2023 Day 3 Check in

A vlog about how my StoryADay May is going…

Today’s prompt is here

I found today’s prompt challenging, perhaps because I was feeling the pressure to write about something weighty and important, which made me feel intimidated and stuck. But then I remembered my collection of Story Sparks, and I found inspiration in a personal experience that I gave to a different character.

I decided to write the story in third person and present tense to make it more experiential for the reader. This was different from what I had been writing the past couple of days, which were more narrative in form.

Through this experience, I was reminded of the importance of just getting started with writing. Even though parts of the prompt made me resist at first, I found that I had unknowingly incorporated them into my story.

Trusting yourself as a storyteller and putting words on the page, even if they feel choppy or imperfect, can lead to magic in your writing.

So, don’t fret about finding the perfect topic or having everything planned out. Just start writing and let the interesting stuff happen. Nobody needs to see it, and you might just end up with a big, stupid grin on your face like I did.

Keep writing, and stay tuned for tomorrow’s prompt on keeping things short!

2023 Day 2 Check in

A vlog about how my StoryADay May is going…

Day two of the challenge and I’m feeling great.

But, I made the classic mistake of not planning ahead, so I spent the first half hour doing admin instead of writing. I’m going to fix that tomorrow by planning my morning better.

The prompt today was from Mary Robinette Kowal:

“What’s in your character’s pocket?”

I used characters from my work in progress and wrote a self-contained story that I can later use as a scene in my novel. Other participants are using the challenge to push forward their work in progress in various ways.

What will YOU do?

Rachel Swearingen Interview Part 2

^^^ Watch (captions available)

Need the transcript?

˅˅˅ listen (mp3)

This time we talk about her favorite stories of her own and the writers she admires, working in short fiction now. We also talk about the importance of community for writers, and then Rachel turns the tables on me!

(You can find Part 1 of this interview, here)

Rachel Swearingen is the author of “How to Walk on Water and other short stories” which received the New American Press Fiction Prize. 

LINKS

This episode: storyaday.org/episode283

Rachel’s site: rachelswearing.com

Sign up for StoryADay May: http://storyaday.org/signup

Support the podcast: glow.fm/storyaday

Rachel Swearingen Intervew – on Writing

In this conversation with award-winning writer Rachel Swearingen we talk about how to build a writing practice that grows with you, the art of writing short and long fiction the importance of play, her residency in Berlin and about some of her short stories and how they came to be written.

^^^ Watch (captions available)

Need the transcript?

˅˅˅ listen (mp3)

Next time we’ll talk about her favorite stories of her own and the writers she admires, working in short fiction now. We also talk about the importance of community for writers, and then Rachel turns the tables on me!

Rachel Swearingen is the author of “How to Walk on Water and other short stories” which received the New American Press Fiction Prize. 

LINKS

This episode: storyaday.org/episode282

Rachel’s site: rachelswearing.com

Sign up for StoryADay May: http://storyaday.org/signup

Support the podcast: glow.fm/storyaday

Creative Rebellion – Episode 275

Join us as we talk about building a productive writing practice, no matter what…..

It’s an end-of-year episode with a twist (hint: don’t want to set New Year’s Resolutions? Join the rebellious crowd!)

Listen to the Audio

Full transcript here

Watch the video

Watch video with full transcript here

LINKS:

LINKS:

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