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| Two weeks ago I swore that I wouldn't publish anything on WDC until I'd reviewed 100 other works. So far I've done a grand total of....13. Clearly, I need to step up the pace a bit. Alas, today is my bi-weekly day of respite from all responsibilities and social interaction, as I engage in my OTHER (aside from writing) form of escapism...college football. Luckily, that "endeavor" is passive, so the plan is to read and review as much as possible. Go Gators! |
| Hoo Boy does this sound like a broken record (note to younger readers: "records" were, generally, music recorded on a wax disc, that, when an electrified needle was applied...you know what? Never mind.) Anyway, I've opted out of WDC for a bit due to, well, life, and just when I was about to jump back in Hurricane Irma swatted us, taking out (in addition to roof, trees, power, etc) our internet connection. This is my 7th hurricane, btw, but the first that interrupted creative inspiration. That said, my writer's block has been breeched, and the waters are a'roaring. I've got 100 ideas, and unfortunately for you, I'm about to unleash them. Before I do, however, I'm going to pay my penance and review 100 works before I throw any of mine out there. Have something you want reviewed? Send it my way. |
| It's been over a month now since I've logged onto WDC. Unlike past lapses, I have no dramatic excuses this time. I suppose, as wannabe-writer, I could conjure up something, but the fact is I've just been busy and lazy. Anyway, time to saddle back up that horse and get back to the buffoonery that is what I pass off as writing! |
| Welcome back, Rex. |
Reply| Not sure what's going on here.... I'm working all weekend, so no time for WDC. I pop in tonight and see my inbox is full of all kinds of goodies (reviews, merit badges, and awardicons, oh my!) I'll figure it out, but in the meantime, pre-emptive thanks to all! |
| Well (NSFW language follows for this paragraph only) it's been a s***ty week. Sorry, no other way to put it. For a law enforcement community still recovering from this summer's Pulse massacre, we weighted our hearts once again this weekend with the funerals of two officers who gave their lives serving their oaths to bring the wicked to justice. Ever been to a cop or military funeral? Not a fun experience, but it really brings home the sacrifice others (and especially their families) give to make our world a better place. RIP Sgt Clayton (OPD) and Deputy Lewis (OCSO.) (Family-friendly language resumes) After the Pulse shootings I retreated from my one escape...writing. I regretted it, because I came to understand that we all need outlets. Not really ready to write right now, but to distract myself today I'm engaging myself in a Power Reviewer's Raid (this one for preferred authors) to keep my mind active. Absolutely not looking for sympathy here...save that for the families and loved ones of the fallen officers. The fact is, sadly, that I only had passing interactions with both officers. Really, this is a self-affirmation after this summer's experience. Keep doing what you love, is what I tell myself. That means keep serving the community you care about, and keep doing what you love. |
(Related to last entry) Since I'll be stepping away from flash fiction going forward, I'm going to engage in a bit of self-promotion and announce that my last entry won the daily contest (always humbling) and was unlike anything I've written so far. Unintentionally, I created something that Dr. Seuss might've imagined on one of his less-inspired days. Anyway, I actually liked it (and I can't say that about 95% of my stuff so far.)
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| Two days ago I commemorated my 1st year on WDC with a self-indulgent list of accomplishments. Yesterday I balanced the scales by broadcasting my litany of failures from the past year. Today, I look forward to Year Two, and the successes and failures yet to come! Related note: thanks to ruwth   for bringing to my attention a topical contest...
Moving on, the overall goal of Year 2 is to improve as a writer. To do that (and because I'm a compulsive list-maker) I've set the following sub-goals: 1) Expand, Expand, Expand! I can't thank "The Daily Flash Fiction Challenge" enough for inspiring me to write again on a semi-regular basis. So thankful, in fact, that today I nominated to for a Quills Award for "Best Contest" (not sure if it's eligible, as rules reading/following isn't my thing, but it certainly is worthy.) On that note, why not take the time to nominate something you enjoyed this year? I received my 1st nomination recently, and it absolutely made my day!
That said, as good as flash fiction has been for me, it's also been limiting. I can't call myself a novelist as I've never actually written one, but I feel longer formats better suit the bizarre ideas bouncing around my head. Thus, a goal for Year 2 is to work more in the 2-5k word range and see where it goes. 2) Step Outside! Everything I write will be "published" here on WDC first, but should I come up, through sheer luck and chance, with a story that's actually any good I want to have the courage to send it out into the world. By that I mean submit an item for consideration in external contests in the analog world, or even publication elsewhere. Everyone here at WDC is so nice...even the critiques are soft. I need to feel the cold punch of a rejection form letter to really gauge how I'm doing! :) 3) Produce! With the exception of a long, unintended break, I feel I was fairly productive this past year. Still, a writer writes, right? I've always measured productivity by finished product, but if I'm to accomplish Goal #1, I need to redefine it as "keep working." If an item takes a day, great. A week? Ok. A month? If that's what it needs, I have to find the patience to give it that. |
| So yesterday I puffed myself up by listing the contests I'd won during this 1st year on WDC. Pretty egomaniacal, right? Well, today comes the flip side of that coin....the personal failings. Here goes.... By far the spectacular, and most public failure this past year was my ill-conceived dabble in hosting a contest. Its existence has since been erased, but for a few months I thought myself up to the challenge. Hoo boy, was I wrong. I invested most of my WDC GP "fortune" into the project (and received many, many kind donations,) devoted hours and hours of work, but in the end it resulted in very little participation. Looking back, I can see why, but at the time it was frustrating. My intentions were pure, mind you. I'd benefitted greatly from participating in contests such as...
...and other as well, and I just wished to "pay it forward" a bit. That said, humbling lesson learned; leave hosting contests to the professionals! Another failing was my resistance to stretching my writing out beyond the shortest of efforts. 99% of what I wrote this past year was 1000 words or less, and most was less than 500. Don't get me wrong; those bite-sized items were a great way to motivate me to write SOMETHING, but I never took the next step and used longer formats to create stories with any real depth. There were other failings as well, most related to disappointing productivity, but those I'll address in tomorrow's entry when I make promises to myself as to what I hope to accomplish/rectify in Year Two of WDC. |
| Hi, Rex Don't think of these things as failures, they are experiences and lessons learned. The first year here is all about experimenting, learning, and starting slowly with 500-1000 word entries. In the next year, you will find your niche, decide what genres are best for you, what goals you want to strive for, and many other things. You've had some amazing successes in your first year at WDC, be proud of that! I haven't hosted a contest yet. Maybe both of us will give it a try in 2017. I know the most important part of a contest is promoting it often wherever you can, not just in your newsfeed. I wish you all the best in 2017. Keep writing, reviewing, and learning! River |
| On Thursday I'll have completed my 1st year here at WDC (that reminds me...I need to renew that membership.) Today I'll focus on the successes of the past year, tomorrow the failures, and afterward some resolutions for Year 2. The biggest success, by far, was just writing again after years and years (don't ask how many) of inactivity. I have WDC to thank for that. Along the way, I've won a few contests, which is both humbling and great inspiration for continued efforts. Thanks to all who maintain these contests, as I know from personal experience how demanding that can be (see "failures" in tomorrow's entry!) I'm going to boost my ego a bit by listing the past year's winning entries below... Daily Flash Fiction
Dialogue 500
The Writer' Cramp (all bad poetry entries)
Again, tomorrow I'll temper this self-indulgence with a recounting of my Year One WDC failures. Oh, so, so many failures! |
| From the "Good News/Bad News" department... Good News: After months of inactivity, I finally wrote something. Not much, but something. Feels, well...good! Bad News: I swallowed my pride and admitted I wasn't quite up to the task (yet) of hosting my own contest ("Every Picture Tells a Story.") That shop's been shuttered. Feels, as you might expect, bad. Good News: And yet, a silver lining. The EPTaS bank was flush with GPs (most of it from me, sure, but a lot also from generous supporters.) Anyway, the bank was dissolved and its funds sent to a worthy cause. Feels good. |
| Nobody's going to read this, and that's ok. I'm writing this for myself, and to myself, because it's the only way I can think of to kick off writing again after a long, long absence. Ok, here goes... I'm a cop. In Orlando. I've been "on the job" for almost 20 years now, and in that time I thought I'd seen everything. Every conceivable horror humans can inflict on each other I'd been witness to, or so I thought. Then came the Pulse nightclub shootings. I won't aggrandize my involvement, as it was minimal compared to those (many of them friends of mine) who went in as the carnage was unfolding. I went in shortly afterward, my role primarily being to "secure the scene." I went home that morning. I couldn't tell you when. I went back the next day. And the next day. And so on. At that point "the job" meant manning the perimeter, keeping the curiosity seekers and the well wishers at bay. Each night I went home and told myself it was just "the job." Non sequitur. I'm a combat vet as well. I don't think I saw a fraction of the horrors my grandfather witnessed, island-hopping through the Pacific in WWII, but still. Things were seen, internalized, and tucked away in the corner of the mind labelled, "hey, let's not think about that again." Anyway, I was lying to myself. It wasn't just another day "on the job." Being in the midst of that massacre dredged up horrors past seen. It affected my job. It affected my family. It affected me in ways I'm only now starting to wrap my head around. It absolutely affected my writing, in that I stopped doing it. It seemed so....trivial. And so I stopped. Now I'm ready to start again. I have a couple hundred e-mails, reviews, etc to get to, but I will. Starting tonight. If you've sent me something to which I didn't reply, I sincerely apologize...but know that if I had, it wouldn't have been me who responded at the time. Does that make sense? Anyway, if somebody is actually reading this, let me make something clear. This missive is for me. I don't want, or even need, any condolences. I didn't know a single person who died at that nightclub that morning. Send a silent prayer to their loved ones and families, many of whom I met in the days that followed. If anything, forgive me my absence (as I have forgiven myself) for eschewing something that might have given me some peace. -Rex |
| Hello, Rex, and welcome back. I agree with Sonali and Sally - I think writing your experiences in a static item, or in a journal or blog, would be a great way to not only share your story with others, but help you heal, as well. |
| Sincere thanks for the words of encouragement. I WILL write about this at some point, but not yet, and certainly not in a non-fiction genre (except maybe for a gun control propaganda piece...and this coming from a hunter with multiple firearms.) Here's the thing...what I experienced kind of killed the frivolity of my writing style. I'm not a serious writer; not that I don't take writing seriously ( I do...most days.) It's just that, from the (previous) comfort zone of eyeing horror at a glance I could make light of violence through satirical or even comical means. Now, not so much. Here's what changed. Last night I re-read "Slapstick," one of Kurt Vonnegut's (in MHO) less critically-acclaimed books. Vonnegut has always been a literary hero of mine, but only now did I read his work with an eye toward his background. This was a guy who witnessed horrors in WWII, and yet, took those experiences and forced us to look at what we're capable of inflicting upon our fellow man in a way that was, at the same time, enlightening, empowering AND comedic. This is what I strive for now. Anyway, again, thank you for the kind words. |
Phew! Today I finished reading, reviewing, and judging the entries at my humble little contest, "Every Picture Tells a Story." Oh, and opened up June's contest as well. Check it out if you have nothing else going on! :)
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| What a creative group of prompts you have. lol I also love your Q/A and descriptions of your contest. Very funny! I might have to enter this. :) But...I've read your writing and I'm intimidated. Then again, you're the judge, so I'll just pretend I can't expect my writing to be as good as yours. :) Whew, I feel better. lol |
| A newbie reports on his fifth month on WDC... It's been a busy month, but not a busy writing month. I've worked 17 of the last 18 days, and 26 of the last 28. That doesn't leave much time for creative endeavors but it does help ever so slightly toward my goal of retiring really, really early. Still, I keep making these monthly goals. Last month there were two: 1) Start a novella. Well, technically I did start one...barely. "The Shepherd King" is an idea that's been bouncing around in my head for awhile (think "Game of Thrones" meets "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.") After 5000 words I...absolutely hate it, but I did at least start it. 2) Better promote my contest. Oh, did I not mention I had a contest? How rude of me. Allow me to remedy...
Anyway, I've done a horrible job of promotion. Thank goodness there's people like Angels in my Ear on WDC. Her raffle raised 40k GP in prize money for my little contest, but even more importantly, lots of awareness. Mucho, mucho thanks for both! So now it's time to make some goals for Month Six... 1) No more poetry! Every poem I've entered at The Writer's Cramp has won the prize. I'm not ungrateful, but I am embarrassed, as my stuff is just so completely awful. Thus, I'm going to quit while I'm ahead. Still, it's an awesome contest, and so I'll still submit a short story or two to...
2) Write 3 short (not flash fiction) stories. The start of a novella aside, I'm still stuck in a flash fiction rut. 3 stories of 5000 or so words seems do-able. 3) Pump up the reviews! I've been a bit lax of late, a few reviews for the WDC Power Reviewers raid not withstanding. One a day seems reasonable. |
| A newbie makes his (fourth) monthly report on his WDC adventure... I set out two goals for this month: 1) For my contest, read and review each submission, award prizes, set up next month's contest, enact some suggestions made by others. Done, done, done, and done (wait...that's four goals!) If you're interested in such things, check it out at...
2) Write something a bit longer than flash fiction. I'm still stuck in short story mode, but this one was a bit longer than the flash variety...
Let's see...what else is going on? Oh yeah, I wrote (gulp) poetry. It's, well, awful. If you hate yourself, take a look...
I submitted my 99th review. I have a short list of review requests I need to address, so one of those (today, probably) will be the "lucky" recipient of #100. Goals for Month #5 1) Start a novella. When I took the leap to start writing again (thanks, WDC, for helping me with that,) I had novels in mind. Writing very short stories has helped "prime the pump," but it's time to stretch my wings a bit. 2) Better promote my contest. Maybe it's ego, but, if I can use myself as an example, contests requiring bite-sized writing commitments can really help a struggling writer get going. So, if you see me shamelessly plugging my contest around WDC, know that it comes from a good place. Oh, did I mention...
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