Overdue

So I'm already terrible at keeping up with this blog and my goals.  Though that doesn't mean nothings happened between then and now.  I've finished a short story that was just in time for Halloween.  My first horror zombie story and I think it turned out pretty great.  There's still some tweaking to do but otherwise it turned out the way I wanted to.  I've entered it into a horror writing contest at WritersDigest.com and I'm entering it into another contest on the same website for short short stories.  It fell just below their 1,500 word count limit.  Come to think of it, that was the first short story I've ever written and finished. 

Writing that story came me some interesting perspectives.  I've found that when I write a novel I don't have much rigid organization.  I'll write notes and character profiles and plot ideas but otherwise outlines and such don't really work for me.  Believe me I've tried.  I guess in a way I do write a loose outline.  Most of my notes involve research but also plot ideas and points that I want to keep in mind for later on.  The rest of the details are in my head, which I also should really write down. 

Short stories though are the complete opposite.  When writing this story I knew exactly what I wanted to happen and how.  I didn't write a physical outline but I did write one in my head.  Point A to point B to point C.  I didn't allow myself to deviate or leave out.  Novel or short story things can always be trimmed so there was no point in leaving anything out till I was done.  So as an exercise I think I want to try and come up with some more short stories and see how that improves my writing in general. 

I hear about the contest results in December and the next contest entry isn't due until November 15.  Wish me luck, I know I'll be on the edge of my seat.  Either way it's a good experience for me and it gets my writing out there.  I can't publish the short story I wrote as part of the contest rules, but if I don't win you'll find the story published here for people to read if they wish. 

Also I would just like to say that my writing group rocks!! If it wasn't for them I probably would have quit most of my current work a long time ago and wandered off to another idea.  They keep me in line and keep me writing my book so I'll finish it.  Thanks a lot you guys!!