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.

1. Is your protagonist driving the events in the story?
2. What does your character want and does this want drive the decisions he or she makes in the story?
3. Is there one signature detail about your character that we can identify as important and—more crucial—remember?
4. 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?
5. 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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