I don’t consider myself a professional fiction writer.
Unless you include the financial projections I created out of thin air during uncertain economic times in 2008.
I have had a couple of short stories published and even received a small payment for them, so I suppose that makes me a pro, but I certainly don’t feel like one.
In high school, my attempts at writing fiction were hampered by my shyness. The last place I wanted to open up for scrutiny was the fantasy world that existed in my head.
Eventually, I took a creative writing course in college, and I was hooked.
Now that I have time to do what I want to, I choose writing.
I’ve been feeling my way around as I exercise my writing chops. I’ve gone down many a rabbit hole as I discovered what I enjoyed.
I’ve been reading books about writing and focusing on learning how to write a story that works.
NaNoWriMo holds my attention every year, and I have some great ‘shitty first drafts. I haven’t taken them seriously yet, but eventually, one of them is going to pull me back in. I like it because it motivates me to write a novel.
Right now I have a NaNo project on the go with the working title of Northern Moon. I have the outline for another one called The Manor, which I’m working on when I’m stuck.
A particularly useful writing rabbit hole that I’ve fallen into is ‘ The Story Grid’, by Shawn Coyne. He was an editor for years and developed a great framework for a story. It is designed to help you evaluate pretty much any story to see if it works.
Here’s one of my favorite short stories. It’s a true one.
This story was published in an anthology called The Miracle of Love under the title ‘The List’.