I just finished the first draft of the most substantial short story I wrote this year. In fact, it’s only the third I’ve worked on since January 1st. That includes finishing up the first draft of “Of Ship and Sail” with Ruth Nestvold. More recently I wrote a little boiler plate story called “Cex in the Sity.”
The one I just finished drafting is called “Harp and Brimstone,” and it deals with lucent dreaming, dream control, and some deep corners of the mind. The first draft finished at 5400 words. It may grow a bit as I put in some backfill.
I have another incomplete story on my hard drive that I’d like to finish, but I’m not especially excited about it. I also have that novel to get back to, which is what I’ll probably go back to working on.
I think I wrote every day this week, which is a good start for getting back to my writing ways. It’s nice to start being productive again. The novel sits just shy of 14,000 words. The target length is 120,000 words. Big disparity considering I started it in January. I can write with a lot of distraction in my life, but 60-hour high-stress weeks (even with weekends free) takes a toll on anybody. I hope November 07 to April 08 are the worst period I ever have to go through. I’d hate to imagine having a worse spell than that, though I’m sure it’s possible. I’ve learned not to say that things can’t get worse. I’ve experienced first-hand that yes, they can.
I still hope to finish the novel this year. That will be considerably easier if I work on it every day.