We\u2019re putting together an anthology<\/a>,\u201d they say. They have an email to prove it. Very few combinations\u00a0of five words so excite The Short Story Guy. Maybe \u201cshort stories turn me on,\u201d or \u201csure, we\u2019re a paying market.\u201d<\/p>\nIt is not\u00a0a literary style I\u2019ve written in. Despite that, perhaps because of it, I\u00a0am intrigued.<\/p>\n
I fire up the idea engine.<\/p>\n
Nothing happens.<\/p>\n
Day Thirty<\/b><\/h6>\n
I have\u00a0researched this strange\u00a0literary technique, its shining authors and common subject matter. I have started and abandoned a few concepts. Having tossed out the chaff, now is the time of wheat. Surely, I think,\u00a0an inspired idea\u00a0is assured. Any time now.<\/p>\n
Nothing Happens.<\/p>\n
Day Thirty-Seven<\/b><\/h6>\n
Today is the day.\u00a0Other projects need aging. No other anthology offers. No requests for Short Story Guy to make commencement speeches or sign other people\u2019s books at Barnes & Noble. Theme! I think. Yes, theme. My\u00a0submission needs a theme. One\u00a0that matches the anthology.\u00a0 I select it.<\/p>\n
Nothing happens.<\/p>\n
Day Thirty-Eight<\/b><\/h6>\n
The white screen mocks me. Where there should be a burgeoning anthology submission, there is a blinking cursor. I take a walk and come back fresh.<\/p>\n
Nothing happens.<\/p>\n
Day Thirty-Nine<\/b><\/h6>\n
This is ridiculous. Short Story Guy has completed multiple short stories.\u00a0In multiple genres. And yet the blank screen lingers. I\u2019ve postponed blogs and other stuff. This demands all. I open up a prior short story, one published,\u00a0with good pacing and rising action. Yes, I think. I use it to help make a generic outline.<\/p>\n
Nothing happens.<\/p>\n
Day Forty-One<\/b><\/h6>\n
The short story\u00a0has characters. Well, a character.\u00a0Fortunately the protagonist. His quest\u00a0and motivations are\u00a0strong\u2013save that thing he loves.\u00a0His voice sounds like an acoustic guitar in the Grand Canyon;\u00a0his character arc is as lost as the movie Ark in that big government warehouse.<\/p>\n
I abandon 1,000 words and start again.<\/p>\n
Day Forty-Two<\/b><\/h6>\n
My short story has a protagonist, and that protagonist has an employee. This may sound fine, but for a morning\u2019s work it is grim. I give him a wife.<\/p>\n
By afternoon things have heated up. The protagonist is sharper. The\u00a0beginning is snappy. He is breaking bad news to loved ones. But things are not what they seem. That always does the trick. I have an ending in mind \u2014 it will be happy.<\/p>\n
By evening, fictional storm clouds loom on the short story horizon. I complete the night session, sit back, and sigh. I abandon 1,500 words.<\/p>\n
Day Forty-Three<\/b><\/h6>\n
There comes a time when every Short Story Guy looks in the mirror\u2013never in the short story itself, mind you\u2013and says \u201cit\u2019s not you, it\u2019s me.\u201d Words plague me: story vision, intentionality. But I do not give up. The secret to writing, Short Story Guy knows, is showing up. I return to the computer.<\/p>\n
Hours pass. The words start flowing.\u00a0Some are good. I see places to resurrect the best one-liners and proto-character moments\u00a0from the abandoned versions. The night sessions ends with my skimming back over the voice. I have it.<\/p>\n
Day Forty-Five<\/b><\/h6>\n
I don\u2019t have it. My character is speaking to me now, which is a good sign. I have written him into an unredeemable corner. The concept is good, but the savvy reader will sneer and say, \u201cwhatever.\u201d There are too many characters, all putting a drag on the story. The thematic question is so big the story is trying to boil an ocean.<\/p>\n
Story Story Guy hangs his head.<\/p>\n
I abandon 3,500 words.<\/p>\n
Day Forty-Six<\/b><\/h6>\n
I have it again. Things gel: the rewritten scenes are sharper and fuller, more one-liners come out, my protagonist reads more rounded. I all but super-glue my rump to the writing chair.<\/p>\n
Day-Forty-Eight<\/b><\/h6>\n
I have a beginning. The action rises. There are plot points where plot points are often found. My hero is torn over whether to save the thing he loves or move onto an interesting and lucrative new course. Family issues are in play. Questions of duty and loyalty. I even write the ending scenes.<\/p>\n
If only it had a damned middle.<\/p>\n
Day Forty-Nine<\/b><\/h6>\n
I have come to hate the story. I\u00a0would rather\u00a0brain myself with a ball peen hammer than drop more creative juice into it. But I do. Writing credits are like that.<\/p>\n
I warm up with scene sharpening, some darling hunting, and when I think the middle isn\u2019t looking, I attack. I am beaten back.<\/p>\n
I dive in again. In time, not short or easy time,\u00a0eventually the words flow. An a-ha comes \u2013 the thing that has been in the subtext all along. A sticky wicket falls. More paragraphs, less sticky wickets. I stay up late and keep writing.<\/p>\n
I finish. The protagonist\u2019s quest is done. The white screen dragon is slain. Draft 1 rises up in victory.<\/p>\n
Short Story Guy drags himself off to bed.<\/p>\n
Day Fifty<\/b><\/h6>\n
Short Story Guy sets out a walk that starts light and ends with him\u00a0shouldering knowledge. Draft 2\u00a0has begun\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Day One \u201cWe\u2019re putting together an anthology,\u201d they say. They have an email to prove it. Very few combinations\u00a0of five words so excite The Short Story Guy. Maybe \u201cshort stories turn me on,\u201d or \u201csure, we\u2019re a paying market.\u201d It is not\u00a0a literary style I\u2019ve written in. Despite that, perhaps because of it, I\u00a0am intrigued.… Continue reading The Fall and Rise of Draft One<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,92,6],"tags":[94,3,4,61,5],"class_list":["post-94","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-humor","category-short-stories","category-this-whole-writing-thing","tag-humor","tag-short-stories","tag-southern-fiction","tag-the-professor","tag-writing","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3CG0W-1w","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":108,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=108","url_meta":{"origin":94,"position":0},"title":"Behind: “Dark Days for the Professor”","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"October 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Southern lit. Family conflict. Race and social issues. Push-pull of tradition. Sense of belonging to place, like it or not. I don\u2019t write it. Or at least I hadn\u2019t until earlier this year. So it\u2019s a thrill that\u00a0my \u201cDark Days for the Professor\u201d has been included in NWMG\u2019s Southern lit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Humor"","block_context":{"text":"Humor","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"51mTezsunJL__SY346_","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/51mTezsunJL__SY346_-188x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":594,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=594","url_meta":{"origin":94,"position":1},"title":"Behind: “First Rodeo”","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"May 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"If you were around a century or so ago, and you\u00a0knew him well, you might call him Bill. On a legal document, William Sidney Porter. If you read any of his 300+ published stories, you knew him by his pen name:\u00a0O. Henry.\u00a0The name now commands a prestigious\u00a0short story\u00a0award, but more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Short Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Short Stories","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=92"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2572,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=2572","url_meta":{"origin":94,"position":2},"title":"2024 So Far:","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"March 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The new year isn't new anymore. 2024 has had some haps. Here's a few things going on, writing-wise. Murder, Neat A few years ago, the Sleuthsayers blog collective set out on a plan. An anthology plan. The Sleuthsayers ranks includes a few dozen terrific writers all with a love for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Crime, Mystery & Suspense"","block_context":{"text":"Crime, Mystery & Suspense","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Murder-Neat-2024-Sleuthsayers-1-682x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2378,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=2378","url_meta":{"origin":94,"position":3},"title":"Snack and Snack Again: Behind “Vinny Two Snacks”","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"April 13, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I eat lunch early. That started as a work necessity that became a habit that became a daily rule. Eat lunch early and you're secure against or at least fed for mid-day surprises. Of course, if you eat lunch early, there might come a major afternoon fade. One such two\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Awards and Honors"","block_context":{"text":"Awards and Honors","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/P1011897-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2545,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=2545","url_meta":{"origin":94,"position":4},"title":"2023, A Funny Sort of Year","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"December 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"We all beat our drums about what's important to us. Humor is important to me, in life and in writing. Not surprisingly then, a drum I beat when talking writing is the serious business of humor. To write with humor's lens is to load more rocks into the burden sack,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Awards and Honors"","block_context":{"text":"Awards and Honors","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Slide3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Slide3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Slide3.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Slide3.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=54","url_meta":{"origin":94,"position":5},"title":"Behind: “La Upsell”","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"October 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Here, in honor of its recent republication, is a \"Behind The Short Story\"\u00a0I wrote for \"La Upsell.\" The short story is its own literary animal, a wholeness experienced in few words and on small bones. Some writers get a sunbeam and angel choir moment of inspiration. Others grit it out,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "France"","block_context":{"text":"France","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"Intrepid Travelers Lowestoft cover","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Intrepid-Travelers-Lowestoft-cover.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111,"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions\/111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}