The Little Story Idea That Couldn’t (And One That Hopefully Could)

I spent a few days trying to outline a new short story, going around in circles, working out all the whys and what ifs and doing everything I could to make sense of this little story idea I’ve tried to write more than once.

I so want to to write this story. I mean, I really, really want to write it. The idea in my head is pretty cool – but I just can’t seem to get it right.

Maybe it’s all the false starts, maybe I’m just “what iffing” myself in circles. Hell, maybe I’m just delusional. But for whatever reason, things just aren’t coming together.

And then, there’s this other story. Born from a 7-time reject, this story is set in a world I’ve already explored a bit and that I intend to expand into a novella. But until I expand it, until I weave in a more substantial plot and introduce some new characters, I wanted to write something a little shorter, just get in there and have a little fun.

And you know what? I did. I tracked my time and it took me just under 8.5 hours of butt-in-chair to go from the first words to the end of the first draft. (Literally 8.5 dedicated hours over the last 3 days).

Okay, so it needs some polishing and will need to be made pretty, but I can already see some parts in there that make me excited to explore this universe I’ve created – excited to get both stories out there!

You have to understand, I wrote the original story (the reject) back in 2011. I’ve subbed it, reworked it, polished it and subbed it again multiple times but it has never been picked up. I know I’ve got something there. I can just feel it. So maybe this little trip off the beaten path is just what I need to get where I want to go with the larger story.

Can you tell I’m excited?!

The photo above? Story inspiration. That’s all I can say… 😉