Jammin’ on Deadlines

Working hard this week. I am “work-working,” fiction writing and now, blogging a bit. I’m jamming on multiple deadlines, so will keep this short.

So, a quick update: I’m working on a story and it’s going pretty well. I took a little time out to understand where the plot is headed, got it figured out (thanks, B–!) and now I’m ready to forge ahead. This is my major writing project at this time and everything else writerly (blog, submissions, etc.) is taking a back seat!

I also keep submitting my finished stories to magazines. One piece (The Number Thief) I even sent to a contest (the first time I’ve ever done that!). No movement yet on these, but these things take time.

In addition, I’m Beta-reading a friend’s piece and that has been really interesting and illuminating. And it has made me realize I miss reviewing and critiquing others’ works. It can really be an eye-opening exercise to read other writer’s early drafts. You see that we all struggle with the same things (self-doubt, Show vs. Tell, pacing, etc., etc.,). Can’t wait to to finish reading this and get it back to the author.

I also keep branching out and reading, listening and watching new stuff. The latest is Aggretsuko on Netflix. And it seems fitting that she takes the lead image this post, because I’m feeling a little Aggretsuko myself lately with all these deadlines!

See you next time,

Darius