I am pleased to announce a modicum of success.
I finished the first short story that I’ve begun in months!
Historically, I’ve found myself enjoying decidedly fast-paced, aggressive, gory horror. I’ve recently put an eyeball into the water of extreme horror, and in doing so shortened my lifespan while enriching the time I have spent alive.
With this story that I’ve written, I really wanted to push the boundaries of what I can do and crafted something far removed from my usual fare. In most of the horror anthologies I’ve read there lies a buried story in the middle of the book that has a slower suspenseful piece. A yarn that has you hanging on every word and climbs into the back of your mind and colors your world for a while. A monochrome Twilight Zone esque experience. When I was younger, I didn’t enjoy those at all. I skimmed through them until I realized it wasn’t doing it for me and then skipped them. Looking back on it now, I really regret not taking the time to enjoy those pieces. There is one such story I read when I was about fourteen about a group of men on a boat trip plagued by malicious attacking birds (herons?) I don’t remember the name of the story or the even the book I read it in. I’ve tried looking for it with no success, and I’m sure the mystery of it will plague me until the day that I die.
What I’ve just finished is thematically similar. I might change my mind, but I think this piece will be the title story of the book. I’m so pleased with how it turned out. Now begins the hard part.
editing
I’ve heard it said that you shouldn’t do any editing while you write your piece as it could be prohibitive to the writing process, and you can’t edit what hasn’t been written. I’m not looking forward to it. The other writers that I speak with have had hilariously bad times finding a legitimate editor.
I’m not sure if it’s worth the effort to do it now, or if I should squeeze all the viscera and gore out of my brain and onto the paper before I even think about editing.
Either way, I’m excited to finally be taking a step into this journey. I hope to share more soon.
The Cluttered Library 