Update

Hey everyone and happy new year.

I can't believe it's the year 2010! Where are all the flying cars and houses on the moon? I guess that might be more realistic in the year 2020, or maybe even 2100. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

Here is a quick update to get everyone out there reading a chance to catch up (listen up all three of you).

Back in August of 08 I started writing again (I had previously, but nothing too serious). I thought it would be a good idea to start this blog as a way of keeping track of what I was doing and maybe give some inspiration to other writers out there.

Between August and November I wrote three short stories and submitted them to various magaziens etc. to be published. FYI I used Duotrope's Digest to find sites to submit to. All three were horror/sci fi and around 5,000 words. As of now none of them have been published, but I am still hopeful. I'm a reasonable person and I know that I can't expect to get my stories published right away when I still have so much to learn.

In December I started a new story, but unfortunately have had a hard time finding time to work on it. I am just now finishing the first draft and hope to be finished with it soon. The current story (The House Next Door) has been very challenging. I have basically one character who spends a good 75% of the story sitting around in his house not doing much. I think part of the difficulty has been not having big chunks of time to work on it. I'm much more productive when I have at least two plus hours a writing session.

I think this is going to be a good year. I'm shooting for at least one new short story a month and I am really optimistic about getting one of them published.

Wish me luck!

New Short Story

Just started a new short story called The House Next Door. It is about a guy who starts noticing some strange things going on in the house next to his. I will post a full synopsis when it's done.

I took a little more time than I usually do outlining and writing notes for this one. Im developing a lot of character and story that will probably not make it into the actual short story, but I think the fact that I know specific details about the plot will effect what I write.

New Short Story Finished

I just finished writing a new short story called The Pool Boy and submitted it to be published. Here is the synopsis.

Tony Smith might just be having the worst summer of his teenage life. First, his girlfriend dumps him, and then his dad tells him he has to clean the neighbor’s swimming pool while they are out of town. He puts off cleaning the pool until the last minute, and when he finally remembers to do it, he finds the water is a green and polluted. Worse yet there is something dangerous lurking below the muddy surface.

I'm already working on an idea for a new story and plan on starting it soon.

Story Update: Click You're Dead

I received my first response on one of the two short stories I have written and submitted to be published (so far).

My story (Click You're Dead) was rejected, but I am oddly excited. It took less than a month to get this response and I was lucky enough to get a personal response with some compliments was well as some constructive criticism.

My plan is not to go back and rewrite any of my rejected stories (unless requested) until I have written at least ten. I think that with ten good stories under my belt I will be better equipped to make the needed changes. Hopefully I will have learned a thing or two by that point.

I am nearly finished with my current story, The Pool Boy, and will post an update as well as a synopsis when it is finished.

New Story Finished!

I've just finished my second short story, Click You're Dead, and am getting it ready to submit for publication.

Here is a synopsis:

Photographer, Jim Waters, has a bit of bad luck when his camera is destroyed in a hiking accident. His bad luck continues when the replacement camera he is borrowing starts malfunctioning, resulting in the loss of valuable photos of a famous musician taken hours before his death. Meanwhile, the city of Seattle is in chaos when people start dying in the streets for no apparent reason.

Wish me luck.
Travis

Great site for writers

Just found this great website for writers called Writing Excuses. The podcasts covers a lot of subjects new writers like myself need to hear.

Writing Excuses is hosted by writers Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells.

Check it out www.writingexcuses.com

Submitted My first Short Story!

Big news!

I finished my first short story Closed for the Season and submitted to be published. I don't want to give too much info away at this point. All I can say is Closed for the Season is a suspense story about a camping trip gone wrong.

I will post more info when I can.

Cross you fingers (and hairy-toes) for me.

Travis

Progress Report

I started on a third draft of a short story I'm working on today. I took a little break between drafts to brush up on some grammar and punctuation basics. The story is about a family that goes camping in a remote area of the Pacific Northwest and run into some trouble with another camper.

In this draft I'm hoping to get the word count down from 6,500 to around 5,000 or less. I also need to come up with a title. I'm currently using "Bad Camper" as a place holder, but I need something better. Other than that I'm just going to try and apply some of what I learned from reading "The Elements of Style" and really strip down everything that isn't important to the story and polish everything that is.

First Post

I just had a (great) idea to start a writers blog where I can post updates on my attempts to become a published writer. I have been writing stories for as long as I can remember and I have finally gotten to a point where I want to take it to the next level and try to get something published. My goal is to write several new stories all short fiction (3,000-5,000 words) and start submitting them to magazines.

I have written a rough draft of my first story and have set it aside to spend a little time brushing up on the basics of writing and grammar. I feel so rusty on this stuff. I have been reading through a text book of my wife's "Essentials of College English" and it feels more like reading a foreign language. Luckily when rereading Stephen King's "On writing" he recommended "The Elements of Style" by Strunk and White and I have been learning a lot from it.

Hopefully someone will stumble across this blog and get a laugh at my expense at my trial and errors, and maybe someone will find this and learn something. I will be happy either way.

Please feel free to leave comments, questions, or words of wisdom.