Hmm.

[tuulia]

I broke down another short story yesterday. I thought it was fairly solid, but now that I'm writing it, I don't find it exciting.

Part of it could be because I know what's going to happen. The other part is the story itself. It's cliched and predictable. I'm writing to order, which is probably why. It helps productivity to have limits to your subject and plot, but it doesn't necessarily produce the best fiction.

Well, I'll push through and edit heavily, and maybe it will turn out decent enough that I can at least send it off. I'm somewhat embarrassed by the Rogue Hearts story I already did send off. It's probably decent enough for what it is, but it isn't very me, or anywhere near the standards I usually hold myself to.

Ah, well. Let's carry on and see what we end up with.

Comments

[senmut]

Pretty much all you can do is keep on keeping on.

[tuulia]

I re-read what I'd written, changing the wording and playing with the mood, bringing back my POV character's personality, and then changed the plot-to-come. I'm much happier with it this way!

[chartharsis]

I'm glad you were able to make some changes to it that made you happier with it! I do think you hit the nail on the head, though: when you write to order, you're writing what someone else would want to read, and it's not necessarily going to mesh with what you'd want to read ... which makes it a lot tougher in some ways.

It's great that you've found a way to make your writing work for you, regardless! And I hope that you can get to a place where you're able to both make it work and write 100% for yourself, not just to someone else's request.

[tuulia]

I just finished it! I ended up missing out on the point of the anthology I was trying to write for, but I think it's a decent story, or will be once I go through it again and edit it a bit. I was writing for Circlet Press's "Coffee: Hot" anthology, so it needed

1. coffee
2. fantasy
3. sex
4. all their general requirements: sexy people (I assume), happy ending, sex as a positive thing, and so on

I got the coffee and fantasy in all right, but the sex is not the point of the story at all. I think I'll send it in anyway, and if they reject it, there might be some other lesbian fantasy collection I can submit it to.

No more writing for anthologies after this one, though, at least not for a while! I want to continue my Pet Monsters series, and that's not made to anyone's order.

Thank you! :)