Adria Bailton, Author
  • Home
  • About
  • Musings
  • Contact
  • Newsletter
  • Home
  • About
  • Musings
  • Contact
  • Newsletter

Musings from a Mountain

Writer in Motion Week 3 - CP edits!

7/29/2021

0 Comments

 
Picure of a turtle swimming in the ocean with an island for a back.  The words Writer in Motion Summer 2021 Week 3 overlay the image.

Previously on....

What is Writer in Motion?
  • We were given a prompt at Week 0. The goal: to write a 1000-word story, showing our process along the way.
  • ​We posted our initial, rough, unedited drafts for Week 1.
  • Then we revealed our editing processes and posted self-edited drafts for Week 2. Spoilers: my story changed quite a bit from week 1 to week 2.
You can read some of the other self-edited stories at the Writer in Motion blog.

Now on...

Week 3 we were assigned a small group of critique partners - other writers participating in Writer in Motion. We read and critique each other's stories. I was paired with Erin, Anthony, and Linda. Their stories were so much fun to read and their feedback helped me shape my story into more of a story, something more coherent, (and correct spellings!) and gave me a little bit of confidence that I was missing during this process. 

There's still more...

My process with CP feedback is to usually receive it, read it, let it sit a few days, and then work through it. I received all my feedback with time to do all that, except my own time management and ability to wrangle tenses eluded my alloted time I'd reserved to work on it. The tenses are still giving me trouble, and I'll need to make sure I get quiet time to tame them for next week.

In the Country of Shadow

​
0 Comments

Short Story Round-Up #30

7/26/2021

0 Comments

 
This week has another seven short stories for you. It is a little heavier on literary fiction than is typical for my weekly round-ups.

House Hunting by Lisa Mason was published in May by Daily Science Fiction.
Picture

Picture
MoonPark Review published And If We Could Dance Backwards by Christina Dalcher in 2018.

Calling on Behalf of the Dark Lord by Catherine George was published by Translunar Travelers Lounge in 2020.
Picture

Picture
Lunch Ticket published Drought by Chihye Naomi Kim in 2019.

My Great-Aunt Meets Jesus at the Mobil Station in Montana by Stephanie Johnson was published by Smokelong Quarterly in 2007.

The Deadlands published Fear Death by Water by Arkady Martine in May.
Picture

Picture
Bathyscape by S. Brackett Robertson was published in April by Mermaids Monthly.
0 Comments

Writer in Motion Week 2 Self-Edited Story

7/23/2021

1 Comment

 

Previously on...

What is Writer in Motion? See my Week 0 post. 
What did this story look like when I gave up and posted for Week 1 rough draft? You can read my initial draft at my week 1 post.

The Story So Far...

Normally, I'd leave a short story at least one week, often much longer, before re-reading it and doing some self-edits. Since it took me to the very last minute to finish my initial draft, and there are deadlines for posting, I didn't have that luxury for this story.

Another stumbling block I've encountered with this story has enlightened me on my writing habits. I often have stories that crop up in my brain and need to be told and I pour them onto the paper (or into the digital Word file as it were.) Sometimes, I use a prompt and it takes me a couple sentences or a minute of thinking, and then the story just flows. And while I don't usually know the end until 40% of the way into the story (which is also when I discover how long the story will be prior to revisions), I always know where the story was going.

Dear Reader, I did not know where this story was going. I never have had such a hard time writing a story. I mentioned last week I would never have bothered to "finish" the draft if I weren't signed up for Writer in Motion. When I looked at the image, I had ideas. I had so many ideas. And all those lovely ideas got me into trouble. Because I didn't let the story simmer long enough and/or I didn't have the appropriate length of time of a deadline. I often will give myself 10 minutes or 30 minutes to write a story based off a prompt. And the furiosity of that writing may lead to giving myself a little more time to finish it. Instead I spent the week trying things and really nothing worked.

What all that comes down to: I had a lot to self-edit.

Week 2: Self-Editing

I started with a 647 word story. I was trying to push to that 1000 word goal. Our stories are supposed to be under 1000 words at the end of this week, or as of this posting. That was clearly not my problem. However, I worried that having too short of a story would also be a problem. The pushing towards the required word count, rather than let the story be whatever word count it wanted, created problems. I kept trying to add in conflicting ideas. I had no clear goal. I kept changing the relationship of the two characters.

Going into edits, I planned to remove the chorus, focus the story, get to a point of conflict and resolution (that didn't exist before) and clean up the copy.

On the 20th, I felt I'd waited as long as I could or I wouldn't have any edits to put forth. I opened my doc, created a week 2 doc, read through, tried to remove the chorus and found the story lost the little bit I liked about it, put the chorus back in, and closed the doc.

I opened the document back up again yesterday. I deleted 279 words, bringing the story down to 367. There was even less story, but I liked it better. I had shaved off all the competing ideas. I worked hard to keep the line that got some positive feedback, scrapping the line about being made of photons, which hurt my scientist's heart. 

A Single Thought

I self-edit all short stories with the single thought: what change does my protagonist go through, ie. a protagonist must change in order for it to be a short story. For this story, I actually want the problem my protagonist starts with to be the problem they end with, and the change needed to be that they now accepted themself with this problem. So the conflict became how do they go from wanting to change themselves to accepting this about themselves?

Black and white abstract painting, textures appearing as smoke clouds
Photo by Ramiro Pianarosa on Unsplash

Self-Edited Draft: In the Country of Shadows

​

Read more stories

Visit the #WriterinMotion hashtag on Twitter or the Writer in Motion Week 2 blog post where participants post links to their blogs.
1 Comment

Weekly Short Fiction Round-Up #29

7/19/2021

0 Comments

 
I'm excited about this week's short fiction round-up. I have seven stories for you again. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

The Census Faces Unusal Challenges on Audvarn-3 by Jo Miles is a 1010 word story, about five minute read, published by Fireside Fiction in May.

Image from The Arcanist of artwork representing Strands of Our Tomorrows
The Arcanist published Strands of Our Tomorrows by Melanie Harding-Shaw in 2019, another five minute read.

My Thursday Morning Walk, One Week Later by Emma Louise Gill was published by The Write-In on National Flash Fiction Day 2021. I happen to know Emma Louise Gill through a writers group. ​
Image of Trees and the words National Flash Fiction Day 2021

Picture
Ember by Anjali Patel was published this month by Flash Fiction Online. I had the opportunity to read an earlier draft of this story through a writers critique group and I love it.

Flash Fiction Online published My Lakeside Graveyard by Peter S. Drang in May.

Take Pills and Wait for Hips by Anya DeNiro was published by Catapult in 2018.

Image by ​Harriet Lee-Merrion.
Picture

Picture
GigaNotosaurus published The Enchanted Gardener by Jessica Yang in June.
0 Comments

Writer in Motion Week 1 Initial Draft

7/16/2021

2 Comments

 

Timeline

 ​The prompt was revealed on July 9.

On July 10, I wrote 24 words: "I am made of smoke and dreams and things you don’t want to see in the mirror.I live in the country of shadow."

After a particularly frustrating day job work day, on July 14, I wrote more words, ending my evening with 487. I still wasn't sure my plot, but the repeating I miss you. I love you. Let me go.​ introduced itself.​

​Of course, once I called it for the night, I went to bed and immediately came up with more of the story. First thing the next morning, I wrote more, filling out a bit more.

Process

​I'm a circular writer. I write in spirals even though my stories are told in a line. At low enough word counts, and usually if I write the full thing in one sitting, I will write through and then my spirals can be reclassified as "filling out." But, filling out to me means to enhance something that exists, not create an entirely new arc, plot, or even interaction between characters. For me, filling out has often to make more for the reader, not for the story. 

Next week

Today's draft is not a finished draft, and it is very, very rough. It is 654 words. It is both too short and too long. 
​
Normally, I wait a week before editing shorts. I won't have that time. I have some tense issues. I already see things I wish to cut, the chorus for one. And I need to fill the story out quite a bit, to edge closer to the 1000 word limit and to round it out for the reader.
Impage of a hand covering what is expected to be a face, but instead is smoke, leaching out from a hood.

In the Country of Shadow

​

Addendum

After posting, I edited to add the prompt image and some links.

Adding these more thoughts, just for transparency. I would never post or submit this story. In fact, this story fought me so much, if it weren't for this program, I would not have written it. The story feels too influenced from others, despite me trying not to read other people's responses to the prompt. 

Links to Other Writer in Motion Stories

I learned about Writer in Motion from Erin Fulmer. Here's her unedited first draft. 
Keir Alekseii livestreamed her writing, which is a cool idea. View the video and result here. 
Mel Grebing was inspired by the prompt and posted their story as well.

Enjoying all these stories? View all the participants at Writer in Motion Week 1: The Messy First Draft.
2 Comments

Weekly Short Fiction Round-up #28

7/12/2021

0 Comments

 
This week's short fiction round-up includes seven stories published between 2007 and June 2021. There are a higher number of literary stories than usual. While my "home" genre is adult SFF, I enjoy literary fiction quite a bit as well. I hope you enjoy these stories.

#BloodBossBabes by Rachel Kolar is Podcastle #676 published in April. You can read or listen.
Image: PodCastle logo

Picture: Blue Violet flowers
MoonPark Review published Ganesh and Southern Maid Donuts by Rudri Bhatt Patel this spring. 

Copies Without Originals by Morgan Swim was published by Translunar Travelers Lounge in August 2019.
Image: Translunar Travelers Lounge logo

Image: Lunch Ticket logo
Lunch Ticket published Sasha Fierce asks 'Why Don't You Love Me?' by Immaculata Abba in November 2018.

Prow by Claudia Smith was published by Smokelong Quarterly in June 2007.

Image: Cover of Issue one of The Deadlands
Death and Wednesday by Suzan Palumbo was published in the first issue of The Deadlands in May.

CRAFT published In Just Thirty Minutes by Jemimah Wei in June. 
0 Comments

Writer in Motion Week 0

7/9/2021

1 Comment

 
Based on the enthusiasm author Erin Fulmer showed for the Writer in Motion project, I joined up during their registration period. 
What is Writer in Motion? It's an opportunity to participate in short story creation and share your journey from draft to polished story via your writer's blog and the Writer in Motion forum. Additionally, the writer is matched up with critique partners (CP) and potentially a professional editor. 
Updates will be given weekly per the Writer in Motion timeline.
Image of a turtle with a mossy back nearly submerged in ocean water. In writing: Writing in Motion Summer 2021. June 25: Registration opns for marginalized writers July 2: Registration opens for all writers July 9: Prompt revealed July 16: Week 1-First Draft July 23: Week 2-Self Edit July 30: Week 3-CP Edit August 6: Week 4-Editor Edit August 13: Wrap up
Writer in Motion Summer 2021 Schedule

July 9: Prompt Revealed

Impage of a hand covering what is expected to be a face, but instead is smoke, leaching out from a hood.
Photo by Jaroslav Devia on Unsplash
Watch my Twitter, check back here, or subscribe to my Newsletter to get regular updates or the summary after all is said and done.
1 Comment

Weekly Short Fiction Round-Up #27

7/5/2021

0 Comments

 
Seven more awesome stories this week.
Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to get these round-ups into your email inbox, along with pictures of my axolotls and puppy, Peaches, AND a short story only my newsletter subscribers will get.

Picture
Blood in the Thread by Cheri Kamei was published in May at Tor.com. 

​Art copyright © 2021 by Reiko Murakami

The Deadlands is a new magazine. They published You Always Were a Morbid Child by Amanda Downum in their first issue in May.
Picture

Picture
Our Fate, Told in Photons by K.W. Colyard published in June in Clarkesworld, a 3775 word story.

The Arcanist published A Glass Darkly by Michael McCormick in January, a 5-minute read.
Picture

Lesser Things by E.J. Sidle was published by Fireside Fiction in April. At 2823 words, it is approximately a 14-minute read.

Picture
Daily Science Fiction published Shadows on a brick wall by Tais Teng in April.

Cold Weather Accessories for Imaginary Creatures by Kris Herndon and Lorraine Schein was published by Mermaids Monthly in April. 
Picture
0 Comments

    Author

    Writer of spec fic. 
    Flash published at Wyldblood Flash and Constelación Magazine.
    Currently querying a novel.

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020

    Categories

    All
    Goals
    ORIGINAL Fiction
    Reading Reflection
    Short Fiction Round Up
    Short Fiction Round-up
    Writer Events And Advice
    Writer In Motion

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.