Short and Sweet

Here in the trenches, publishing looks pretty tough. I'm sixteen months into a full-on assault, and still have yet to earn a metal of any real worth.

SO: I'm going back to basics, both for fun and glory.

1. Short stories. They were my bread and butter through most of college (I was a creative writing major), and I haven't written one since. Maybe I'll get a few published, and stretch a few muscles I forgot I had.

I've been turning over the idea of paradoxes and "what if?" questions, and last night (with the help of my very lyrical song title collection on iTunes and a few riddle-centric websites) I came up with a list of fifteen interesting prompts/inspirations/concepts. Each have a dilemma or battle at the heart of them-- a choice the character needs to make, which could go either way.

Today, I plotted (which for me meant making nearly a rough draft) out a love story between an assistant and her boss. And yes, like all love stories, this one will have a happy ending ;)

2. Class. I loved school when I was in it, and I teach school now that I'm out. So when I asked a friend for advice on finding solid MFA recs, he immediately recommending taking a class, and I signed up for one at the writing center within the hour. The one I chose is eight sessions long, and centers on revising the novel.

It starts September 12-- JUST in time for my newly minted rough draft ;)

With the rec. load sitting lighter on my shoulders, I feel less urgency in getting my query letters out. I think I need to go back through the book and make sure it's as perfect as I can make it. A long slog, but hopefully by now I've taken enough time from it to have better perspective.

Together, I'm hoping the class and short stories will take me back to my roots and shore up my foundations :D