Fast Fiction

Before writing the daily blog, I had been experimenting with fast fiction—fiction that was written and shared quickly.

The first time was during the summer of 2021 when I wrote a new story every day for 31 days.

I then tried to do it once a week for a while, which was intended to give me more time for edits, but it usually ended up being a last-minute job on a Friday or Saturday night.

The danger always with fast fiction is undercooked writing. The story isn't entirely thought out, the ending is often rushed, the descriptions could use some care, and the grammar, punctuation, and spelling often suffer.

But I always like doing it, especially as a teacher, to show that writing can sometimes be ugly and imperfect, but still, you can share it.

Too often, we see the result of multiple rewritten drafts, cleaned and corrected by editors, and we don't understand the mess it came from.

Also, there is something exciting in putting it out there, no matter how it looks, as an enjoyable act of creation.

Finally, as a teacher who asks his students to submit work every week, I feel like I have to walk the walk.

Now, it's scary, and I've been criticized for it. I've been told it's poorly written, and the spelling and grammar get in the way of enjoyment.

I retreated because of it, putting warnings on the earlier work and hiding it on my website for a while (it was still there, it just took some work to find).

This was the same type of criticism that made me retreat when I started as a teenager and led to a fifteen-year writing block.

But now, I've put it back out there—again. I posted it on the top for anyone to read because of the same reason as before: I was teaching a class and asking others to do it as an exercise.

So if you read any of it and want to judge, you can. You are correct if you think the writing needs a few more edits. You are making all valid points.

But if you're a writer and you've been holding back in doing the work and sharing it with others, look at all my ugly ducklings displayed on the dis website for anyone to read.

It may not always be perfect writing, but it is writing nonetheless. It is someone who sat down and put it on the page and then shared it in all its messiness as a way to say: you can do it too.