Notes From an Amateur Writer #22 - The Finish Line Becomes the Next Starting Line

This is day 30 for me (I started 1 day late) in @dragosroua's 30 day writing challenge.

THE FINISH LINE BECOMES THE NEXT STARTING LINE

It seems I have finally reached day 30 of the writing challenge. Although it officially ended yesterday I wanted to still complete 30 days straight. 30 days of putting out a new piece of writing. 30 days of original thought and ideas, and even several stories. It has been quite the adventure, and an extremely valuable learning experience.

I had set about reading as much as I could during that time also. More so than usual. Here at Steemit, as well as the novels I have on my Kindle, and here at home. And not to mention the broader internet itself. Reading is reading. Understanding writing can come from reading. Which can flow back into one's writing. Gradually improving it, building it up, and placing it on a level up from where it once was.

This is the 22nd article in my blog series. These have made up the bulk of the material that I produced for this challenge. The other days saw me publish short stories. I tried to step out into new territories with these stories. I think I have succeeded, even if just in a little way. I try not to be derivative, or repetitive. Even if my core themes float through my writings, I hope that I can at least bring something new to the piece. That is my hope anyway. I have received positive feedback, so that is always encouraging.

I feel like I have put in place a solid writing schedule. Some of the pieces were written at the last minute, to fulfil my sense of obligation to the challenge. But mostly I had several already prepared. I had ideas drifting in and out of my head at many times of the day. I tried to get into the habit of writing them down, or making some form of notes to help jog my memory when I was in a place where I could write in more detail. New habits formed. Old habits died off. Writing became fun again.

Creating the Future Through the Written Word

I have 3 short stories on the go at the moment. One of them I mentioned in yesterdays post. I will be concentrating my efforts on these pieces over the next week or so. I would like to keep this blog series going. I will endeavour to keep it creative, and to keep it fresh. Explore new styles, or concepts, or writing techniques. Whilst it can have a journal type of structure to it, I wish for it to be more stylistic than that. To be inherently readable. To have some form of entertainment value in and of itself.

At last count, including today's post, I have written approx 17,500 words as part of this blog series. Add to that the approx 12,500 words I wrote and published in story form, and it has been a very prolific month. I wrote 50,000 words as part of NaNoWriMo last November, but those were 50,000 very rough and unpolished words, and they are still in need of much editing and clean up. This month did go up a notch in terms of quality, I believe. So I consider it to have been far more productive, and the word count to have far more significance.

I include the links to my previous work at the bottom of each post. All but one of those (Bang Bang You're Dead) was written during the last 30 days. I think that as well as finishing up the several short stories I have on the go, I will also turn my attention to earlier unfinished works. In particular a novel idea I started to work on (and partly published) titled The Memoirs of a Forgotten Man.

The Memoirs of Forgotten Novel

I commissioned a cover for that novel (image on left), more as a source of inspiration, and to see if it would look professional. I'm not sure if I will go with it in the end, but I like it, and I have received positive feedback on it. If the writing style ends up getting a little darker than it initially started out as then the cover may need to change to reflect that, but I'll see what eventuates. In the meantime it serves its purpose.

Thanks for reading, and following along on this challenge.

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All images used with permission, and sourced from Unsplash.com, except the cover image which I own copyright of.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you liked it then please like, comment, and follow

@naquoya

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Short Fiction:

Bang Bang You're Dead
I Have No Name and I Must Scream
The Last Book Store
The Judge
The Man In The Mirror
The End of the World [Part 1] [Part 2]
The Locked Room
The Gods of Love and War [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]

Notes From an Amateur Writer blog series:

Notes From an Amateur Writer #1 - The Search For Inspiration
Notes From an Amateur Writer #2 - A Call to Action: Interacting With the World Outside of Me
Notes From an Amateur Writer #3 - Facing the Challenge
Notes From an Amateur Writer #4 - The Soundtrack to Grief and Loss
Notes From an Amateur Writer #5 - Music as a Catalyst for Imagination: Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing
Notes From an Amateur Writer #6 - The Stories All Around Us
Notes From an Amateur Writer #7 - Introducing Nomad [A Cyberpunk Mystery in the Making]
Notes From an Amateur Writer #8 - The House at the Edge of the World
Notes From an Amateur Writer #9 - Making Peace With My Kindle
Notes From an Amateur Writer #10 - Learning the Craft of Story Structure
Notes From an Amateur Writer #11 - Adults Sit at the Big Table, Children Sit at the Small Table
Notes From an Amateur Writer #12 - The Time I Won a Lego Competition
Notes From an Amateur Writer #13 - Learning to Fly
Notes From an Amateur Writer #14 - The Tucker 48: Face to Face With a Million Dollar Vehicle
Notes From an Amateur Writer #15 - When the Levee Breaks: A Story in Song and Words
Notes From an Amateur Writer #16 - Monty Python, Keanu Reeves, and My Case of Invisibility
Notes From an Amateur Writer #17 - Dancing With My Muse
Notes From an Amateur Writer #18 - Facing the Challenge Part 2
Notes From an Amateur Writer #19 - Telling Stories
Notes From an Amateur Writer #20 - Life Is Like a Box of Crazy
Notes From an Amateur Writer #21 - Writing Myself Out of Existence