Writing One Short Story a Week - It's like Lifting Weights! http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689 Sariah Starting today I'll be writing one short story every week, focusing on practicing one writing skill for each story. Anyone want to do it with me? By the end of the year, I hope to have 52 short stories completed and lots of writing practice completed! (If practice can ever be completed, that is.) This idea was actually developed for NaNoWriMo, but Skill a Day just didn't give enough time to focus on each aspect of writing. So I give you, Skill a Week! http://thesomedaynovelist.weebly.com/ Mon, 02 Jan 2012 11:23:33 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1021351 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1021351 Red Queen Woah. Huge amounts of respect to anyone who pulls through with this. I would do it, but frankly, I suck at writing anything shorter than a novella, and I'm pretty sure I can't do *that*, even if I manage to give up sleep. I would probably run out of ideas in March anyway... One short story per month, however, that could work... hmmm... *ponders her motivation and possibilities* Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:58:17 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1021624 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1021624 Dragonchilde Moving to The Year of Doing Big, Fun, Scary Things Together Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:20:31 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1022980 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1022980 Sariah Thanks Dragonchilde! Red Queen, feel free to come by once a month then. Or try it with one chapter a week! Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:03:17 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1025513 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1025513 MissJaneMarple I would love to do this! My dream is to go to school for writing...but I hardly spend any time writing *facepalm* Which I've been getting better at recently. But still. Could "short stories" include poems and/or short scripts? I want to get fit for Script Frenzy ; ) Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:23:19 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1027624 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1027624 Red Queen Hmm, I guess I'll try one short story per month. Could be a nice opportunity to get rid of some of the plot bunnies that have been bugging me and demanding more fanfic for months now. I just never seem to get around to writing more one shots... At least I'll write those in English and can share them instead of condemning them to an existence in the Limbo that is "Maybe I'll publish them later". Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:24:50 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1029489 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1029489 Sariah Sure! I'm putting up articles every week, highlighting a different writing skill every time (like dialogue or sentence length, etc). But you don't have to go by that if you choose not to. Or you could write really, really short stories, like one page. :) Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:14:06 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1031937 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1031937 Julzperri I'm so in! I just posted on your first week post - although I'm a bit late! I'll try and cram in a story for the first week anyway :) If anyone is interested in reading some of my writing (I think this idea is still silly but we'll see how we go), I have made a bit of a website up if you're interested in visiting it - I'm also tossing up with the idea of publishing prompts & advice etc, but perhaps I'll leave that to my blog... This is it anyway! Website - www.itisallwrite.webs.com Blog - www.fishandfrivolity.blogspot.com Fri, 06 Jan 2012 03:52:25 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1035936 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1035936 Erica in the novel I would love to try this ... but just seeing how little of the skill a day I did (0) :( I am not holding out much hope...but maybe if I stop hanging out in the forums :) Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:02:55 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1036300 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1036300 KatieDovel This is an awesome idea! I've never been good with short stories, I've either stuck to one side of the spectrum(noveling), or the other(poems/songs). It would be awesome to get some experience in for everything! I think I'll try it out. Just for commitment, I'm going to say every Saturday/Sunday, I'll spend enough time to write a short story. Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:04:43 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1036849 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1036849 Sariah I think Skill a Day was just too short of a time to work with. You should come and try it out! (At least for a week or two!) Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:25:01 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1053043 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1053043 TheLoveMutt I saw your post on this in the Worcester forums, and I am really intrigued. I know I'm a little late, but I would love to try to join, whether I finish the challenge or not. Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:11:43 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1104277 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1104277 Red Queen Damn it, I hate it when technicalities get in the was of writing... At least I did manage a oneshot; I didn't actually follow any of the guidelines, but that was all I could manage this month. Am I the only one having a hard time sticking to the predefined skills? ô.O Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:50:11 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1105711 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1105711 Sariah Hey, writing one thing a month, not sticking to the skills I've picked out, both totally okay! You can just read the articles and use them for reference, if you want. I know some people will have an easy time with some skills, or will just have way too much to do some days. At least you're writing, right? :D Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:29:18 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1108029 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1108029 MsShel330 I'm very late but this sounds really good! I think I'll try. I need something to kick my butt. Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:38:51 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1108827 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1108827 Webgoji I'm providing critiques for a friend doing something similar called "LJ Idol". They are given a topic every week and have a few days to write it, it's gets voted on and the losers hit the streets. Last time I guess it took 32 weeks. The cool thing is that you can get really experimental with short stories and can do things you can't do in long novels. (Like first person observer perspective, the entire story as a series of news releases, a mishmash of short scenes from different books to the tune of Willy Wonka . . . you know, stuff people probably couldn't stand for 300 pages.) Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:45:22 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1112514 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1112514 Red Queen [quote=Webgoji] The cool thing is that you can get really experimental with short stories and can do things you can't do in long novels. (Like first person observer perspective, the entire story as a series of news releases, a mishmash of short scenes from different books to the tune of Willy Wonka . . . you know, stuff people probably couldn't stand for 300 pages.) [/quote] That's why I so rarely read short stories ;) Even for me, they are a little bit too weird most of the time... I'm not one for experimental art in any kind of way. I tell stories. Period. I usually have a hard time coming up with something unusual when we get homework in my writing classes, and I seldom write short stories for fun at all. How can I tell epic stories on twenty pages or less?! Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:56:03 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1112525 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1112525 calavera.catrina I should do this! I've had some short stories ideas, and I've been wanting to play around with the medium, but I haven't had enough motivation/time to write them. If I put myself on a deadline, it should help. Might make it two weeks/a month instead of a week, though. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:17:13 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1113375 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-year-of-doing-big-fun-scary-things-together/threads/48689?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1113375