Years ago I read that at some point in his writing career Ray Bradbury wrote and published 52 stories a year (not sure for how long -- his website credits him with "over 500 short stories"). This is well known to his readers, but when I was reminded of it recently, I was still struck by its seeming impossibility. I can't say that every story of his -- that I've read, anyway -- is a classic, or even a must-read, but it's hard to find one that doesn't carry a certain Bradburian weight to it, and most of the time I marvel at how he matched quality with quantity. This is what he said in 2001 in his keynote address at Point Loma Nazarene, "If you can write one short story a week -- it doesn't matter what the quality is to start, but at least you're practicing, and at the end of the year you have 52 short stories, and I defy you to write 52 bad ones. Can't be done." Well, we'll see about that.
Many writers online, and offline I'd guess, have done what he suggested. (Try this: type the following into your search engine: bradbury + 52 stories a year. See what you get!) I've tried it at various times as well and have never advanced past the second story or so. Maybe I wasn't all in, or maybe it was too much for me. Either way, the thought of writing so much is daunting.
However, the idea that constant practice will produce something worth reading has nipped at my heels long enough that I've decided to modify Bradbury's suggestion. Instead of writing a short story a week, I've been giving myself two weeks. So far, the crunch of writing briskly has remained, while allowing me a bit more time to write.
Another piece of advice from Bradbury: don't think. In an interview in 1974, he said, "I've had a sign over my typewriter for over 25 years now, which reads 'Don't think!' You must never think at the typewriter -- you must feel. Your intellect is always buried in that feeling anyway." This is something I try to impress upon my students -- the first draft will be riddled with mistakes, of course! Just get the first draft out! Thinking comes with the second draft. And the third...
In order to follow Bradbury's advice, I'm beginning with a single word on the first day of each new story, and instead of panicking about what to write, I've allowed that word to work on me. I want images I can paint for you, and I've been trying to allow each word to begin a story that I can develop into something somewhat complete.
C.S. Lewis described a similar experience in his extremely short piece called "It All Began With a Picture." He wrote, "All my seven Narnian books, and my three science fiction books, began with seeing pictures in my head. At first they were not a story, just pictures. The Lion all began with a picture of a Faun carrying an umbrella and parcels in a snowy wood."
I've been working on this process since the end of February. I decided that if I didn't have some stories built up, and didn't first prove to myself that I could do this, then I wouldn't post anything about it. At this point, dear reader, you are at least guaranteed five stories, which will take us to July 1st. Past that, no guarantees.
So, with Bradbury and Lewis in mind, I'm going to post a short story every other week, beginning Monday, May 6th. I'll use the label 26 Stories 52 Weeks for each one, and we'll see if I can keep this up for a year -- I hope you'll make it a habit to stop by to at least check in on me...even if the stories themselves don't get you to come back!
Many writers online, and offline I'd guess, have done what he suggested. (Try this: type the following into your search engine: bradbury + 52 stories a year. See what you get!) I've tried it at various times as well and have never advanced past the second story or so. Maybe I wasn't all in, or maybe it was too much for me. Either way, the thought of writing so much is daunting.
However, the idea that constant practice will produce something worth reading has nipped at my heels long enough that I've decided to modify Bradbury's suggestion. Instead of writing a short story a week, I've been giving myself two weeks. So far, the crunch of writing briskly has remained, while allowing me a bit more time to write.
Another piece of advice from Bradbury: don't think. In an interview in 1974, he said, "I've had a sign over my typewriter for over 25 years now, which reads 'Don't think!' You must never think at the typewriter -- you must feel. Your intellect is always buried in that feeling anyway." This is something I try to impress upon my students -- the first draft will be riddled with mistakes, of course! Just get the first draft out! Thinking comes with the second draft. And the third...
In order to follow Bradbury's advice, I'm beginning with a single word on the first day of each new story, and instead of panicking about what to write, I've allowed that word to work on me. I want images I can paint for you, and I've been trying to allow each word to begin a story that I can develop into something somewhat complete.
C.S. Lewis described a similar experience in his extremely short piece called "It All Began With a Picture." He wrote, "All my seven Narnian books, and my three science fiction books, began with seeing pictures in my head. At first they were not a story, just pictures. The Lion all began with a picture of a Faun carrying an umbrella and parcels in a snowy wood."
I've been working on this process since the end of February. I decided that if I didn't have some stories built up, and didn't first prove to myself that I could do this, then I wouldn't post anything about it. At this point, dear reader, you are at least guaranteed five stories, which will take us to July 1st. Past that, no guarantees.
So, with Bradbury and Lewis in mind, I'm going to post a short story every other week, beginning Monday, May 6th. I'll use the label 26 Stories 52 Weeks for each one, and we'll see if I can keep this up for a year -- I hope you'll make it a habit to stop by to at least check in on me...even if the stories themselves don't get you to come back!
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