One of the first things I was taught about writing fiction was to never be afraid to write anything that comes to your mind; when what you have written has no actual beginning, middle, or end, call it a vignette and file it for future reference. Good advice!
I keep everything I write as a result of this advice and today I was ever grateful for same! I needed to fulfil a last-minute, critical publishing call. In the formatting process for Telling Tales Vol. 3, three blank pages appeared out of nowhere and had to be filled. I’m assured it does happen!
Having no Telling Tale of an appropriate length to fill such and only an hour up my sleeve, I had to think fast. It was this past advice, combined with the suggestion of a loved one, that came to my rescue… Out came that all too precious folder of vignettes for inspiration!
As those of you who follow my Daily Debriefings (which aren’t always strictly daily!) will know, my last three attempts at writing Telling Tale #30 have resulted in the scribing of three Science Fiction stories; the first was an accident, the second, having been bitten severely by the Sci Fi bug, I simply had to get down – regardless of my editors possible – probable – abject ire and frustration! The third Science Fiction tale was yet another accident!
Whilst Science Fiction stories are a delight to write and seem to flow so very easily through my fingers, I must, absolutely must, focus on finishing Telling Tales and this obligation was brought to my attention today in a somewhat dire way when I found myself slapped about the face (figuratively speaking, of course!) with this deadline for between 800-900 words to be completed within the hour in time for last-minute insertion before printing. It must be sound, polished and a good closing tale for Volume 3.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
I was in a pickle. I absolutely could not afford to risk slipping into Sci-Fi mode for this necessary task.
Long story short, ‘Lights Outs in New York’, was indeed scribed, submitted in time and accepted – all thanks to a paragraph I wrote three years ago! Phew!
Finally! I have – unwittingly and rather thankfully – broken that almighty (and rather looming!) Telling Tale #30 duck! Heavens, has this one been a long time coming… and yet, ironically, it was one of the easiest and one of the shortest Telling Tales to date. ‘Lights out In New York’ is just 842 words in length!
In fact, it feels to me that my debriefing is longer than the tale itself! 🙂
Lights Out in New York features in Telling Tales Volume 3!
Anika King 