So, I'm not really into short stories. They're more like jokes than anything else, the way they're structured. I tend to think in longer narrative terms. The last time I tried to write a short story, it clocked in at 26,000 words and it kind of sucked, although I can probably recycle the good bits for the Rednecks in Space thing that Oz and I riff on occasionally.
Anyway, I spent the weekend writing a short story that was actually short. It came in at a slender 4055 words. And it was fun. I could see the whole structure of the plot in my head at once. The plot was little, just like a joke, and left me room to play with the words, but didn't leave any leeway for me to run off and get bogged down in a novella. Although, in a non-joke format, the story could be expanded …
(Oh, my eyes! Imagine Jack Black, cleaned up, in a schoolgirl uniform and loose socks, and a liberal application of pale, glittery eyeshadow, and a pink Gerber daisy in his hair. Oh, and Japanese. Imagine four Japanese pop tarts dressed in the same uniform, vogueing and singing backup. Now you have the same picture in your head as is on my TV screen. Yes, it's Pop Jam. If you're not feeling imaginative, you can visit the singer's website or watch a video of the song (RealPlayer). Yes, the chorus (one of the choruses) is "Chihuahua." No, I don't know why.)
Where was I? Things I learned from writing a story this weekend:
I need to get back in the habit of using my voice recognition software for writing, otherwise my wrists and shoulders aren't going to make it through NaNoWriMo.
I may be over the "it sounded better in my head" problem. I was able to write down exactly what was in my head and it turned out to be okay. I guess I've gotten better at putting words together in my head.
I still can't get to sleep after writing fiction. This is problematic, because I tend to write between ten and midnight. I thought I was over that because I don't have any trouble getting to sleep after writing these entries. Then again, my imaginary friends are a bit more exciting than I am.
I have developed bad writing habits. I put on the TV and surf around on the Internet while writing (see above). I must learn to stop this.
417 words | October 17, 2005 07:27 PM | Writer's block