Monday, July 5, 2010

One down, a million to go...

So, the other day I managed to finish a full-blown short story. Ok, so it's not actually the first one I have done. But I am particularly proud of this one. It is actually the sequel to my previous one, and continues the tale of the northern barbarian, Ryvor, and the spirit-possessed gauntlet that he is unable to be rid of. Ryvor himself is an unapologetic nod to Robert E. Howard, and I think he is the type of character old Bob might have created. I tried to give a complete experience with this story, though it is part of a larger narrative. How much larger is up in the air. My original intent was to write about ten stories about this character, each being a stand-alone tale, but when read in order and together, they tell a complete over-arcing story. The story has been posted on my FictionPress page for now (see my link to the right), and I'm inviting any and all to read and critique it. Eventually, it will be taken down when I am ready to submit it for publication.

There you go. My first, serious attempt at a publishable piece of fiction. And I have to say, finishing it has given me a new sense of purpose and a bit more motivation. I am eager to begin writing more stories, and am currently reviewing my plethora of false starts for something to finish and polish up. No genre seems safe from me, as my two current front runners are a military sci-fi story and a western.

Not sure how quickly either will get done, though, as my writing muscles are currently being worked out with homework for my last history class before earning my BA in History, and a psychology class that I needed to take so I could manipulate the financial aide system. Both have 10-page research papers due in a couple of weeks. The history one (actually, Historiography, the study of studying history) is about the Vikings. So, it should be pretty interesting, once I narrow my focus down enough.

1 comment:

Charles Gramlich said...

Good to see another Howard fan continuing the tradition.