Writing one story in one week is a great way to flex the storytelling muscles. It’s too short a time to get bogged down in details or descriptions. It has to be a short story, which doesn’t allow for any long set-ups or “establishing shots.” A problem must be presented quickly, the character must struggle with it, and then the problem must be resolved.
Over the weekend we brainstormed and prepared. If you’re new to the newsletter—welcome! It’s by no means “too late” to join us on this challenge. Just jump in and have fun with it. We’re fantasy writers, not rocket scientists!
The Challenge
The one-story, one-week challenge is extremely straightforward—at least as far as the parameters go. Here are the general guidelines:
Write one story in a week.
The story can be any length.
The story MUST be finished (resolved).
The writing doesn’t have to be polished.
The Big Idea: Finish a story quickly. The story is what we’re aiming to finish, not necessarily having the writing be publish-ready. You can think of it as a quick way to get out a rough draft, and plan on polishing it later. The main point is to play with storytelling; you can work on diction another time.
Of course, if you have a specific goal in mind for yourself, feel free to adjust the parameters as you see fit.
As usual, this isn’t a school assignment. Have fun writing!
Making Accommodations
There’s no doubt writing a story in a week is quite a bit more involved than doing one short writing exercise each week—and some changes may need to be made to our schedules, commitments, and activities to accommodate the extra time involved.
Some adjustments I’ve made:
Set start time: I’ve had 8am as my declared writing start-time for a while. For this challenge, I intend to start at least an hour earlier—but may adjust that more, if needed.
The Writing Zone: I’ve set up a quiet little nook where I can keep my notes and papers out, and easily sit down and write without any set-up or interruptions.
Tools: I usually write by hand, but that’s a bit slow. For this challenge, I’m planning to switch to typing—at least part of the time.
No Extra-Curriculars: Friends and family have been notified I’m probably not available this week—and I’ll have Do Not Disturb on during my writing time.
What do you need to do to help make sure you’ll be successful at this challenge? Share your thoughts in the comments!
That’s it for this week, folks. Go for it!
Stay shiny and write on!
—AF