So, obviously I didn't manage to post a June progress report, but I'm going to blame that on the fact that there was too much progress going on!

I'm in the second week of the Lawrence KS CSSF short story workshop and it is kicking my butt in the very best way. It's been a while (ages, eons) since I've written short stories, and since I do love them, I thought what better way to get motivated to write a couple? I'm beginning to think workshops carry their own brand of selective amnesia with them: after they're over you just can't really recall the effort expended during them.

I turned in three stories: an actual sf story (a rarity for me--but if you're going to take a class with one of the SF greats--James Gunn--seems to me you should at least give his field a try!), one urban fantasy, one stab at magical realism. One of the pluses (among many) in the CSSF workshop is the emphasis on revision. I'm good at picking a story apart, pretty crappy at actually sitting down and putting it back together. It's like my brain thinks it has solved the puzzle so why bother with filling in the blanks? However. . . my brain is wrong, wrong, wrong. Revision is still hard, no matter what size it is. Novel, short story, all the places in between.

My SF story started out 2500 words of itty-bitty vignettes. Then it condensed itself to a 600 word flash omniscient narrative, and now it's fleshed itself back out to 1200 words traditional third person narrative. Each time it's something utterly new, even if the elements and the premise remain the same. Very strange. Very good stretching of the brain.

The urban fantasy short that I thought was so broken apparently isn't as bad off as all that. I got some really nice feedback on it, some places to improve.

The magical realism. . . .well, it's an older piece that I've been poking with a stick for some time, knew something wasn't right with the ending. Silly me! The workshop pointed out exactly what the deal was: the beginning and the middle were weak! :) The things you learn. . . .

All in all, it's been a great couple of weeks. If only sleep were involved in a more meaningful way.