Hello All. I'm Endeavor, relatively new to the forum.
Initially, for a few months I was a silent creeper, just reading up on what other people submitted during the monthly micro and flash fiction competitions, but too timid to submit even a micro fiction. It was all too terrifying.
Then, one day, I actually broke my left hand. I'm a righty, but with a clunky splint over a sore hand, I was useless typing. As a touch typer, I felt incredibly disabled. At the same time, I had just begun my first draft of flash fiction that I was determined to submit for the very first time. I drafted in pen, but when it came to typing... well I'm just relieved to say that my Samsung galaxy note could help me out, because I could handwrite it and it would transcribe it into text. But much to my disappointment, it was an extremely fickle tool to work with. I must have painstakingly corrected every other three words while writing. No, not 'leaning', 'cleaning'! Not 'the', but 'he'! Ex cetera.
So, after much deliberation and painstakingly editing my drafts, my very first flash fiction about snails playing with astronauts minds on an outlandish moon was submitted here. I was fearful of the responses, and braced for the worst. Instead, I got a lot of honest, constructive feedback that I really needed to hear and run with in my writing. I had plenty to improve and grow in, but I didn't feel like I was a minnow floundering about big haughty mackerel. I felt like I joined a club with a culture of healthy camaraderie, all pursuing the common goal to hone and perfect one's craft.
Ever since I broke through my initial fears, I've had fun writing and submitting micro and flash fiction in the monthly contests. I've been writing on and off for years, with dozens of story ideas and unfinished works lying around my harddrive, and have been constantly frustrated that I just can't complete a damn story. But I must say, this writing forum has been the best workshop imaginable in of itself.
So I took Ray Bradbury's advice to heart. He said to start writing short stories, start writing small, just like he did. He said to write a short story once a week. Then you'll have 52 complete stories by the end of the year that you can be proud of, and with each story you write, you improve your writing. He also said to read one short story and one essay a day to expand your brain and deepen your writing.
I can't say I'm doing all the above precisely, but I'm certainly starting small, writing short stuff first.
Now I've taken my first stab at the 5000 word competition, themed Heavy Metal. I've thrown around a lot of ideas until I settled on one that seemed interesting and promising. I was eager to dive into the writing, but then realized I wanted to write about something that I really didn't know much about. I had to delve into historical documents and research to portray accurately how things were in the late 1800s of the industrial age. I had the basic ideas for the story down, but just didn't have that writing flow working at all for me. It felt like writers block. I know I have a story here, but it just isn't coming out of me. Extremely frustrating. So I did some more research. Lots of reading, for weeks. And in between, berated myself internally for not writing squat.
But I'm pleased to announce that I finally got into that writing flow (the best way I can describe this state of mind and writing), and totally immersed myself into the setting, sights and sounds of the story. Before I knew it, flashes, tid-bits of scenes were coming to me and I wrote each one as they came, separating each scene with a thick line.
So that's where I am. Word count be damned, I've found my writing flow and that's all that matters to me now.
Onward Bound!
P.S. Oh, and don't worry. My hand fully healed by late April. Typing freely now with renewed appreciation for writing (and my hands)
And I may have to finish a first draft on all three books before I really know what order they will be in. . .
