As a yet unpublished author, I get in my head about my writing time too much. I want to make sure every session is geared towards making my work ready for publication. It means I can get disheartened when I feel blocked because the time spent breaking through a barrier means time spent not generating word count.
But Word count isn’t what gets a work published. I mean it does have to fit the rules for a submission but a tight 3500 word story that amounts to a TPS report isn’t a story most of us want to read. In the current novel I’m working on I keep coming to blanks on what comes next. I mean I know logistically how the characters have to get to the next point on the story board, but hours of time in travel can’t be effective if something doesn’t happen.
This week I’ve found that I adapt a practice from my professional life into my writing life. If I put aside the blocked work for a bit and work on something else. It lets me put the story back on the stove and let it simmer. Then when I come back and check it again I see my way past the block. I see what’s next.
It helps remind me that the goal isn’t to finish one perfect story, but to learn to tell more stories. The storyteller is the muscle I’m building. So when folks read this story you can thank my short story writing for saving you from a boring car ride.