I mentioned previously that I was working on a rewrite of my first ever short story. It's a zombie story I've named "Running on Empty". I first wrote it five or six months ago, and its latest incarnation looks nothing like the first.
Last night I edited the story once more, and honestly I consider it pretty much done. Or at least, it's as good as I can get it with my current ability. I have a deadline looming when I'll have to hand it over, and it's probably a good thing. My writing has changed so much in such a short time that I can't help but wonder what this same story would look like if I just sat on it for another six months. If I waited a year, surely then I'll be a better writer! But soon it will go out into the world, and I will no longer be able to tinker with it.
In the meantime, I intend to check it again a few times today, and I'm enjoying reading a book that I haven't read since I was in high school, called 'Obernewtyn' by Isobelle Carmody. And when I put the book down for a break, I ponder which of my stories I'll make grow up next. I'm sure whichever I choose, it'll be happy that it wasn't my firstborn :)
Wednesday 22 June 2011
Sunday 19 June 2011
Rewriting
Tonight I had the pleasure of rewriting the first zombie short story I ever wrote. I'd never intended to write about zombies, a friend of mine was working on a project that involved zombies and wanted some friends to write short stories for it. I'd always thought I'd write fantasy, but I desperately wanted an excuse to write, so I tried.
My first attempt was quite poor, which is of course what can be expected. The action was fuzzy and the setting was like a cardboard cut out. In my defence, I had never thought about the mechanics of a chase or fight before I started to write this story. I certainly found it an enjoyable process to think through. And I showed my little story to some friends, who were very nice in their encouragement.
I wrote another story, also to do with zombies but without any actual fight scene. I seemed to do better with that one, and felt encouraged. So I went back and attempted to rewrite my first story. I'd done some more thinking about how my zombies were to look and move now, and I found that I was able to describe them and the action much better. But my scenery still left a lot to be desired. I went on and wrote another few short stories.
Then I decided that I was enjoying what I was doing enough that I wanted to try and write a novel in the same story world. While I started planning some simple structure for my novel, I had a breakthrough moment in the setting for my first short story. But while I now had a clear place in my head for the conflict to happen, I still wanted to see it for myself.
I took my children with me as we went downtown on a Sunday afternoon and went for a walk down an alleyway. I'd intended to go through quite a few really, but the first I found had pretty much what I was looking for.
As you can see, I'm not much of a photographer. But I really enjoyed the opportunity to see my setting for myself, and to walk through it. I just wish I was able to go back and walk the same passageway in the evening.
Now tonight I have finished the very rough draft of my third rewrite of this story. The actual story is going to stay the same now, but I'm hoping that by the time it's needed it will be of a higher quality.
My first attempt was quite poor, which is of course what can be expected. The action was fuzzy and the setting was like a cardboard cut out. In my defence, I had never thought about the mechanics of a chase or fight before I started to write this story. I certainly found it an enjoyable process to think through. And I showed my little story to some friends, who were very nice in their encouragement.
I wrote another story, also to do with zombies but without any actual fight scene. I seemed to do better with that one, and felt encouraged. So I went back and attempted to rewrite my first story. I'd done some more thinking about how my zombies were to look and move now, and I found that I was able to describe them and the action much better. But my scenery still left a lot to be desired. I went on and wrote another few short stories.
Then I decided that I was enjoying what I was doing enough that I wanted to try and write a novel in the same story world. While I started planning some simple structure for my novel, I had a breakthrough moment in the setting for my first short story. But while I now had a clear place in my head for the conflict to happen, I still wanted to see it for myself.
I took my children with me as we went downtown on a Sunday afternoon and went for a walk down an alleyway. I'd intended to go through quite a few really, but the first I found had pretty much what I was looking for.
As you can see, I'm not much of a photographer. But I really enjoyed the opportunity to see my setting for myself, and to walk through it. I just wish I was able to go back and walk the same passageway in the evening.
Now tonight I have finished the very rough draft of my third rewrite of this story. The actual story is going to stay the same now, but I'm hoping that by the time it's needed it will be of a higher quality.
Monday 13 June 2011
Introduction
Welcome to my new blog!
It's always awkward to start a new blog, I think, so I decided that I should start by introducing myself. My name is Tara-Lee Green and I'm a single mother to five children. I have always wanted to be an author, but always believed it was too hard. Yet I still enjoyed writing, and found various ways to do it, even building on a mud for a short time, just for the chance to have my descriptive writing edited.
My life had a pretty huge upheaval at the end of last year, and that caused me to make changes in my life. Many changes. One of the less unpleasant ones was that I made the decision to write. To enjoy writing, to set goals of writing. To accept that there will be mistakes made and hurdles to overcome but that I will write anyway.
To that end, I have started writing a series of short stories set in Australia in the near future during the zombie apocalypse. Why zombies? Well, that's a story in itself, so I might leave that for another blog entry. My writing goal (to start with) is to write two compilations of short stories and a novel, and self-publish them as ebooks via Smashwords. I plan to hold off until all three are done, so this could take some time!
My blogging goal is to share updates on my writing, as well as thoughts on what I'm learning about writing, books I've read, and zombie/apocalyptic genre movies.
It's always awkward to start a new blog, I think, so I decided that I should start by introducing myself. My name is Tara-Lee Green and I'm a single mother to five children. I have always wanted to be an author, but always believed it was too hard. Yet I still enjoyed writing, and found various ways to do it, even building on a mud for a short time, just for the chance to have my descriptive writing edited.
My life had a pretty huge upheaval at the end of last year, and that caused me to make changes in my life. Many changes. One of the less unpleasant ones was that I made the decision to write. To enjoy writing, to set goals of writing. To accept that there will be mistakes made and hurdles to overcome but that I will write anyway.
To that end, I have started writing a series of short stories set in Australia in the near future during the zombie apocalypse. Why zombies? Well, that's a story in itself, so I might leave that for another blog entry. My writing goal (to start with) is to write two compilations of short stories and a novel, and self-publish them as ebooks via Smashwords. I plan to hold off until all three are done, so this could take some time!
My blogging goal is to share updates on my writing, as well as thoughts on what I'm learning about writing, books I've read, and zombie/apocalyptic genre movies.
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