December Project -- the Short Story Sprint

Okay, I think it's finally time to lift the veil of mystique from around this new project.

It's pretty simple, folks. During the month of December, I plan to write one short story per day.

Exempting myself for Christmas, that means I should have 30 new stories by the end of the month.

Daunting? Yes.

Very much so, because I am utterly incapable of writing a short story. And that's the main reason I'm doing this. I feel reasonably confident of my ability to write longer fiction, but telling succinct stories (and, really, just straight-up finishing things) is still difficult for me.

Thus, I am going to practice.



There's a lot more going on behind the scenes here, including plans and goals for the new year and thoughts about the current publication market. But I'm going to save those for later on in the month.

For now, I'm content to tell you of this new challenge I've set for myself.

...and add in a caveat that this is going to be exceedingly difficult. I'm halfway(ish) through the first one and, as you might surmise from the time, I don't think I'm going to finish it today. That means I'll already be behind for the month. Then, when you add in term papers and final exams and Christmas travels and such... well, I can understand why many of you (including myself) might be a bit skeptical about my chances.

But you know what?

That's fine.

I'm okay with the skepticism. Because that's not the point.

I set ambitious goals, with the hope that I'll at least achieve some of that goal.

If I write ten short stories this month, I'll only hit one-third of my goal. (Hey, that's consistent with my year-long trend! #fail)

But. I'll have ten new stories where before I would've had none. I'll understand short stories better than I did before, and hopefully be equipped to write more of them in the future. (Either that, or I'll solidify once and for all that I am incapable of writing a short story. [Guess you'd better write faster then.])

That'll be huge progress, and an excellent way for me to carry on my momentum from this year into the next. Hopefully, it'll also put me in a prime position for enacting my other goals for the new year.

But, as I said before, that's a discussion for another time.

Until then...
-josh k.