Writing

Another learning curve in my writing life.

Writing Sparkle

I’ve been trying to write a short story. My word count aim is between seven and ten thousand. The current word count is less than four thousand words and it has been hard-pressed to get those onto paper. I’m not sure why the words aren’t flowing with ease, but I haven’t been pushing either. I know the where, what, and why details of the story, but the motivation to get it out there is lacking.

I took a break from trying to splat the words on paper so I could play with a cover idea. It was fun and a pleasant change of pace. After that, I did my typical title dance. My working title started as Cherry Season and then Cherry Bomb. It isn’t even remotely close to what will become the final title though, but it’s something for now.

My plan for this short story—it’s connected to The Ember Files—is to make it a free giveaway. I had a couple of short story ideas, but now that I’m writing this one, I’m questioning the idea of writing a short. I was mistakenly thinking it would be swift and require less effort than a longer piece. Not true. I knew I’d need to reference my notes for characters and storyline details. But I wasn’t expecting to do as much research or planning as I’ve done on it so far.

Another learning curve in my writing life.

If I have it done in rough by August, I’ll be happy. It can sit for a bit before editing. I wrote the first chapter of book three in The Ember Files, but I set it aside to work on the short story. My goal for that book is to be done in rough by the end of the year. It’s all mapped out and all the characters are ready. I feel like that is a reasonable timeline.

How are your writing projects going?

By Shari Marshall – 2023

5 thoughts on “Another learning curve in my writing life.”

  1. 2 books in the works, (3 if you count the one I started last year 🙃) stalled progress on one, to do the other shorter one, but…dang, where do the time go? Sooo many projects started and not many finished. So much motivation and excitement in my mind but it for sure doesn’t reflect the same enthusiasm in reality.

    You got this! You’re doing great 🙌

    Liked by 1 person

  2. My writing feels like a disheveled porcupine of journaling, poetry, prose, observations-on-life, and fiction exercises. Definitely not a smooth machine. But I’m putting words to paper and I’ll celebrate that.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. What a fabulous description, a “disheveled porcupine”. But you are correct, those words are going on paper and that is something to celebrate. You can shape and edit those words later, but with a blank page we can’t.

      Thanks for stopping in. Keep writing.

      Liked by 1 person

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