Well, it's drafted, anyway. Just slapped on an ending to the collaborative story Greg van Eekhout and I have been working on for the past week and a half or so. I think it turned out pretty durn nicely.

I tell you, writing a story fast is the best way to do it. A novel you can stretch out for a year or so, keeping it all leisurely and stuff, but I've found that with a story, you've got to strike fast, while the idea is still hot in your head. And you're still excited about it.

This story just sort of fell into place, once we'd decided the angle we were going to play.

Next... revising! But I don't think it'll take too much. Like I said, writing a story fast, like I did with "Natural Order," you don't have time to lose focus. So long as you look over what you wrote in your previous writing session, and tighten little things up as you go, you'll end up with a pretty focused story. You won't suffer from what we in the high-tech world call "scope creep" -- there's no wiggle room with a short story.

Okay, enough rah rah stuff. Just wanted to record this little victory in fiction -- take that, you bastards! Later...

Now Playing:
"Songs from an American Movie, Vol. 1," Everclear

Now Reading:
Waking the Moon, Elizabeth Hand

Stories out to Publishers:
20

Today's Words:
900

Words for '03:
39,000

Today's Quote:
We move even closer now to the three Kings of California. Our eyes slip past our King and focus on the old man, a faded King who ruled a different kingdom, in a different age.

We all sigh and know that this time, it is up to us whether our hero stays here for good.