30 Day Short-Short Fiction Writing Challenge

[invisiblehouses]

Every year, the same story plays out in my life:

1. At some point during the summer, I think, "Hey, I should do NaNoWriMo this November."
2. About a week into November, I realize I forgot all about NaNoWriMo.

So this year, after mucking about with trying to rewrite some old stories, I decided to get back to basics: the short-short/vignette.

Here is my challenge: to hit "publish" on one fictional short-short story every day for 30 days in a row.

There are some rules:

1. I don't necessarily have to write a new piece every day; I can do two or three in one day if I want, but...
2. I still have to work on them every day.
3. I have to post them to ClintTurpen.com and link from Google+. This is the "hit publish" portion of events.

These will be second or (at best) third drafts, since the main goal is to work on delivery. Once the 30-day period is over, I'll go back and make 20 of the little suckers really pretty and make an e-book or something.

Oh yeah...one more rule: I have to make the challenge public. Since this and G+ are the only forums and/or social media I really use, that's what this post is.

[Orionjoel]

Clint,

It is really great to see you doing this. I am guessing that you have missed the beginning of Nanwrimo again? And doing this on your own steam?

I would be happy to help if there is anything you need like a motivator or someone to bounce ideas off. Just let me know and can exchange contact by PM (email or skype would be best, however time diff not sure if it will or wont work.

I am doing Nanowrimo for the first time ever, as a rebel (doing my own thing not a fiction story) and it is a great experience to be pushing yourself every day to do some writing and have a goal in site. I wish you all the best in your own challenge and hope i can keep up to date with it.

[invisiblehouses]

Oh yeah, I missed the beginning NaNoWriMo again this year.

I'm calling this challenge LoShoShoStoWriMo. ("Lo" for "local," since it's just me). I like the short-short; it's the ultimate in econo writing.

Thanks for the encouragement.

[Orionjoel]

So when do you get started?

[invisiblehouses]

Originally Posted by Orionjoel

So when do you get started?

Started yesterday, actually.

[invisiblehouses]

So far, so good. Day 3: 30-day short-short fiction writing challenge. Day 3: Two People Talking Past Each Other | ClintTurpen.com

[invisiblehouses]

Six days in, still going strong at ClintTurpen.com.

Don't know if anyone's paying attention or not, but "making it public" was part of my original rules, so here we are.

Personally, I think they're just dandy little stories.

Just dandy.

[Alice Hive]

Good for you! I did the NaNoWriMo twice and it was quite an experience. Doing creative work every single day for a period of time helped me to realize how creative I actually am.

[Andrew Brunelle]

I wrote a novel once, or at least started to write one. 160 pages later and I realized that it wasn't my best work and I scrapped the whole thing. Becoming a writer is easy. Earning a living at it is very hard, especially in the today's $1 Kindle book culture. Now everyone can publish their own works, and sell them at ridiculously low prices, which IMO cheapens the novel pool for everyone. It just makes finding a great novel that much harder.

As an avid reader and a part-time blogger, I know how much effort goes into writing a book, and although I'd love to crank out a novel, I know how hard it will be and how much of my time it will take up, and I just don't know if it will be worth it. The truth is that most books, most novels are easily forgotten, no matter how great they truly are.

I hate to be cynical about the world of authors, but the truth is that 99% or more just don't make it and many that do are those who write total BS novels that are designed to keep your shallow attention and to fill your head with the same kinds of stories over and over again. The writers I love tend to break boundaries and create stories that are outside the usual realm of novels. But even that has become a cliche. Now edginess in novels is commonplace, so I guess what I am saying through all of this is that the best way to stand out is to do something that has never been done before in writing a novel.

Although that is not entirely possible either. It's all been done before. But perhaps I will write another novel about something that is close to my heart, and see if it will sell. I'm not talking multi-million dollars, but a sizable amount of people. I'm not looking to start a cult, but I would like a cult following.

I really didn't mean to go on a rant here, but there I went. It's part of the healing process. Good luck on your 30 day trial, and hopefully a few of them are worth publishing for real. I respect writers, especially those with something original to say.

[PraetorianX]

This is a great idea. I love to write, although I was disenchanted for a while when I lost a lot of work after a hard drive failure. All I have to say now is backup your backups.

[invisiblehouses]

Originally Posted by Andrew Brunelle

I wrote a novel once, or at least started to write one. 160 pages later and I realized that it wasn't my best work and I scrapped the whole thing. Becoming a writer is easy. Earning a living at it is very hard, especially in the today's $1 Kindle book culture. Now everyone can publish their own works, and sell them at ridiculously low prices, which IMO cheapens the novel pool for everyone. It just makes finding a great novel that much harder.

As an avid reader and a part-time blogger, I know how much effort goes into writing a book, and although I'd love to crank out a novel, I know how hard it will be and how much of my time it will take up, and I just don't know if it will be worth it. The truth is that most books, most novels are easily forgotten, no matter how great they truly are.

I hate to be cynical about the world of authors, but the truth is that 99% or more just don't make it and many that do are those who write total BS novels that are designed to keep your shallow attention and to fill your head with the same kinds of stories over and over again. The writers I love tend to break boundaries and create stories that are outside the usual realm of novels. But even that has become a cliche. Now edginess in novels is commonplace, so I guess what I am saying through all of this is that the best way to stand out is to do something that has never been done before in writing a novel.

Although that is not entirely possible either. It's all been done before. But perhaps I will write another novel about something that is close to my heart, and see if it will sell. I'm not talking multi-million dollars, but a sizable amount of people. I'm not looking to start a cult, but I would like a cult following.

I really didn't mean to go on a rant here, but there I went. It's part of the healing process. Good luck on your 30 day trial, and hopefully a few of them are worth publishing for real. I respect writers, especially those with something original to say.

Oh, I'm not starting with any concrete goals in mind beyond "post a new short-short every day for 30 days."

I'm actually kind of a fan of the low e-book price point, though; I recently picked up Joshua Fields Millburn's first collection for $0.99 (before it went up to $3.99). If he'd gone through the traditional publishing channels, it wouldn't have come out for at least another year, and I'd probably never buy it at $15.99 (even though I know it's dandy). I think the "Ah, what the hell? It's a buck" effect can definitely benefit the writer.

If I do end up with a nice stack of stories, I probably will make an e-book, although that will require many further drafts; what's being posted now are at most third drafts, and usually second. I'd never release something that unpolished for commercial consumption.

[True Believer]

Ooooh interesting, this is such a good challenge. will be looking forward to seeing your updates on how you are doing. I have always wanted to be a writer but so many things stand in the way (I know, excuses too) so I sincerely wish everyone the best when they do something to follow their dreams.

[invisiblehouses]

Originally Posted by PraetorianX

This is a great idea. I love to write, although I was disenchanted for a while when I lost a lot of work after a hard drive failure. All I have to say now is backup your backups.

I guess that's another advantage of publishing on the blog; I figure the chances of my computer blowing up/house burning down/etc. and my webhost's servers all being wiped clean at the same time are pretty slim. If nothing else, I've got the second or third drafts somewhere.

I know what you mean, though. When I finished the first EP of my latest musical direction, I immediately burned a DVD with all the files, and stuck 'em in the car's glovebox. I need to do that with the second release, now that I think of it.

[invisiblehouses]

Originally Posted by True Believer

Ooooh interesting, this is such a good challenge. will be looking forward to seeing your updates on how you are doing. I have always wanted to be a writer but so many things stand in the way (I know, excuses too) so I sincerely wish everyone the best when they do something to follow their dreams.

How many things are truly standing in your way, though? Is there anything that would prevent you from obtaining a $0.99 notebook and a ball-point pen and just going at it for half an hour a day? Heck, you can probably score a free notebook somebody dropped if you just walk past a high school and look around the parking lot (although you might have to rip out a few pages of algebra notes or something).

I say this because I've had so many things "standing in my way" all my life, and every one of them turned out to be nothing more than smoke and shadows. Once I mustered to courage to confront them, I found there was nothing there at all. And I am an absolute beginner at this whole idea of "doing The Work."

And even if you've got actual, substantial challenges that aren't just inside your own head, I know you can find a way to take on those dragons.

See if you can pick up a copy of The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. That book (and this site and these forums) had a lot to do with getting me moving in the right direction.

[invisiblehouses]

By the way: I'm at nine stories now. I'm starting to notice a little courage-building element to this challenge beyond the obvious "putting your art out there for (potentially) everyone to see."

It's this: when you force yourself to work fast, you find yourself posting things that you know are not as good as they could be with a few more revisions. If you've got any sort of perfectionist tendencies, that really cuts close to the bone.

The latest installment is here: 30-day short-short fiction writing challenge. Day 9: Light as a Feather | ClintTurpen.com

[invisiblehouses]

I'm happy to report that I'm still at it, though I've got a bit of a challenge ahead of me: I will be away from my computer on Thursday and Friday, which means I've got to have three stories finished by tonight.

I've got a first draft in front of me, ready for the blue pen to slash away at it like a samurai sword, and a couple skeletal ideas. If I'm going to make good on "post a new story every day," I've got to get these suckers in the can by about ten tonight (waking up early tomorrow to travel).

Latest one is here, if you're interested: 30-day short-short fiction writing challenge. Day 12: Will This Be On the Final? | ClintTurpen.com

[invisiblehouses]

Still going, though not so strong. I've been sick for several days now, and pushing through has been super hard. The quality has suffered, and illness always shunts me back into old patters of second-guessing and procrastinating.

But I swore I'd make this thing public, so here I am. And now I'm going to go to bed.

[invisiblehouses]

I'm going to have to be a little premature and say it now:

CHALLENGE: OWNED.

In a couple hours, I will be posting the story for Day 29, then revising the draft of Day 30's story and scheduling it to post tomorrow. I have to do this today because I'll be a bit...anesthetized...all day tomorrow from a round of surgical tooth extractions.

This is the first time in a very long time I've forced myself to create something every day, and thee first time I've published every day. The stories weren't always the greatest thing I'd ever done, but that hardly matters; I feel like an actual fiction writer again.

After this, I've got some changes planned for the website, and I want to keep writing every day. Perhaps a "Five Complete Short Stories (of 1,500-5,000 word length) in 30 Days" challenge or something. Just to keep things interesting.

It's at ClintTurpen.com | Fiction, etc. if you're interested in reading some short-short stories.

[MariconesUnited]

Congrats man! No idea how I missed this thread, but now I feel inspired to do something like this...

[rubixmon]

Liking this idea. Basically doing the same exact thing actually, been off track a bit though. Good luck with your personal challenge!