Flash Fiction

No, not the readable sort.  

Flashing is the act of exposing onesself in public.  I’ve an hour in a bar with Jarvis in front of me and no company while the wife is being therapeutically tortured.  I intend to write, but it will be no trouble at all to dodge out and twiddle the hour away.  The best remedy for that behavior is self-discipline, but, lacking that, I’ll use the prospect of embarassment instead.  I’ll check in, update this post with my wordcount, and live with the remorse or exultion that results.

Which, now I’m thinking of it, is a kind of self-discipline.  Well, then.

  • Beginning Count:  30,001
  • Ending Count:  30,929

Crossposted from Epinephrine & Sophistry

3 thoughts on “Flash Fiction”

  1. I find with any big task, and writing certainly counts, that the problem is when I don’t have specific enough goals. If I ask myself “What am I doing next?” and I don’t know, then I do know – figuring out what to do next!

    I usually know the big topic, so it’s really about breaking things down. I’m continuously breaking things down into bite-size chunks. If I don’t, I sit in confused panic until I remember to do this. I can’t say “Write code to import test score files into my web application.” I have to break it down to steps like, “Figure out how to upload a file,” “Parse the file into a useful data format that has everything I need,” “Save the data to the database,” “Write a display template for generating the web page,” and so on. _These_ tasks, I can do. I can keep them all in my head at once, they have nice defined boundaries, and I can check off ticky-boxes and feel the progress.

    Writing’s not that different. You can’t just say, “Write a novel”, and very few people can say, “I’m going to write the next chapter.” You need to say, “Write this chapter, which has these three scenes. Scene 1 I need Alex and Cori to meet, witty dialogue, and establish they both are interested in mutant frogs. Scene 2 is when they rush to the museum and we have our chase scene. Scene 3 is the sex scene.” (Okay, that’s a terrible story.) All of a sudden, huh, I can write scene 1, see how that goes! And if you can’t, keep breaking it down, down, down. If it has to be, “Next, I need to write a paragraph that describes the room.” that’s fine.

    At least, that’s how _I_ get past the Horrible Blank Page Syndrome. Other people have different strategies! Good luck!

    1. I’ve had the same problem, with the same solution. Currently, I’m working from a 17 page synopsis that I’m fluffing up into actual scenes.

      Lately, my problem has been “I don’t want to start.” Sitting and staring is easy, and restful, and event though I enjoy myself while I’m writing and feel good after I write and enjoy rereading what I’ve written a year later, sitting down to do something just because I want to is HARD.

  2. So did it work? I see the word count, but I don’t know if you achieved your goal. Must we fold our ridicule away to save for another time?

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