the subject matter was so dark and intense. I’d originally plotted a different twist in my story, but when I approached that twist, my characters yanked me in a different direction–a scary, grim, uncomfortable direction. I was also anxious because I genuinely struggled with writing this story (details here), and the more I struggle with writing something, the more likely it’s horrible and needs be tossed out.
I’m glad I didn’t.
And I’m glad I trusted my characters and followed them down the bumpy, twisty path they led me.
In addition to the positive feedback, I’ve also received some awesome constructive criticisms that will definitely help me improve Chasing Monsters should I ever decide to go back and revise it…Will I do that? I don’t know. People have asked me to, but to be honest, this was the hardest story I’ve ever written. It emotionally destroyed me last week and took me to dark places I never want to revisit…But, then again, I do tend to torture myself, so maybe… 😉
Anyways, in honor of my small but sweet success this week, I’ve dedicated today’s Friday Funny to my characters from Chasing Monsters.
Thank you to everyone who has read Chasing Monsters. I won’t know for over a month how I officially did in the first round of the NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge. Despite the positive response from readers, I’m still not holding my breath. Judging for this contest is 100% unpredictable.
How was your week? Read any good books? Make progress with your own writing? Tell me, tell me!
Jen’s Weekly Roundup
Done and Done – Round 1 Short Story Challenge 2014
Book Review: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Chasing Monsters – NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge Entry
A True Thursday Treasure – Hermione is born
First thought? Thank God I didn’t get romantic-comedy or comedy! Not only are those my least favorite genres to write, but they’re so subjective compared to the other genres. If a judge doesn’t have the same sense of humor as you, then you’re SOL.
SPLAT!
Yeah, I was upset. Not only had I worked really hard (like forget-to-eat-and-change-my-clothes-for-two-days type of hard), but I’d emotionally drained myself. During my initial plotting, I’d (unexpectedly) decided to take on a touchy topic that made me uncomfortable, sad, and angry. To think of all that time–all those emotions–wasted…Ugh. But I knew my beta reader was right. The story was good, but it was not a suspense. It was a drama.
Hence began a week-long journey I hadn’t planned on taking. Waking up super early to write before work, and staying up super late to write after work. It was a jagged, “blerg” process that was frustrating, exhausting, and discouraging. It seemed each draft I cranked out was met with the same “It’s good, but it needs ‘this’ or ‘that'” reaction. By Tuesday night, I considered scraping the entire concept and starting from scratch. Maybe write a loopy groom-wants-to-kill-bride-but-bride-kills-groom-first story? Or an “Unless we diffuse this bomb hidden in the wedding cake in the next ten seconds, everyone at this reception is gonna die!” dealio…
So, I reached and spun and dazzled until I finally had a draft that I felt semi-proud of. Only problem: it was 1,000 words over the 2,500 word count limit.
After a few more rounds of revising and chopping (final word count: 2,496), I submitted my story on Friday night. And you know what? I’m satisfied and proud of the final product. Yes, I worked a lot harder on it than I planned, and I took on a subject matter that’s a lot more intense and troubling than I’m used to, but I’m happy I stuck with my original concept and saw it through to the end.
I’m telling you, it hurts to even walk outside right now. And everyone is dealing with frozen/breaking pipes, icy commutes, and drained car batteries (yesterday morning, I was 45 minutes late to work because a neighbor asked me to help her jump-start her car).
How was your week? I hope it was less frustrating (and a lot warmer) than mine.
Jen's Pen Den 