Before I decided to take writing seriously, I just told stories to people. They made people laugh, made them think or even (sometimes) made them cry a bit. People loved my stories. I heard so many times, "You should write that one down!"
So, I did. I wrote some of them down in complete form, others just as a set of notes for a plot.
Back when I was just telling stories, I never worried about the quality of my storytelling. It all just came out, and it was fun.
Now, I feel like it's a struggle to tell a story. Despite my declaration about getting the "is it good enough to publish" monkey off my back as I write, it's still there. I had more fun writing Sunlight on the Plaza Below than I've had in a long time. I never intended to do anything with that piece other than post it here as an exercise. I thought it was not bad.
In considering the possibility of submitting it somewhere that does flash fiction, though, my eye turns jaundiced and I see nothing of value there at all. The fact of course is that I really should let the editors decide. Practical and rational restraint is a useful skill, but I shouldn't prejudge this stuff so harshly.
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since you're a storyteller (brian mcdonald would love you for using that phrase), i wonder if you would have the success you want if you used a tape recorder -- just tell the story, belt it out, like you used to do?? hmmmm... Quality is so hard to measure, sometimes ;)
ReplyDeleteI tried using voice recognition software for this, since the thought of typing in stuff from dictation made me groan. The VR software didn't work at all - it was so stilted that I didn't even sound like a real person as I spoke.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'll give the tape recorder a try, as a way to let the narrative stream flow unimpeded. When I get into a groove, my typing is rarely fast enough to keep pace with the spill of words coming out of wherever they come from in my brain.