Featured Photo Copyright: Gerd Altmann
While writing stories for anthologies, I have learned that I do not particularly care for writing 100-word stories. Nor do I care for reading them. Yet, these stories are the first on my journey toward building an indie profile. I am grateful to the publishers who have accepted my stories for inclusion to their publications, but, I am finding it more and more difficult to stay with one particular publisher due to calls-for-submissions not fitting what my heart wants to write.
When my eyes set upon written words, I want them to take my imagination to a different place, with different people, characters, even strange beings. I want to feel the heat of the sun on my skin through your no-fluff description of desert-life. I want to remember songbirds from my youth when you tell about rural living on a farm with the sounds of wild-life growling, howling, crowing and singing their “wake up” alerts. It takes a very good writer to keep me engaged, even some long-time best-selling authors fall short for my likes.
I wanted to take a break from my writing for a day or two, so I downloaded some free Kindle books. The first one I began to read fell short of engaging me into their story as soon as the second page. I removed it from my Kindle library. It wasn’t until the third book, from an established, but new-to-me author with fifteen or so publications, that the writing pulled me in to want to know what happens next?
This is a difficult profession, definitely an art. There are art classes for painters, there are writing classes for writers, but true art is not learned. The artist is born an artist.
“To be a true artist,
I have to be true to who I am now and write that way.”
– Brad Paisley
Sue Marie St. Lee 
nice blog
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Thank you, Brad!
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welcome
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I think you have to write what satisfies you as an artist, otherwise it becomes a dreaded task instead of an exploratory journey.
I read your About page. Small town Oklahoma is great. I have relatives in Guthrie, Tuttle, Maysville (passed), and Pauls Valley, and my dad was born in Tryon.
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Thank you for visiting, Priscilla, and taking the time to comment. I am glad you agree with me, writing is something that motivates from the heart. When I was ghostwriting, it wasn’t personal, wasn’t difficult, but, it also wasn’t fulfilling.
After saying ‘good-bye’ to no-pay anthologies, I have begun organizing my letters, notes, writings from during the time when my son died. While doing that yesterday, I also designed the book cover, using a favorite photo from when he was a toddler. My book will be a mother’s memoir. It will be filled with emotions, but, hopefully, help someone who is suffering the loss of an adult child.
Thanks again for stopping by!
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keep working on a style until you’ve nailed it.
100words are fun but try the bigger BHP anthology books- plenty of wiggle space sue to interpret your own idea
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Thanks, Greg. I wrote one for BHP’s upcoming release around Sept. Around 1,500 words, but became confused with the other “parts”. Was chatting with Eddie D. Moore, shared my story with him and he made some changes and it was accepted – we’re co-authors. He went in a totally different direction than I was headed, but, it was accepted.
Yesterday, Eddie prompted me to submit a drabble to Fantasia Divinity, their Wind Elemental theme, romance. Ugh! I’m not into romance, but I quickly wrote the 100-word drabble and within 30 minutes it was accepted for inclusion. She was closing the submission window, and I got in just under the wire. That was encouraging.
This morning, I sent a 4K story, my own theme – Greed, to aurorawolf publishing. We’ll see. And, as you said, I need to keep working on my own style and find what fits naturally.
Thanks again, Gregg!
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nice it’s hard to find a voice in just a 100 words – i realised i’m just a potty mouth at heart and love to cuss. from now on is F bomb central !
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