A New Short Story and Thoughts on Form (#IWSG Aug 2020)

Posted August 5, 2020 in Creative Writing / 5 Comments

The Insecure Writer's Support Group badge. This month's topic is writing rituals.

It’s time for another Insecure Writer’s Support Group post to boost my confidence and encourage myself to engage with the writing community. The IWSG post on the first Wednesday of every month. This month, I have exciting news about a short story-read on for details!

These month’s awesome co-hosts are:  Susan Baury Rouchard, Nancy Gideon, Jennifer Lane, Jennifer Hawes, Chemist Ken, and Chrys Fey!

I can’t quite believe it’s August already! I hope you are all happy and healthy and enjoying the summer as well as you can. I’ve been making the most of the remaining time with my family before school starts and enjoying some day trips to local woodland.

Writing News-a New Short Story!

I have some exciting news to share this month. My short story “Forged in Flames” was selected for publication by Dragon Soul Press! It will appear in their Fairytale Dragons anthology, currently scheduled for November, and will be available to pre-order soon.

Book cover for Fairytale Dragons, a short story anthology from Dragon Soul Press

“A new twist on fairytales with a fresh element: dragons. Each fairytale has been reimagined with these beasts based on the author’s preference. Wise dragons, evil dragons, elemental dragons, oh my! These classic characters will never see this coming.”

I was surprised and delighted to receive the acceptance and am looking forward to working with the publisher. I wrote the story as part of Camp NaNoWriMo and only decided to submit it last minute. I’m so glad I did!

Finding Form

“Although I have written a short story collection, the form found me and not the other way around. Don’t write short stories, novels or poems. Just write your truth and your stories will mold into the shapes they need to be.”

This month’s optional question: Have you ever written a piece that became a form, or even a genre, you hadn’t planned on writing in? Or do you choose a form/genre in advance?

What an interesting question! Most of the time, I have a specific form in mind before I begin writing. Short story and flash fiction ideas usually begin with a character popping into my head and demanding that I tell their tale. Novels are born from a “what if?” plot idea and I tend to spend a long time worldbuilding before I pick up my pen. Poetry is completely different; it starts with a catchy rhyme or a rhythmic phrase and develops from there.

I do switch forms if I feel the current one isn’t working. My WiP is a novel that developed from a short story. The original idea took on a life of its own and became more detailed than I imagined.

I usually know what genre a piece will be before a start, but there have been times when a short story has suddenly taken a dark turn from fantasy into horror, for example.

Over to You

Do you know what form a piece of writing will take before you start? What are your favourite forms and genres to write or read? Do you have any news to share?

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5 responses to “A New Short Story and Thoughts on Form (#IWSG Aug 2020)

  1. Congrats on the short story publish! That is so exciting. I have recently started doing short stories. I’m not sure how successful they are yet, still waiting to see if anything comes from them. If not, they were good experience, and helped me develop some ideas for my novel.

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