Where have I been for the last week? Writing, of course, but for something a bit special. Okay, I’ve been working on this for quite some time, but this last week was crunch time…so I put all my focus into it and finished.
I thought I was going to lose my mind.
What was I writing? A short story for the CBC Books challenge called “Canada Writes”.
I’m not a short story writer. (If you’ve been following my blog, you can probably tell.) Packing an entire story—an entire interesting story—into a nice, neat 15oo words, is not an easy feat. I struggled. I revised. I complained to my husband (sorry, sweetie!). I wanted to quit. I got bored. I learned the meaning of “rubbish”.
But, I persevered. And I finished. And I hit send.
The next day, I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders, not only because I didn’t have to sit that night and struggle line by line, but because I felt satisfied with what I’d accomplished. I ended up liking it, to a degree, and I now understand how difficult it is to write a really good short story. Every word counts. Every character must have a purpose. Every line has to mean something. And in all of it, there must be beauty and drama and genius. I am not genius. But I am okayness. I am “ididthisness”. I am a writer, after all. 🙂
I may not win any prizes, but I worked hard, and enjoyed the outcome. And I have some new writing skills. I may never write short stories like Alice Munro, but that’s okay. I get her now.
And I can’t wait to try it again…without all the pressure!
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