Today I was looking at the number of stories I'd sent to markets last year compared to what I've sent out so far this year. Much fewer this year. Right now I've only got three stories floating around out there, all of them revisions of stories written at Clarion. I've been working on a new story for about a month and it's slowly taking shape. It might be ready to send out after another three to six weeks.
Now I'm looking at my goals list on my monitor. "Keep at least 5 stories in circulation and send out a new one every 2 weeks." Nope. Not gonna happen. I think I could do that, but I'd be wasting some editor's time and moving my name to the top of the "Discard Immediately" pile.
Some of my Clarion buddies are going through this same process of slowing down, which tells me I'm probably on the right track. I think the key to the whole thing is knowing your characters. In the story I’m working on now, I've been freewriting about two of my characters for the past few days. I'm learning a little more about them each day. Not all of what I'm learning will make it into the story, but it's all stuff I need to know. The more you know the character, the more he will tell you what to do. Do you ever re-read something you've written and your character says "I'd never do that. Never. Delete that, you clown. That's not me." Happens to me. (Sometimes I get called things worse than a clown, though.)
It's not just character, it's also setting, tone, pacing and about a dozen other things. The temptation is to concentrate on all of them at once, but you have to isolate problems. One thing at a time. Patience. Patience. Patience.
Now Playing = How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb – U2
1 comment:
I think you and Trent are both right. I'm going to start really taking my time with my stories also.
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