Short stories and vertigo: carefully not flailing

[mrissa]

This morning I finished my sixth short story of the year. Five of them are SF, including this morning's work. Only one fantasy. I don't know if that's a good trend, a bad trend, a neutral trend, or a complete coincidence. Time, she said sepulchrally, will tell.

I didn't want to write another SF short this week. I wanted to revise either a short story (someone kindly said they would see it again if I revised it) or a novel (someone else kindly said they would see that for the first time, but it must be revised -- and passed over other eyeballs -- first). But I think that getting short stories written is better than getting nothing written, and I'm fairly sure that was the other alternative on offer this week. But writing with the vertigo has gotten easier in the last bit -- not longer sessions of work but being able to work at all in the short sessions. This, obviously has gotten me more finished stories. So that's good. Better than the alternative.

And I wanted to do more short fiction. I have to remember that.

When jimhines asked for advice for first-time convention-goers, one of the things I advised was to have the fun you're having. Don't worry about whether someone somewhere else in the con is having additional fun. This will almost always happen, and if you are having all possible fun at that con, it's a pretty small or pretty crappy con. If you're enjoying what you're doing, don't worry about whether you're missing something else you might enjoy; and if you're not enjoying what you're doing, do something different. I'm trying to apply this to my life in general. The doing something different part is taking awhile: I can't just say, "Oh, I'll just stop having vertigo, then," because vertigo doesn't work that way. But flailing at new short stories for not being novel revisions is silly. What I was doing this morning was writing "Erasing the Map," and that was a fine and productive thing to be doing, and I should be glad of it and not annoyed that it wasn't something else. So.

Comments

[atdt1991.livejournal.com]

I stole your quote (up to the personal connection) for posting in penguicon, JSYK. :)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Good deal.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

also, if you are not having fun and you are certain there is fun around here somewhere to be had and if only you could find it? take a nap.

i mean, at conventions. but this might be applicable to the rest of life as well.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

1. Large glass or bottle of water.
2. Handful of nuts or dried fruit.
3. Nap.

In the rest of life, the list is likely to be longer and more flexible, and include things like, "Check your shoes and, if you wear one, bra. If those things fit badly, it may make you feel off in a bad direction most of your waking hours." But the hydration, the blood sugar, and the rest are a good place to start.

[akitrom.livejournal.com]

"Erasing the Map"?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what you're asking here. It's the title of the short story I wrote this morning.

[akitrom.livejournal.com]

Ah. I had interpretted the title as a code word for some step in your writing process, and was confuzzled.

[redbird]

"Have the fun you're having."

Thank you. I've spent a bit of time fretting about the impossibility of doing the things I wanted to get done today (including exercise) and the nothing/being alone I also want to get done. This led to me exiting one subway station, walking two blocks, and going to another, because the first was to run a useful but time-consuming errand, and the second brought me straight home.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Lack of fretting good.

"Have the fun you're having."

[careswen.livejournal.com]

I like this. I'll try to remember it.