More Short Thoughts

Scott D. Parker has an interesting post over at Do Some Damage called "When the Well Runs Dry" http://dosomedamage.blogspot.com/2010/05/when-well-runs-dry.html In the essay he talks about reading something so great that you fear you'll never be able to reach that stage in your writing and you're tempted to quit. He also touches on having so many ideas that he jumps from story to story without finishing any of them.

I think these are thoughts that are common to every writer. I don't know how many times over the years I've been ready to toss the whole writing thing into the trash and never look back, but the stories keep filling my head and the desire to write them down draws me time and again back to the keyboard. And ideas tend to overrun themselves at times, so I just jot down the idea, the paragraph, or whatever struck me and set it aside to keep working on the story in progress. Yes, my mind will drift off to the other idea, and I'll let it, because I know that when I sit down to write I'll have a better idea of what the story is about and where I want to go with it.

I've found that it's just a matter of discipline, of making yourself stick to a story as long as its flowing. If the story stops coming, then move on to something else because there are times when the words don't flow and you need to step back and let your mind and the characters mull over what comes next. Over the years I've discovered that taking that step back leads to a better story and takes me places my first thoughts would never have considered.

Over at Criminal Brief this morning, John M. Floyd has an excellent post about writing tight. I especially like this quote from Alfred Hitchcock that he included. "A short story is life with the dull parts taken out." You can find his essay here http://criminalbrief.com/?p=12091 If you're having trouble keeping on point with your short story, John has some good tips to follow.