The First Time

It’s good to try new things, right? Recently, I wrote something that came out under 200 pages—a first for me in my adult life! Fittingly, it was a short story for the anthology called THE FIRST TIME by the 2009 Debutantes, scheduled to be released as an e-book in October of 2011.



I love this cover!

My story, Last Day 2 Kiss, is about a girl from a small town looking for love in the shark strewn waters of Hawaii. I lived aboard a small boat in Pokai Bay on the west coast of Oahu with my family one summer while in high school. Later, I moved to Oahu with my husband, and lived there for twelve years. Choosing a familiar setting cut down on the research! Besides, who doesn’t enjoy writing about tropical beaches?

The word-limit aspect of the project proved quite the challenge. How does one convey the sense of a character with thick brush strokes? How to create a compelling plot with beginning middle and end in just a few pages?


In the end, I had to make every word count like 15-20 words in my novels. But when I finished, I loved having done it. How different and fun to write a story in a month instead of a year or two or three!

Comments

  1. I find it very interesting how many novelists I know who are challenged by the shortness of short stories. I wrote short stories first, so for me the challenge was in writing novels: How do you fill up all those pages? How do you keep all the details in your head? How do you face setting aside a project you've spent so much time on, if it doesn't work?

    I suppose part of the fun of being a writer is trying new forms--whichever form is new to us!

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  2. I had a hard time writing short too, but it was a fun challenge! I can't wait to read the stories in this book!

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