Well, that really just summed it up right there.  My thing-a-week project has come to a crashing failure around me, but really…I have to say I’m okay with that.  For a couple reasons.

Reason the first.  The short stories had moved from fun to grind.  Writing should not be a grind, it should never be a grind.  The point of writing is to have fun with it, but I wasn’t having fun anymore with the stories.  Every week I was dreading them more and more.  And that’s just not the way to get anywhere.

Reason the second.  I was leaving stuff behind.  I’ve got several other long term projects in the work, and I figured I’d be able to work on them in the background while also working on the stories.  No dice.  Haven’t been able to touch the novels I’d like to be editing, haven’t been able to help on the TV pilot I’ve been working on with my girlfriend, haven’t been able to work on my own planned spec script.  And, most importantly, haven’t been able to work on my blog.  Hi there!

Reason the third.  I still feel like I’ve learned something through all of this.  I experimented with some different voices, structures, and genres.  Some of them I was comfortable with.  Some I was uncomfortable with.  It’s good to know where I excel, where I’m weak, and frankly to focus on the former.  I know, I know, I’m supposed to grow as a writer, but I think I can do that just fine while acknowledging that my strength is not thrillers and avoiding getting into a big one of those.

So.  Here I am, at the far end of the project, but not as far of a far end as I’d hoped.  I’m staring down Nanowrimo now, trying to figure out just exactly what it is I want to do for it.  I’m also starting to figure out which of two novels to edit first, and how to get started on the spec script I mentioned.  The biggest hurdle is to tell myself “THIS ISN’T FAN FICTION” enough that I finally start believing it.  Because…well, it is fiction, and it is written by a fan, but since I’m going to be writing it in teleplay format and submitting it to contests, that makes it different.

I’m also going to get back to this blog, I swear, updating it more with my projects, my progress, and my thoughts about writing.  So let’s start with the upcoming projects:

• Editing novel: Conqueror Worm
• Editing novel: End of the Line
• Nanowrimo (?)
• Preparing short story for submission: !Div0
• Preparing short story for submission: The Doorman
• Preparing short story for submission: The Queen of Belmeth
• Spec Script: The Office: The Big Debut

There we go.  All put down so that people can hold me to them.  I’ll talk about what each one actually is as I work them.  Current project: The Queen of Belmeth.

I’m not saying better.  Just differently.

Also, I’ve now hit the point where I’ve made my way through five weeks of this process, and I’m now into month number two.  This is the point where I wondered if I would start breaking.  My longest sustained writing processes in the past have always been Nanowrimo, one month of hard work at the end of which I find myself burned out.  This is different.  Now granted, I’ve written about one quarter of the words that I would have in Nanowrimo, but each week I’m starting over in a way Nanowrimo doesn’t require.  New styles of writing, new characters, a new plot.  I figured it would balance itself out.  But I still feel good, and I’m excited about getting into month two.

This week is going to be a tough one, though.  I’m leaving tomorrow for Vegas, driving to San Fran, and won’t be getting back until next Friday, so that’s entire writing week spent on the road.  I’ve got a concept in mind that will be more a series of vignettes than a single story, something I can squeeze in as I can go.

Wish me luck.

So…I guess right now I am writing about not writing. Oops.

This week’s story will be the first in what I hope will be a series of me exploring various, not genres, but subgenres. Ones that fascinate me, ones I think I can do, and even a few I think I can’t do. This week’s story is meant to be a direct homage to the first person horror pulp stories of the 20s and 30s, primarily the more journal style Lovecraft pieces. It’s inspired loosely by a novel that my lovely and talented girlfriend is working on, and the working title right now is The Queen of Helmeth.

This week’s story is going to be a short one, to give me some time to edit The Doorman. It’s a little trifle about time travel and blasphemy. Always a winning combination.

Sometimes, you’ve just got to start over.  I knew in a second draft, every single one of those words would be cut.  I mean, not EVERY one of them.  There were a few “the”s, “and”s, and “a”s in there that I thought were quite strong, but those are such dime-a-dozen words I don’t ming throwing them away and making new ones.  So the false start has been torn apart, and I started over.  I’m about 900 words into a story that has to be at least 2000 words, and I’m feeling much better about it this time.

Victory shall be mine.

I’ve also added a story concept to the list, which means a net loss of zero this week.  Which is the kind of thing I hope to be able to keep up.

The title of the first story:  Carbon Offsets.

There are a few problems with this plan, however. First off, they do Celebrity Jeopardy like once a year, for just one week, so that’s 15 total slots each year. The second is that they tend to not have authors on the show, at least not people who are primarily authors. Since they started, Stephen King has done Celebrity Jeopardy twice, winning once (charity: Maine Public Libraries, a perfectly Stephen King charity to select). So that’s the level of fame you have to have. Stephen friggen King. There are MAYBE three authors in the world that have reached that level: King himself, Rowling, and maybe Dan Brown. I’d like to believe that they’ve asked other authors that have turned them down, but let’s face it…they’re authors. Most authors, I’m discovering, are attention starved and desperate for as much face time as they can get. What better place than Jeopardy.

Hell. The Simpsons has had more authors on than Celebrity Jeopardy.

However, I’ve discovered something else lately: National Public Radio. More specifically “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me…” Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I’m rather late to the game, as I realize this show has been on the airwaves for just over a decade. If you don’t know the show, get to know it. There’s a feature called Not My Job where they bring on a celebrity to answer questions about things they should know nothing about. This is what I’m now all about. While the celebrities have been on the level of Tom Hanks, they also commonly have various senators and representatives, and even the occasional author or blogger. It seems the level of fame is more on the level of notoriety than celebrityhood. Perfect!

Now, it’s going to take me some years, I’m sure. But be sure to know, if you ever find me on the airwaves, know that I’m thrilled and know I’ve made it.

The idea, just as the name suggests, is going to be writing a short story a week for at the very least a full year.  Frankly, if I can keep going after that, all the better, but the initial goal is to just make it that one year.  Fifty-two weeks.  Fifty-two stories.  That’s not too many, is it?  The further goal, and the much bigger one for me, will be to actually SHOP these stories around.  It’s not something entirely new to me, I do have one story sale in a now-defunct anthology.

So that’s the plan.  That’s the goal.  I’ve got a bit of a head start, I’ve been stock piling some ideas, enough for nearly two months, should I actually be able to turn some vague premises into actual plot lines.  But that’s not hard.

Right?