Challenge Overview

The twenty-second of fifty-two short stories completed! 

Well, I still didn’t end up finishing the fantasy mystery novelette I started the previous week. I realized that the lack of a defined emotional story and what turned out to be a bland protagonist made it difficult to find joy in writing. Also, I’ve realized I am burnt out on drafting after writing first drafts for over twenty stories in a row. I’ve done next to no revision in the last five months. Only drafting, which is the most mentally taxing part of writing for me.

However, I finished out the D&D campaign I’ve been DMing for over two years with an epilogue session where I brought the story to a close. Part of the session involved having the Player Characters roll percentile dice to determine what Non-Player Character allies they’ve meant along the way survived the battle with a mechanical dragon. Some NPCs survived while others perished. Afterwards, I was inspired to dramatize some of these results. So this week I wrote a 3,501-word fantasy short story about two of the NPCs important Sorla’s–one of the PCs–character arc journey: Arla and Vellynne. It was enjoyable to write, and I was actually excited to work on it. I look forward to revising it in the future and presenting it to my players.

Onto the next story!

Challenge Overview

The twenty-first of fifty-two short stories completed! 

I got about a third of the way through this week’s intended story–roughly 4,500 words–before I realized three things: one, I’ve lost interest in it to the point it has become a grind to write it; two, I’m still going to finish it because there is value in finishing things; and three, given the novelette length of the story and the grinding slog it is taking to write it, I’m not going to finish it this week.

So, I wrote another flash fiction piece. It is 815 words and inspired by the following image I saw on Twitter a while back: LINK. When I saw the image, the bit of dialog that came to me was, “What creatures of dull curiosity have you brought me this time.” I then discovery wrote the story from there. I’m not sure what I think about the story, but it fulfills its purpose as this weeks story.

Onto the next story!

Challenge Overview

The twentieth of fifty-two short stories completed! 

This week ended up being a break week, mostly. With the climax of my D&D game taking place last Sunday, work still very busy, and keeping up the one new story a week, the last four months caught up to me this week and the result was a lack of desire to write and a feeling of needing some space from it actually. So, while I did write up the story area for a new short story–probably around six to eight thousand words, I ended up writing a quick 388-word piece of flash fiction for this week’s story. Unlike all the other stories from this challenge which fall into the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres, this flash fiction is a literary piece. It’s been a while since I wrote such a story and it was a nice change of pace.

With the conclusion of the twenty-nine month-long D&D campaign happening next Sunday, the following week’s story will also be a flash fiction piece. Once D&D has concluded, my plan is to get back to writing longer short stories.

Onto the next story!

Challenge Overview

The nineteenth of fifty-two short stories completed! 

After last week’s novelette, I wrote a shorter 2,276-word short story this week. It was a science fantasy Star Wars: The Old Republic fan fiction centered on a heated exchange between the Bounty Hunter player character and her NPC companion, Mako. Though the emotional moments need to be smoothed out to land more impactfully, overall, I am happy with how the draft turned out.

Onto the next story!

Challenge Overview

The eighteenth of fifty-two short stories completed! 

I finished up the long short story (or short novelette depending on your perspective) I began drafting last week. It is a science fiction piece that came in at 9,854 words. Already, as I was writing, I identified a handful of things that can be improved, expanded upon, cut out, and modified in revision. I intend to let this piece sit for a good long while (6+ months) before returning to it. But I fully intend to return to it and revise it, an activity I am very much looking forward to doing.

Onto the next story!

Challenge Overview

The seventeenth of fifty-two short stories completed! 

I was a bit all over the place this week: preparing for the final encounter of a 2+ year-long D&D campaign, revising an outline for a science fiction short story, and beginning to draft said story. However, the length of the story is going to be probably around 7,000 words, and I ran out of time this week to finish it (I’m around the 4,000-word mark and halfway through the narrative). So, that is going to be my story for next week. So what about this week?

This week I popped out a quick 681-word piece of flash fiction. It’s a science fiction story along the veins of the D&D class stories I’ve been doing, but this time for the Mass Effect franchise. It is a story about an Asair woman using her biotic powers to help save survivors of a crashed spaceship. It was a fun piece to write, and it turned out all right for coming up with it at the last minute and banging it out if forty-five minutes.

Onto the next story!

Challenge Overview

The sixteenth of fifty-two short stories completed! 

Another D&D class flash fiction piece this week, coming in at 1,363 words. The good old Barbarian was the focus this time, and the story turned out . . . alright, I suppose. Not as hyped about it as some of the others I’ve written thus far. I’m feeling a lack of steam for the D&D stories afterward, so I think I’ll be taking a break from them and coming back to them later this week. Been getting that sci-fi itch again, so my plan is to get back to writing some sci-fi stories in the coming weeks.

Onto the next story!

Challenge Overview

The fifteenth of fifty-two short stories completed! 

Continued writing D&D class stories. This week focused on the Bard class with a short story of 1,643 words that followed a busking bard after a rough night of earnings that found herself in a rough back alley fight. It was a fun piece to write with the challenge of including musical descriptions, something I haven’t done much in the past. I look forward to revising this story in the near future.

Onto the next story!

Challenge Overview

The fourteenth of fifty-two short stories completed! 

Wrote another D&D class short story of 1,201 words. It follows a Ranger as they complete their hunt and have to deal with the unexpected consequences of slaying their prey. It was a fun romp and just as fun to write. I already have rough outlines for the three more stories for three more classes, and I’ll be turning those into first drafts here soon.

Onto the next story!