This is a catch-up post on my challenge to myself. A few weeks ago I decided I would write and publish a short story a week for a year. I began on 9 October 2011 with the 3700 word short story “Killing Time.” I wrote and published it the same day. I make no claims as to its quality, either good or bad. The e-book revolution allows writers to put out their work quickly and easily for the whole world to discover but I’m not venturing an opinion as to whether or not that’s a good idea for literature, reading, society, or life in general. Time will tell; history will judge. I will say that it is a great feeling to have the freedom that indie publishing gives an author. I can publish what I want, at the length I want, with the covers and blurbs I want, and at the pace I want. So far I’m not seeing a down side.
My second story in the challenge was “They Taste Like Chicken” (4300 words). I wrote that one on 16 October. Total elapsed time between starting the story and getting it published on the ebook sites was a little over 6 hours. I felt like I hit my stride with this one. The concept, story, cover, and title just all slotted together very nicely and I was pleased with the result.
The third story in the challenge I wrote today, 23 October. “The Night Alex Almost Flew Over Old Lady Grayson’s Place” ended up being 4400 words long. I started it at 7:15, when I got up. I worked on it for a bit, then went downstairs and washed some sushi rice for the night’s dinner. I set the rice to drain and went back upstairs and wrote for another hour or so. I went back downstairs and put the rice on to soak. Back to my upstairs office and more writing. Kim made us both some breakfast. I took a break and we ate together and talked for a bit. Then I returned upstairs and finished the story some time before noon. I spell checked it and did a quick read through to see if it made sense. It seemed to, so I left it and Kim and I went out to the woods for a hike. We were gone about two and half to three hours. When we got back I printed out the story and Kim read it while I made us a quick lunch of soup and sandwiches and also put the rice on to cook and did the dishes. After lunch I went over the story and made the corrections that Kim suggested. Then I put the cover together and published the story to all the ebook sites. Total time working on the story and getting it published: About 7 hours. Not bad. A day’s work. After I published, I made the sushi and we ate it while flipping between the fourth game of the World Series and the Sixty Minutes piece on Steve Jobs. Maybe more information than you wanted to know about one day in the life of an indie writer, but there it is. The creative life interweaving with the everyday life. Or maybe making the everyday life a creative life. Either way, it felt like a really good day.
I’m making each challenge story free on this site until I write the next story.
