Writing my first *real* short story  − 8 May, 2008

It's in the can.  I've got no editor, so I'm going to sit on it for a little while before I post it (my husband's advice -- he's the English major, and ironically, he doesn't write -- the computer scientist in the family is writing!).  This time it's about (gasp) people!  Not bikes.  And there's dialog.

Let me say that I never believed in 100 years that I would ever be able to pull off a story about people who talked to one another.  Write dialogue?  Me?  Didn't think I had it in me.  I am very pleased.  It just goes to show that it's never too late for an old dog to learn new tricks.

It truly is fiction, even though it's about my dad when he was 14, and it's about a decision he really made.  But he says it went down quite diferently than what I've written.  All the better -- I pulled this story almost entirely from my imagination.  I hope he likes it!  And I hope you will all bear wtih me.  It is a short story, which means, ironically, that it is not short by comparison with standard blog posts.

Steel yourselves.

Postscript:  Well, I didn't sit on it for very long.  I read and re-read the story, and I love it.  I'm sure it could be better, but unless I get an editor or take a creative writing course, well, I'm not sure how to get better short of writing more!

Comments:

intrepideddie (May 9, 2008. 02:45am)

So, you just wrote this quick post to tease us? If you're anything like me, if you sit on it too long, you will end up re-writing it. Not necessarily good or bad, just a simple fact. My brain can't let go of a story until I hit that "submit" button.

peahayes (May 9, 2008. 03:04am)

Yeah, I don't want to wait too long. If I read it over the weekend and I still think it's good, I'm not gonna tweak it to death. 'Sides, I have house guests coming in & people have more time to read on the weekends. I spent tonight changing all the names. I actually like it the way it is. But there's one scene I might change just a tad.

PandoraBox (May 9, 2008. 03:44pm)

Will you post it ? I would like to read it. :)