Writer’s Life: When Stories Want Blood
Photo by Alberto Otero Garcia, Creative Commons
This week’s Write 1, Sub 1 story came to me fully formed. I love it when they do that. No hassling, trying to pull a plot out of the ether. But usually when I get such gifts, I’m able to bang out a story in two sessions…a mad rush of ideas and inspiration, and sometimes if I think the story is deserving, I try to put a little bit of myself into it.
But this story, currently still untitled, is all about taking what it wants from me. I’m four days into it now, going on a fifth. I’d like to go faster, but it’s draining me. It feels too real.
Of course that doesn’t mean I’m not working on it steadily. I give the story what it demands, because I think this one might be GOOD. I hope so anyway. The characters feel like they’ve stepped out of a novel instead of a short story. I can feel the strain of my character’s relationships. His grief becomes my grief if I let myself get sucked in too far. So I’ve been pacing myself, 600 to 1000 words a day.
Maybe I’m just being lazy and don’t feel like writing for more than a couple hours a day. Or perhaps W1S1 is changing the way I approach writing short fiction. All I know is that I don’t know if I can take 52 weeks worth of bleeding out like this. Why can’t they all be potty humor stories? Have you ever had a story take more than you were willing to give it?
Love the photo you included at the top of the post! I actually saw that sculpture in person last fall – it’s pretty incredible.
Good luck with your story; hope it doesn’t suck you dry 😉
Thanks! I totally want to go now, just to see the spider. 🙂
If the story’s pulling that much out of you, that means it’ll be significant. A good significant 🙂
I’ve had a couple of stories do that to me. One of them just kept pulling me back to it even after i’d written it because it just wasn’t right. I still haven’t sold the story (the market it’s at now will be the one though, i’m sure, right?), but it marks a significant point in my progress forward as a writer. I haven’t had one of those stories (or significant progress points) for a while, but i’m hoping w1s1 will coax another one out.
And yes, that is an amazing picture; it makes me want to go see the spider too!
Hey Sam!
Here’s hoping W1S1 brings out our writerly best! I’ll be interested to see how everyone’s holding up a month or two from now. This definitely feels more like a marathon compared to NaNoWriMo.
I subbed the story, now called “Rubies and Tangled Webs”, in the wee hours this morning. My first W1S1 sub. (The others subs have been old stories.) It feels really good to get it out.
Good luck with your stories!
It has happened to me in the past. Maybe not this week, but the experience is one I understand.
Nearing the end of my first story for the competition (late start), even without the feeling of a blood-draw, I’m nervous about the remaining weeks.
Here’s hoping for the best in the next 49-some-weeks!
(Random thought: maybe heavy writing sessions should come with orange juice and cookies. You know, like the ones they give you after a whole blood donation. 🙂 )
Cookies make everything better!
You’re doing great. 🙂 I’m going backwards… and having the opposite problem. I submitted a story too soon and the revision is gnawing at me. Such is writing. Keep going with the story, it’ll come into being in its own way so long as you keep feeding it.
There’s always room for improvement, but sometimes we just have to put the stories out there and see if they float. I read somewhere that if you’re tinkering with a story and aren’t changing more than 10%, then the story is probably good enough.