So, I’m doing something that I haven’t done consistently in years.
I’m writing original fiction.
It’s not a short story. It’s not fan fiction. It’s not a fly by night decision.
I’ve been planning this for years.
It’s a strange sensation, working with characters and a world which is my own. I’ve dabbled in short stories over the past couple of months, but none had the history and backbone of my current project. And, it certainly didn’t have my stamina to back it up. But, I’ve decided (inspired partly by Aheila) that it’s time to take my hands out from underneath my but and work on something that’s my own. I can do it, I know I can.
And, I most certainly want to.
I want to have something that’s my creation. Something that I can use to try and attempt to walk this long road of ‘getting published’ on. And, I have to write this story. It literally came to me in a dream and it has not let go ever since I woke up that morning. So, this year, I decided to make it part of my writing goals. I’m still going to carry on writing fan fiction, because really – I have quite a lot of readers and I’m not quite willing to sever myself from that line of feedback, but I’m going to start to work on something that I can take home and put my own stamp on as well. It’s time to put all these hours that I spend in front of my computer to good use…
What I’ve decided is to give myself a short goal. Write a minimum of 1000 words in this story per week. That would amount to 52000 words in the year. That’s not a lot, but it’s a start and, I know myself, it will get more as the time progresses. So far, I’ve already written over 5000 words in it, technically 10% of where I should be and 2.5-3% of what I want for it in total. The goals aren’t unreasonable and that I believe is the key to potential success.
The biggest mistake that people make when attempting any project is to set their own standard too high. If you keep striving towards an unreachable goal you’ll never get there. So, take a step back and do something that you can. It’s almost like wishing to run a marathon. You can’t leap away and run 50 miles in a day. You have to start small, short. If you don’t, then you can injure yourself and never run again.
So, that is what I’m trying to accomplish with this. Even if it never goes anywhere, it’s a plan and it is mine. And will be mine when it’s finished. J
Let’s see where this goes shall we?
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