This week marks the end of the first month of my 500Words project. It’s been quite the adventure! Coming up with the story starts has been, I think, the easiest part. The ideas come from snippets of conversation, random thoughts, and things I see around me. My eyes and ears are open for about 17 hours a day so there’s a lot of potential fodder floating around!
The putting the stories out into the world and hoping folks read and comment is far scarier, though is technically “easy”. I’ve gotten into a pattern of posting daily here and then sharing those posts via social media. The gulp involved in knowing that the words are out there for all the world to see is getting smaller each day. As Austin Kleon says, Show Your Work.
The most challenging piece has been adding on to the starts, both the 1000 words in stage two and the full story in stage three. I’ve pantsed my way through Nanowrimo twice – this writing with edges is an entirely different beast! It’s a good exercise in stretching my creative muscles in different ways and I’m enjoying the challenge of it all.
My intention is to repeat the process for two more months at least, and I may continue all the way until next November when Nano strikes again. Perhaps one of these short stories will become the seed of my 2018 novel, complete with a chapter outline. Perhaps I’ll pants it again. Only time will tell!