Author: Malcolm Sterling

Things are moving along, and course corrections are needed, but overall the “1000 Day to an MFA” program is on track.

I’ve stopped reading Huckleberry Finn – no offense to Mark. The voice was fine, and historical nuggets were interesting (and I love history), but the story was just not enough to keep me going.

NOTE: The best short story I read last week, and I read several, was The Turing Machines of Babel by Eric Schwitzgebel. Apex magazine issue 98. (apex-magazine.com or Amazon link)

I have a copy of Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury which I’ll be starting this weekend. I’ll use this extra time from dropping Finn, to start on the next reading book: Red Rising by Pierce Brown. The person who recommended it said it was dense and clocks in at 401 pages. So, times a’ wasting.

An inspiring event occurred with the other writer, “Ian” (not real name), that is in my group. He finished his first short story, a horror suspense style story. Took him eight days. Any good? Well, to be fair, Ian is already very good, and his first drafts are better than my tenth drafts, but for eight days, this was a solid story and well crafted. We spent an hour+ talking about the layers, lamp posts, callbacks, etc. he wrote into the narrative, some he didn’t even realize. Ten thousand hours to become a professional and let your subconscious write for you? (“10k hours” has been debunked by the way, still, sometimes you go on autopilot.)

I’ve been able to continue with micro “free writing” exercises in the ten to fifteen minute range, but still struggling to get a solid hour for pure writing. Even so, came up with the start of an idea for a short story in the world of a novel I’ve been working on for years. Got me excited about it again. Although, ten minute sessions do not lend themselves to a lot of crafting, and I feel those snippets of writing will take a lot to knit back together. Still… progress.

Expect a wrap-up for the month of January as the next post.

Reading is easier than writing. Kinda like how appreciating a piece of art is easier (and quicker) than reading. Even if artists take just as much time to produce a work as a writer would—and they often do—the human brain is optimized for the visual in its nature. Not a lot of dangers in the wild shaped like letters.

My journey for 1000 Days to an MFA has started off slow, disappointingly so at times.

But I knew this going in. It’s going to take time to develop the routine. It’s also going to take time for the kids to grow up just a little bit more so they aren’t so dependent on me (or the wife) for constant attention.

I’ve found that pulling out an Kindle on the couch and reading to be a much more tolerable, and doable, experience while the kids are in the living room, than slapping a computer on my lap and banging away at the keyboard. Even going back to my analog roots with pen and paper tends to draw them to me like bugs to a light source.

Not that I don’t mind them being interested in writing. This weird thing daddy is doing, where strokes of a pen on paper make funny shapes, like the ones on their wooden blocks, is fascinating, but it’s simply not productive or even mentally helpful. And so reading it is, for now.

“People ask me to predict the future, when all I want to do is prevent it. Better yet, build it. Predicting the future is much too easy, anyway. You look at the people around you, the street you stand on, the visible air you breathe, and predict more of the same. To hell with more. I want better.”

— Ray Bradbury, Beyond 1984: The People Machines, 1979

I also want better. Not just for the world around us, but also myself. Can I be a Bradbury, Asimov, Bester, PKD, Le Guin? What hubris to even think it?

While, these are fantastic role models for a writer (writing craft only, not their personal lives), I’m reminded of the affirmation, “The only person you should compare yourself to is your former self.” Well, I’m okay, but there’s room for improvement. 8^)

In our first writing group meeting of the year we did an informal discussion, and some light-hearted ribbing, on our plans and ever extending deadlines for this year.

One of our members mentioned they were doing a program first promoted by Ray Bradbury on how to improve your writing – 1000 Days to an MFA. There are daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly goals.

Over the years I have fallen behind on things I love to do. The evening isn’t getting any longer.

Taking inspiration from giants of the past and the friends of the present, I’m going to work on my future.

And so. The plan:

This may be overly ambitious; I work full-time. It may be a setup for failure; I have two kids under four whose priorities come first. But it’s a start that’s been a long time coming.

Here’s to renewed endeavors. After all, I published two short stories last year! Keep the momentum going. Build healthy habits. Writing habits. Every day. Every week. Every month.

What plans do you have for the year and beyond?

-Malcolm

“The most dangerous risk of all — the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.”

— Randy Komisar, The Monk and the Riddle: The Education of a Silicon Valley Entrepreneur