Some of what I have been doing in my morning writing and research time is trying my hand at a dystopian short story about AI going to a Quaker meeting. I hope to share that here sometime soon, once I find myself out of the editing phase. Since I have not written much in the way of fiction, I'm finding it challenging and invigorating. I love the ways it's stretching me to think outside my normal writing habits and conventions and the world it put me into which I found helped me think about some of my themes in a very different way.
One of the challenges is that the short story is a bit too long, clocking in somewhere around 5000 words. I want it tighter. Shorter. Punchier. So after a couple rounds of edits, thank you, Emily, I decided to do what I wish I would have done in the first place; story board the whole thing. I didn't think to do this before even though that is how I have often write.
My typical process is: Research, notes, and ideation > sketchnotes / story board > draft > space to breath and reflect on what is the core of what I'm writing > edits > final.
Even though I did this process backward, the story boarding was still very helpful. I was able to go through the story and draw out the main sections/themes I wanted to communicate. It helped me see where I was getting a little bogged down in extra details, dialogue, or went off the path for awhile. The places that felt to confusing to draw will be the first to get cut. I also realized I had about 2 pages that came after where I want the story to end. I'll need to deal with that as well.
I'm looking forward to going back through the draft with the story board in hand to see where that takes me next.
Stay tuned.
Wess