#storyaday

[julieduffy]

What Are You Turning Towards, This New Year?

Are you setting goals for outcomes or simply turning towards your writing more?

Here are some ways I can help:

Download the Short Story Framework:

https://storyaday.org/ssf

Take the 3-Day Challenge

https://storyaday.org/3dc

Sign up for the StoryAWeek Newsletter

https://storyaday.org/storyaweek

Take the I, WRITER Course

https://stada.me/iwriternow

Join the Superstars Group

https://storyaday.org/superstars

Coaching with Julie

https://storyaday.org/writing-coaching-with-julie

  Chapters

[00:00:00] Intro

[00:00:32] Where Are You Headed?

[00:03:16] Turning Towards Your Writing, Consistently

[00:05:12] Goals or GPS?

[00:06:26] More Successes

[00:12:02] No More Negative Voices

[00:13:54] Ways To Get Support from StoryADaym

[00:14:25] Short Story Framework

[00:14:35] The 3-Day Challenge

[00:15:51] StoryAWeek Newsletter

[00:18:50] I, WRITER Course

[00:19:39] January 5-Day Challenge

[00:20:18] StoryADay Superstars

[00:21:51] Coaching

[00:23:19] Wrap up

The StoryADay Podcast

#writing #podcast #writing tips #storyaday

[hyba]

Haven’t been feeling very well these days, but despite that and working full-time, I’ve managed to write a tiny snippet for almost every day of September so far! StoryADay September won’t be a complete miss ^^

#writing #storyaday #storyadayseptember

[himluv]

Goals Summary 2023 – Wk #10

Look. When I say it's been a doozy of a week? I mean, it's been a DOOZY. But even when things fall apart, there's goals to talk about.

Hi.  I’m sorry this is so late. These past two weeks have completely smashed my routines into little, shiny fragments. And without my routines, things like accountability posts tend to fall by the wayside. You’ll also notice that, again, there’s no Outings! post this week. Yeah. I’ll get into the reason for that in a bit.  But first, let’s look at some goals. Last Week Write 3x Keep…

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#fantasy fiction #home repair #horror fiction #novels #personal rant #reading #reading challenge #science fiction #short stories #speculative fiction #StoryADay #writing

[nv-rivera]

Another one bites the dust. Natalie Goldberg and @storyadaymay can split the credit for all of this spilled ink. #amwriting #writingpractice #storyaday #stopwritingalone https://www.instagram.com/p/CdcOzG7r_sO/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#amwriting #writingpractice #storyaday #stopwritingalone

[fictionadventurer]

I ignored Story A Day May this year, but I just listened to this episode of the podcast and it highlights why I love Story a Day so much more than Nanowrimo. It's kinder, gentler, calmer, more mature.

A lot of the tips in this episode kind of had me rolling my eyes like, "Yeah, this is the obvious baby stuff, please tell me something I don't know," but then it would just wack me upside the head with obvious baby stuff that I didn't know, or at least hadn't considered in that way before.

The two Obvious Things that had me reconsidering my entire writing life were:

Some writers require novelty, so switch up your routine if it stops working for you. I've usually seen this framed as, "Every writer and every project is different, so try different things until you figure out what works best for you." With the implication that once you found the right routine or used the right strategies, the project would be smooth sailing. So I'd try to figure out What Kind of Writer I Was, because I hate change, so clearly this lack of focus meant that I just hadn't found the right strategy yet. But it always felt like I'd find something that worked beautifully and would work forever, but then like, 2-3 days later, it wouldn't work anymore. Apparently I was too irresponsible to stick to a routine like a Good Writer. But this was the first time I'd seen this framed as a normal thing. That people can change their routine or their tactics multiple times in one month. That your routine can be switching it up to keep things exciting. I haven't been unfocused, I've just been chasing novelty because that makes writing exciting for me! Everything about my writing life suddenly makes sense and I can stop feeling guilty and instead work with it!

If you miss a day, don't try to catch up. Just ignore it and move on. This was mindboggling after having so much experience with the Nanowrimo school of writing challenges where they're like, "Make sure you stay on track cuz you don't want to have to catch up at the end of the month." The reason I've failed at previous Story A Day attempts was that, ten or so days into the month, I'd miss a couple of days and get so overwhelmed by the thought of playing catch up that I just dropped it. But this was such a gentle, sane approach of, "It doesn't matter if you miss a day. Just start fresh tomorrow." No implication that you've failed by only writing twenty-nine or fifteen or two stories. Just encouragement to keep showing up and not letting a sense of obligation and guilt crush you, and being grateful for the stories you did finish. (Frankly, this'll be good advice for a lot of areas in life.)

#adventures in writing #story a day

[corelliaxdreaming]

I keep forgetting I wrote a weird, angsty "we did cannibalism because it was the only way to survive and our dead squadmates would have wanted us to live and now we're really fucked up about it" ficlet during StoryADay, and I have no idea if I'll ever have the balls to actually post that thing.

#tw: cannibalism

[fleetsparrow]

There's something I don't like about this survey question, and I've finally figured out what it is.

The question says:

"Where are you currently in your writing career?"

With the following answers, of which you can only choose one:

Writing for fun—not interested in publishing

Intend to get published, but haven't yet

Published one or more short stories only

Traditionally published one or more books

Self-published one or more books

Mixed traditionally/self-published

All of these are perfectly valid areas to be at. That's not the problem.

I dislike how these options are being framed as part of a single "career path" that moves in only one direction: the ultimate goal being traditionally published books.

Easily, you could argue this is the most well-known path of a "writing career" (very old-school, "write every day" type mentality path). But it's not the only one.

Just to use myself as a personal example, I don't know how to accurately answer this question.

My facts:

I have not been published by a big press

I self-publish my own fanfic and original fic

I have had a story published in a kickstarted anthology press which created hard copies of the anthology

I have never completed a novel or novella

I have wanted in the past to have a traditional publishing path

I have written commissions for actual monies

I am currently writing for fun with no desire to traditionally publish at this time, even though this may change at some future point

The most accurate as in "up to the minute" answer is the first, that I am writing for fun.

But the way this question is worded suggests that I'm "just starting out". That I'm "new" to writing. I can almost guarantee the next suggested solutions will be "Writing 101" type lessons.

I also take offense at this answer option, "Published one or more short stories only", specifically because of their use of "only".

I see this a lot in writing spaces (the strongest of which is/was NaNo spaces).

The implication of the "only" is that short stories are not "real" stories. They're seen as "practice" for the "real" work of writing novels. They're seen as stepping stones on the path to becoming a Real Writer who writes Novels

Sure, you can dabble in short stories, as a treat. Maybe you can even create a collection of them once you're established. But when's your novel coming out? You know, when's your real writing coming out?

It's obviously not like there isn't a lot of crossover between short story writers and novelists. Most writers do both at times, to varying degrees.

But they're not the same thing.

Short stories aren't "novel practice" pieces. Writing a short story is a skill on its own, just like writing a novel is its own skill.

Personal example again:

When I was in high school, I wanted to write novels. I had a couple going at a time, including a large high fantasy epic. It seemed very easy, then. I almost exclusively read novels. I had a very rigid daily routine via school. I had much fewer external stresses in my life at the time.

By the end of college, my brain didn't work like a novel anymore.

During and immediately after college, however, I came to fanfic. I found the StoryADay writing community. I discovered flash fiction and micro fiction.

One of my biggest struggles in school was the mandatory 5 page essay. I could always make my point in about 2. But now... You're telling me people can tell entire stories in 100 words or less??? Sign me up!

I've never written anything novel-length since. Even the longest fanfic I've ever posted is only a little over 23,000 words, and that took me ages to put together. (For the record, it's also more like a flash novel or a series of vignettes, in that very few chapters continue the same inner story.)

So, for all that, where does that leave me on the survey?

I will, for the sake of argument, discount my AO3 works from counting as "self-published". That still leaves me having "published a short story" in someone else's book AND "writing for fun" with no intent on... I guess monetary? publishing.

Which, really, tells them nothing about my "writing career".

#fleet rambles #writing #it really isn't the Stephen King type linear progression #write for fun to short story to published novel #that's also a very capitalistic mindset of why people write #it's fine if that's how you want to do it #but please don't assume that's the only available option #fleet gets personal

[werehamburglar]

oh hey, storyaday may starts tomorrow

[karavansara]

#StoryADayMay 2023

This year too I’ll be taking part in StoryADay May, A month-long short-story challenge in which writers write (finish) a short story every day In May. Why, you ask.Because it’s free.Because I am “between jobs” and I am beginning to feel the existential dread of not being able to write/sell any more stories in the foresee4able future, and thus sink into poverty and madness*.Because it is…

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#StoryADayMay

[nyssasorbit]

StoryaDay May!! StoryaDay May!!

[julieduffy]

StADa175 Creative Rebelllion

It's an end-of-year episode with a twist (hint: don't want to set New Year's Resolutions? Join the rebellious crowd!) LINKS: Podcast interview archive: https://stada.me/interview Reading Room reviews: https://stada.me/read StoryAWeek Newsletter: https://storyaday.org/storyaweek

The StoryADay Podcast

#writing #podcast #writing tips #storyaday

[hyba]

Another motivating episode! I guess since I'm having trouble writing lately (rather, finding the time/energy to write), I feel like these episodes lift a bit of weight off my shoulders.

#writeblr #writing #writers #storyaday #podcast

[spoke9]

Short Story Month

#shortstorymonth #stortstory

May is the month for a special focus on the short story: why we love it and why everyone should be reading them. April has had poetry (since 1996), so in 2010 we declared May the month of the Short Story. Source: https://storyaday.org/short-story-month/ How Can I Celebrate? by StoryADay Buy a short story collection from your local neighborhood indie bookstore. They’ll be happy to recommend…

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#short story #Short Story Month

[regenassart]

The missing girl part 28 - Saoirse opened the front door to find his mother smiling at him. He thought oh no what now ? Mother: " Finally you are home Saoirse, I have organised a little family dinner " Saoirse: " What's that supposed to mean ?" Mother: " Well I told your father to come and bring Leif along " Saoirse: " Seriously you invited that good for nothing and the brat he collected ? " Mother: " Saoirse ! Don't speak I'll of your father please...and the boy has been through a lot you could really show some empathy..." Saoirse pouting away, he kicked his shoes off. He looked over and saw his mother making a sad face. Saoirse: " Fine I'll make an effort but you for you since you just came home " She smiled and hugged her boy promising that her sumptuous diner would make up for all of it. After a long excruciating diner due to Saroise he finally went to bed. Anna still hadn't written back to him since he told her to be careful and not go out alone. Saoirse wrote again to Anna if she is doing ok and that he is really worried for her since that eye reappeared in the sky. He waited for a long time but till he fell asleep she didn't reply... #storyart #storyartist #motherchild #teenager #regenassart #instaartist #instaart #digitalart #digitalartists #illustration #illustrator #colorsketch #doodle #anime #manga #cuteart #fantasyart #mysteryart #storyaday #sketchaday #instasketch #instapaint #myart #mystory #xfiles #horror #scary #artfun https://www.instagram.com/p/CYrmpQ6KdBv/?utm_medium=tumblr

#storyart #storyartist #motherchild #teenager #regenassart #instaartist #instaart #digitalart #digitalartists #illustration #illustrator #colorsketch #doodle #anime #manga #cuteart #fantasyart #mysteryart #storyaday #sketchaday #instasketch #instapaint #myart #mystory #xfiles #horror #scary #artfun

[fictionadventurer]

I know I’m late in mentioning this, but StoryADay May has started, and I thought I’d mention it in case any of my followers who write are interested.

It’s a month-long writing event geared toward short stories, with a goal of writing a short story draft for every day of May. The great part (and the reason that I like it better than Nanowrimo) is that there’s no word count goal. Your story could be 5,000 words or 500 words or 50 words; as long as your story is a complete draft of a piece of fiction, you’ve met the daily goal.  Which means that it can be relatively easy to catch up if you’re five days behind (as I am).

There’s a website here that provides prompts for each day (which are 100% optional), and they also have a podcast. Here’s a link to an episode about flash fiction. It’s kind of long (ironically), but it introduced me to a lot of exciting new ideas of what a short story can be, which is super helpful for getting enthusiasm for a lot of new ideas.

Anyhow, I got 2.5 stories drafted today, and I’m excited to see what the rest of the month can bring. (And if anyone’s interested in playing along, please let me know, because I want more people to join in on the fun).

#adventures in writing #storyaday

[corelliaxdreaming]

Triple your pleasure on monthly bingos this time, because I really wanna focus on getting the daily StoryADay stories and my reading goals done. But I still couldn't leave out the other stuff, of course. :P

#monthly bingo #I downloaded so many new brushes to mark off squares this month! :D