Occasionally, I let people read it.
I am currently working on my first, full-length, fiction manuscript. It's challenging, and sometimes frustrating, creating a novel. I certainly had no idea what I was letting myself in for when I started and I have learned a great deal in a short period of time. The first draft was a pleasure, as the story simply flowed onto the screen as it came to me. The rewriting process is harder and it takes much longer. Despite that, for me, the writing process itself has become such a personal reward I can no longer imagine a life without it.
To provide some 'small wins' along the way, and allow me to feel the achievement of finishing something, I have written a few short stories. They are not easy either. In fact, I feel that a good short story is, in many ways, far harder to craft than a long one. But they do provide an opportunity for a more frequent dopamine boost.
One of the stories I have written this year is called 'Broken Song'.
The story was written, along with nine other short fiction pieces, for a collection of work being created by the members of an online workshopping group formed by the Australian Writers Centre.
These stories have now been included in a FREE anthology, 'Hidden Depths' which has been released today.
The stories span a wide range of styles, genre and topics; it is safe to say that there is something there for everyone.
If you are interested in reading these stories you can find links to them here.