Today I would like to share a bit of my writing process by sharing part of yesterday. Yesterday, in the course of listening to some old podcasts, I found a website that tracks all sorts of open submission requests, magazine data, who the editors are, what their submission requirements happen to be, etc. The website incidentally is ralan.com.
In course of doing some just general review of the website, I hit upon an open anthology catering to super hero short stories. The status was still open, still accepting stories, and it doesn't close until the end of this month. I became excited at my good fortune to have found it. As a huge fan of the genre of hero fiction, I thought it would be awesome.
I came to the idea hoping there would be an easy open door. A five thousand word piece in the super hero genre seemed at first glance a quick easy lay up piece. As it turns out, I was wrong on that point. The couple starts I had came out cliched and maudlin. I did not plan it, I thought I could at least with this fly by the seat of my pants. When I struggled, I had nothing to fall back on.
Growth for me is in realizing the problem and recognizing it for what it is. This was a failure based in arrogance and hubris with a planning chaser. This was not a failure of ability. In the past, I would have gone down the dark path. I would have been overly critical of myself and my ability to write. The dark path would have consumed two days or so, and I would have come back here to where I am right now. So at least I can say there is growth.
A superhero short is a unique animal in our current climate. There is a lot of content out there right now of varying degrees of quality. With the success of Marvel studios, Marvel comics, DC comics, etc; the task of creating something original is herculean in nature. The sheer volume of content makes the creation of something new, unique, and fresh a painful process.
Add to that the plot issues, character archetypes, and thematic elements landing in cliche-land seems to be almost a foregone conclusion. It feels like trying to plant crops in worn out soil on some level. Hearing the chorus of, 'its been done before' and 'read that in [insert comic title name and issue number here]', seems a rather disheartening thing.
I was reminded of the maxim, 'if it was easy anyone could do it' at that point. It won't be easy. Writing fiction never is. So now is the time to gear up. It is time to put on the big boy pants and lay into this one. If the soil blows, get new soil. If cliche is a certainty, then blow the doors off it with gusto. The time to come to the plate and do the thing has arrived.
Writers write. It is time to do the thing for which God created me. Time to let the chips fall where they may. Time to be about that which is before me. So here goes.
In course of doing some just general review of the website, I hit upon an open anthology catering to super hero short stories. The status was still open, still accepting stories, and it doesn't close until the end of this month. I became excited at my good fortune to have found it. As a huge fan of the genre of hero fiction, I thought it would be awesome.
I came to the idea hoping there would be an easy open door. A five thousand word piece in the super hero genre seemed at first glance a quick easy lay up piece. As it turns out, I was wrong on that point. The couple starts I had came out cliched and maudlin. I did not plan it, I thought I could at least with this fly by the seat of my pants. When I struggled, I had nothing to fall back on.
Growth for me is in realizing the problem and recognizing it for what it is. This was a failure based in arrogance and hubris with a planning chaser. This was not a failure of ability. In the past, I would have gone down the dark path. I would have been overly critical of myself and my ability to write. The dark path would have consumed two days or so, and I would have come back here to where I am right now. So at least I can say there is growth.
A superhero short is a unique animal in our current climate. There is a lot of content out there right now of varying degrees of quality. With the success of Marvel studios, Marvel comics, DC comics, etc; the task of creating something original is herculean in nature. The sheer volume of content makes the creation of something new, unique, and fresh a painful process.
Add to that the plot issues, character archetypes, and thematic elements landing in cliche-land seems to be almost a foregone conclusion. It feels like trying to plant crops in worn out soil on some level. Hearing the chorus of, 'its been done before' and 'read that in [insert comic title name and issue number here]', seems a rather disheartening thing.
I was reminded of the maxim, 'if it was easy anyone could do it' at that point. It won't be easy. Writing fiction never is. So now is the time to gear up. It is time to put on the big boy pants and lay into this one. If the soil blows, get new soil. If cliche is a certainty, then blow the doors off it with gusto. The time to come to the plate and do the thing has arrived.
Writers write. It is time to do the thing for which God created me. Time to let the chips fall where they may. Time to be about that which is before me. So here goes.