RE: Fifty word story challenge and some FUN things
I think I write the same way you do, @johngeddes. We are "pantsers." (Meaning, we fly by the seat of our pants.) I truly admire writers who plan and plot and know exactly what they are going to write before they begin. (What is that like?)
You are a very prolific writer, and you have found your voice and style. That's wonderful. I don't think the 50-word short story is for anyone in particular. It certainly isn't only for new writers, or experience writers, or writers who like structure. Rather, this is an opportunity for people who want to play and discover and find out what if.
What if I wrote a whole story about a walnut that was ashamed?
What if someone gave me one word and it inspired me to write something meaningful in just 50 words?
What if I had no idea I had something interesting to say until I wrote a micro-fiction piece and saw that indeed I have beautiful words inside me?
Or... what if I thought the only way to write fiction was to spend days and days at it, so I simply never try it?
It sounds like you were lured here by @creatr, a wonderful and cherished Fifty Worder who brings passion and fun to this little exercise. You certainly are welcome to give it a try, but if it's not your thing, no one will be hurt.
Thanks, jayna, for your thoughtful response. I began writing stories several years ago on a site called Storypraxis monitored by Andy Meisner. He would give a prompt each day to spur creativity and by the end of the year I had an archive of 400 stories. Eventually, he ran out of prompts and I came up with my own and carried on from there.
So, I found an external stimulus challenging at the start, but once I got going, I found the process artificial and stifling - but it did provide the scaffolding for my initial experiments and for that I'll be forever grateful.
And yes, we are pantsers, lol - I love that word. I was writing my reply specifically to @creatr but I'm glad it caught your eye and we had this chance to chat
Hi, John,
I didn't see this sequence until today... because it doesn't show up in my feed. Glad I tripped over it.
I enjoy and appreciate @jayna's prompts, they challenge me to write. :D
Thanks for that, @johnjgeddes. I find it so interesting to learn about what inspires and motivates different writers. I think it's a little different for all of us.