I wrote a Novella!

I didn't mean to. I mean, when I thought about my 2010 goals, I wasn't planning to write a novella at the beginning of the year. I was browsing the submission information online for an epub and saw the details on the calls for submission. BAM! An idea just popped into my head. It was simple, short and the whole thing just seemed to outline itself. It wouldn't let go, it was so compelling. So I wrote it. In 7 days. I was amazed at how easily the words flowed, the word count I managed each day and how - exciting it was! I could come up with an idea, outline and write it to completion within 2 weeks! It was a heady feeling. I usually labor through a full ms until I think everything is perfect, but there's a certain freedom that comes in writing a short story compared to a full ms. Plus, I had a 'deadline' to work to. It had to be done and submitted by a certain date so I had to let it go. I don't use a lot of detailed description in my writing. It's not my style. I like action and dialogue to tell the story rather than describing it to the reader. A short story kind of forces you to write this way because you only have so much room to move to introduce the characters, get the reader invested in them, get all the conflict right and tell the story! It was liberating, empowering and wholly satisfying. I'm not sure if it was any good yet, but I think the experience was educational and well - inspirational really to get me through the next full ms I plan to start this month. After this, I definitely think I'll be writing another one - probably sooner rather than later!