Saturday, January 2, 2010

Little Bits

I've been swamped with big projects this past year, like working on the Cass novel and finishing my thesis. It's all been a series of big bites, and the past couple of months were exhausting. Going into the new year, I feel the need for a change of pace. I am officially declaring January the month of small projects.

I had some time the other week to start two new short stories, and it was fun to think on a small scale again. This month, I want to finish at least one of those - one feels like a dead end - and maybe do a couple more. The cool thing about working on smaller projects is that they get done faster, which means you don't have to wait as long to feel like you've accomplished something. I don't know about you, but I'm very much in the mood to see ticks on my TO DO list. Starting with small things, or chunking big things up into small parts can be a good way to pep yourself up and get some momentum going. It's a good way to fight the bogged-downs.

This month, I challenge you to think small. Write some flash fiction, a poem, a short story, or a one act play. By the end of the month, you'll have at least one thing finished. Not a bad way to start the new year.

5 comments:

YA Sleuth said...

great idea! love shorts, they're such fun to write.

Jenny Maloney said...

I am sooo with you on the getting ticks on the check list!

Anonymous said...

Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!

Debbie said...

Love those tick marks. And you're right. Some of the projects I've been dreading don't look as bad when they're broken up.

One bite at a time.

Ali said...

Fleur, Jenny, & Deb - here's to a month filled with tick marks!

Anon - thanks for the compliment.