Writing

I have been working on a short story that is related to the larger work that I will be publishing here eventually.  The short story makes use of some of the characters and setting from the main story.  I have started working on an outline and making other notes.  I'll make some of this available at some point.

I have also started writing some other unrelated stories.  These are much shorter.  I believe this is sometimes called flash fiction.  I have published some drafts of that work on Patreon if anyone is interested.

It has been very interesting.  I am beginning to enjoy writing very much.  It gives me the feeling that I could do anything or go anywhere in a story.  I had never thought about it that way before.

I have setup a Patreon account to allow early access to my work as I make progress towards becoming a writer and eventually finishing my first novel.

I am beginning work on a short story that I hope to finish within a few months.  My plan is for it to take place in the same world and introduce some characters from my novel.  I will post more here as I make progress.

My last 3 posts have been some writing practice unrelated to the story I am working on.  I chose to write about running since I've been doing a lot of that lately.  I started with a first person account of going on a morning run, then I copied that and changed it to third person point of view.  Some things are different between the two just because they sounded better.  It was fun to write about something personal.

I came back a couple days later and read them both.  I didn't really like either one.  The first person story seemed like it had "I" in every sentence, and the third person story had "he" in every sentence.  I decided to try to write something that doesn't use either one.  I managed to do it and I like the way it reads, but I'm not sure how it would work for a longer story.  I feels more like a poem.  Most of the "sentences" aren't actual sentences.  I think I'll give it a couple days again and come back and read it and …

Running shoes, headphones, music playing, and out the door.  Running, but not too fast.  Pace yourself.  Feet pounding on the road one after the other, left then right.  Muscles tight from days of running.  Off the gravel and onto the pavement.  Muscles warmer, it's getting easier. 

Four miles today.  That's a long run.  The end of the first mile is approaching.  Breathing in and out, maintaining the pace is getting harder.  After a mile the running slows briefly to a walk.  After a minute, breathing recovered, the pace quickens again.  Four miles? Is that too far?

The end of mile two is coming up quickly now.  Time to turn back.  A short walk again and it's back to running.  Faster now as the end gets closer.  The third mile comes to an end.  That one seemed easier.

After a quick walk break the fourth mile is already in progress.  Push yourself, you can go faster.  Running, out of breath, is the pace too fast?  The end is close now.  A few more minutes and the run is fini…

Matt woke up suddenly and looked at his alarm clock.  It was already 6:50.  Would he have time?  If he can start by 7:00 he should have time for a 30 minute run.  That's as far as he thought he could go this morning.  He drank a glass of water, got dressed, and put on a gray hooded sweatshirt.  Would he need the sweatshirt?  He hadn't had time to check the weather yet.

Matt grabbed his phone and headphones.  The temperature on his phone says 48 degrees.  A cool, calm, Montana June morning.

He stepped outside and was glad to be wearing the sweatshirt.  After getting some music playing it was time to start running.  This was his first morning run for many years.  He was feeling a bit cold and stiff, but he decided to start without stretching.  He would just take it easy at first and get warmed up while he was running.  He might regret making that decision later, but for now it made sense.

For the first mile he plodded down the paved bike path, just trying to keep putting one foo…

I woke up suddenly.  It was already 6:50.

"Do I still have time to go for a run? I told myself yesterday I would do it." I thought to himself.

Even if I'm a little late I still want to go.  A short run should only take 30 min.  If I can get started before 7:00 I'll make it in time.  I drank a glass of water, got dressed, and put on a hooded sweatshirt.  Then I found my shoes.  I forgot my phone and head phones.  I quietly went back to my bedroom and grabbed them without waking my wife.  I put on my shoes and I was out the door just before 7:00.

It was cool June morning in Montana.  My phone said 48 degrees, but the sun was shining so it felt nice.  I hadn't run in the morning for a long time.  Also I had only been out of bed for a few minutes at this point.  I was slow getting started.  I felt stiff.  The cool air quickly woke me up.  I began to run.

"Even if I have to go slow I think I can make it."  I thought.

I was planning to go 3 miles.  The first …