(Sept 21 – 27)
Funny story this week: I received a rejection for a story that I didn’t even recall submitting! Perhaps I’ve been a bit more efficient at the submissions this year than I realised.
Otherwise, this is clearly the part of the year where my writing motivation takes the biggest hit. Again, I’ve managed several hundred words on the science fiction story and have more or less wrapped up the first draft; but it’s been in 200-300 words chunks instead of 500-600. As always, I’ll take what I can give. Some words is better than no words. Unless they’re those particular words.
I did have a moment of revelation regarding the science fiction story. One of my likely weaknesses as a writer is that my main characters can sometimes be relatively bland (this happens when they’re there to have things happen to them, rather than when they’re there to make things happen). Sometimes it’s just the nature of the story I want to tell, but it always means there’s a better story hidden away in there waiting to be told.I haven’t quite nailed the main character in my science fiction story. She started off spiky and independent, but then the story pushed her in a different direction. I’m now pondering making her a bit more eccentric and unpredictable. It feels like the right direction to go, but I can tell this one’s going to take a few more drafts to get right. This is the problem with having a plot that’s already leading towards a defined conclusion: it’s rarely the characters who are doing the driving …