I have finished the story a day in May challenge. My intent to write at least one drabble a day was achieved; and I also wrote several other flash fiction pieces of about 1,000 words. This challenge will come around again in September. It is an excellent way of building up a supply of ideas and drafts that can subsequently be improved.
I am maintaining the writing momentum by participating in the #7DayStory challenge. Write, refine, edit, polish in seven days. That’s the theory.
Day one’s exercise was to gather ideas. I half completed that because I had several ideas already. It took me just a few minutes to refresh my memory and write them down. It seemed easy to choose the one I planned to work on.
Day two: wrote the first draft. Managed that with about 1,300 words. I ended up with a stiff neck and a sore arse because I sat on it all day.
Day three: revise the characters. These questions are copied and pasted from the challenge site which is run by Julie Duffy and Gabriela Periera. Sign up with them if you fancy having a go.
Today I am working on revising my characters and following the questions from Julie and Gabriela.
- Is your protagonist driving the events in the story?
- What does your character want and does this want drive the decisions he or she makes in the story?
- Is there one signature detail about your character that we can identify as important and—more crucial—remember?
- Is there an antagonist? The antagonist might not necessarily be a person. It could be a force working against what your protagonists wants or seeks?
- In a short story there isn’t much room for secondary characters. When they appear, their job is to add depth to the protagonist? Do yours?
Curious. Whilst in process, I realised the character I thought the protagonist was the antagonist and vice versa. Or maybe not. I am working through the questions and developing the new roles. It is an exercise well worth doing. So thanks Julie and Carmen.
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