Enjoying Spring: Reflections on "A Story Every Day" So Far (April Edition)

Spring was fully in the air in April. My brain was, 'scuse the term, fertile as fuck, spilling out ideas for this project left and right.

The Nuts & Bolts

• As of the last day in April: we are 121 days in to the yearlong Story Every Day challenge, which started on 1st January.
• I've posted a short story every day this year so far.
• My word count for April: 15,422 (I never count the author's note at the end of my micros). This is about usual for me, it seems. (Last month I hit almost double that, but that was weird).
• Prior to my paid workload increasing, I was getting ~1k reads a month, but, like March, this month has been way under that. I've had less time to spend sharing things on social media. As of 30th April, my total read count was hovering just under 10k. (Not anymore 😎 )
• My most-read , most-liked stories in April were Fucked up Fairytales (which I actually posted on 31st March, but meh) and Chimera, which shot up to the first page of my stats, and got nearly as many reads as my challenge winner last year. OK, so you guys like sex. Noted.
• Three Top Stories yet again this month: Fucked Up Fairytales - An Unofficial Challenge, The Goblin, Chimera. This is definitely a pattern! That makes four months in a row. It can't be a coincidence. This time, I got them all in the first week, and then nothing until May!

This Month I 'Ave Mostly Bin Writin'

Aside from my daily micros, I also did a recipe (Chicken Shwarma - highly recommend!)

I made an index just for these daily micros, which has languished a bit because I haven't had time to update it in a while. Oops.

I posted another Whispering Woods Challenge entry (A Fanny Full of Wasps) and managed to get it in just before the deadline. This was my least favourite of my six Whispering Woods entries, but I felt it wrapped the series up neatly, so I entered it anyway. The judges disagreed with me, and that one went on to place as a runner up. I also posted a challenge roundup, A Treefecta of Tales.

The Micros:

I wrote two stories in response to my own unofficial challenge. The first, The Tale of Emmeline and Stanley, is a take on The Elves and the Shoemaker. The other, Darling you SHALL go to the Alibi, is Cinderella reimagined. (Neither are entered into the challenge, of course.)

In March, I wrote quite a bit about mythical creatures: The Phoenix Tree, Chimera, and Shhh, I'm Hunting...

The story about my dream-stalker continues. I've done two more about her: When Dreams Are Scary, and My Magic Cat.

I started a new series, with the intent from the beginning that it should be a trilogy: They Hunted Her, and Through the Snow). The final instalment (With Dogs) went up in May, if you'd like to read all three.

I've written about dogs (Sweet Little Lies, Good Boy, They Hunted Her,) chronic pain (The Goblin), aliens (Weeding the Allotment), real memories (Make the Memory, and "Scroggy"), and infidelity (Sweet Little Lies and Never Prosper).

I've drawn inspiration from The Carpet People and The Borrowers with Journey to the Edge.

I've had a go at a scary tale (A Demon Comes Calling), a fable about self-acceptance (The Crab and the Snail), dystopia (Just a Nosebleed, Vyrus, Special Smoothie), and futurism (Behemoths and When There's No Ground Left).

And more!

How Am I Finding It?

Even when I hate it, I love it.

What I Hate

The commitment part sucks. Sometimes it feels there are not enough hours in the day, and still I must carve some time out to write a story. Often, I find myself submitting it after 11pm.

What I Love

But! It's getting easier. When I sit down to do it, the story flows out of me. The ideas come more easily, as well. Typically, when I finish the first draft, it'll be around 470 words, and then I have to spend a bit of time pruning. That, too is getting easier. I'm less precious about my darlings. If it doesn't further the story, I rarely have a qualm about slashing it out.

If I repeat the challenge next year, I am going to have to up the word count, or push myself to do two stories.

Reflection

April was a good month, I think, especially given how little time I've had to spare for writing. It feels like I've got lots of serialised stories that I've left dangling because there were so many juicy new shoots to explore.

I think my favourite stories in April were The Phoenix Tree, and The Crab and the Snail. I thought it was interesting that people interpreted the latter one in different ways! I enjoyed the style of both, that simple and homey plinky-plonk "Once upon a time" vibe.

This far in, I am fully invested. There were days, earlier in the year, when a treacherous little voice in my head whispered, Would it really be so bad to skip a day though? Really? I resisted it, and kept going. That little voice daren't speak up now, so there's no longer anything to resist. I tie up my laces, sit down, and write.

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Thank you for reading!