One of the ideas I had for the first competition I entered concerned nanites. My second idea for a medicine-related short story also involved nanites in a very different setting.
Here’s an excerpt from the draft of the second short story I’ve prepared:
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Laughter rebounded in the cool night air. Fiery strands of color from small fountains and other small fireworks illuminated the night, one by one, as several boys played happily on the concrete pad and in the alley behind a big red house. Fireflies added their counterpoint, blinking their lights slowly as they drifted in the breeze around us and under the big arching trees. All around us, over the treetops, larger fireworks exploded high up in the air.
I had high hopes for more writing time this summer. Parenting, gardening, and purging excess stuff have really eaten up June.
However, despite limited time, I’m learning more and more about my craft. I’m starting to hone character development in my novel, and I’ve finished the first draft of a science fiction short story.
Although I do read short stories, I’ve always liked reading novels better. However, it turns out, writing short stories is fun. I’m learning how to make every sentence work, more about pacing the action, how to not complicate things. I’m looking forward to shaping and finishing the short story.
Find some good reads:
My first draft is almost complete. I’m so close I can see the light of day at the end of the tunnel. And it won’t be a train wreck! Well, only so much as first drafts are always train wrecks.
Then, it will be time to revise, and revise. I’m still not happy with Kindra’s profession. As a dynamic, assertive, no holds-barred, best friend of our protagonist, none of my job choices for her seem to fit: personal assistant to a wealthy woman, a marketing director (too close to Sifa’s profession), international spy, retail sales… maybe a nurse?
Did you know I trained in a martial art off and on for a few years in my youth? From about 1991 through 1996 or so, I attended a martial arts studio in northwest Houston. Made it about halfway through to my black belt before 34 mile round-trip drives in Houston traffic after work wore on me.
More interesting than that is the founder of the martial arts studio, Grandmaster Kim Soo. What he has done counts as another American success story as far as I’m concerned. He arrived in 1968 with $50 in his pocket and made a success of his martial arts studios. Even more, he taught generations of people the values of commitment, dedication, self-control, respect, and so much more.
These quotes are few bits of writing humor I found applicable in my development as a writer so far. Hope they make you smile, too.
I had to cherry-pick some of these clips to avoid spoilers. Enjoy!
She breathed in the crisp air of fall as she craned her head up. The vibrant light shone through the leaves. Overhead in a blue sky a V of ducks headed southwest, honking faintly in the distance. Autumn was one of her favorite seasons.
They sat, mother and daughter, in silence together in the dull beige waiting room. They watched the hospital staff walking back and forth. Sunlight streamed in a small window nearby, dimmed more and more by clouds passing. The wind was picking up and tossing the tops of the trees back and forth.
Friday night came, and the crew were hard at work. Just outside town an accident sprawled across two lanes of interstate. Cars slowly edged by in the farthermost lane, traffic already heavy for tomorrow’s festival made heavier by the accident. The sky darkened, and the wind picked up speed.
My Facebook page has more frequent posts than this website. But, Facebook lends itself well to short posts.
So, here you’ll see longer posts. You won’t see as many, but hopefully ones with more information you find interesting or useful.
I originally had a plan to post 1-3 posts a week here on this website, but I have since revised that plan.
At this point, I’d rather spend my writing time on my novel, with occasional excerpts captured in my writing journal. Maybe even kick out another short story, although I’m a bit disappointed not to hear what happened to the last one.
No news from the competition out of Glasgow. I have no idea whether they’ve accepted my short story into the anthology. Is no news bad news?
I suppose I need to sit on the story for a year, then assume they’ve foregone the rights to it? Er, I’d better go back and read the submission rules on rights.
It’s hard not to let this burn me on writing more short stories.