Overcommitting

Using my Freewrite Traveller to draft a short story on the beach (I was a little chilly!)

Welp, I think I’ve done it. I’ve officially over-committed myself.

I thought it would be a great idea to take Grub Street’s 6 Short Stories in 6 Weeks class. And it was a great idea, but the first class launched while I was away on a family vacation. The house we rent has six bedrooms for the six couples, and each couple takes a turn making dinner one night a week for the rest of the family.

Tuesday was our night to cook, so I recruited my son to help my husband as my class started before dinner would be on the table. Even though I gave up all other writing commitments for this vacation week, I quickly realized the amount of work ahead of me. I had to think of a plot and write a 2,000-word short story that was due five nights later. No pressure.

I did a lot of thinking about the characters and plot over the course of the week. Toward the week’s end, I sat on the beach with my Freewrite Traveller and got a decent draft done. On Sunday, when the draft was due to be sent in, I needed time to edit it and get it down to the required word count. While my husband sat on a beach for the last few hours of our vacation, I stayed in the car honing the draft on my computer. I got the draft close to being finished. We arrived home by 7pm and I worked on it for the next few hours. I turned it in on time, and within the word count. Phew.

I really thought it would be no problem taking one of the classes while on vacation. But for me, writing takes time to think through the characters, setting, and plot before I start drafting. I can edit a draft for hours and hours – searching for the right words to express the right feeling I’m trying to convey. Did I succeed? I’ll find out tonight as I attend class #2 and hear critiques of my story!