5 Days of Beginnings: Day One
Welcome to 5 Days of Beginnings! Today we’ll write a beginning. We’ll start something new. You can still join the writing session at 9am CST if you sign up here by 8:55am CST. And you can use this spreadsheet if you want to track your progress.
When I first threw out this idea I mentioned it was inspired by my dear friend Shayne Terry, so I’m excited to have her starting us off with her thoughts on beginnings. It’s hard not to hijack this post and talk about the beautiful kismet of meeting her, and how even though she lives across the country, we’ve hung out in 2 (soon to be 3) cities. I want to gush about much I love her writing (including her Substack, which you should definitely check out), and how thrilled I am about the now official news she’s publishing her book that totally knocked my socks off. But these posts are meant to be short, so I’ll let her take it away:
Last June, I wrote fourteen short story beginnings in fourteen days. It was my sixth time doing 1000 Words of Summer, and by now I’ve learned that it’s much easier to write a thousand words a day if you’re at the beginning of a project, before choices have been made and doors have been closed. I was deep in the messy middle of two novel projects and neither was asking for more intensity or pressure. So I decided to start something… or fourteen somethings.
Can I tell you something strange? I haven’t thought about those beginnings since. I haven’t read them or even opened the file. Looking back on my notes from June, it seems like I had fun, but I had sort of forgotten I did this until Rachel mentioned it to me. Will I go back and finish any of these stories? So far I haven’t felt compelled to.
The existence of a beginning implies that there is an ending. Can a beginning ever just stand on its own? I’m not saying there should be a literary magazine that only takes beginnings (though I might read it), but what I mean is that not every fledgling story is destined for completion.
Those beginnings served their purpose. They reminded me of the spark that started my novel project, and they brought a burst of energy to get me through the middle. If that’s what you need right now, just know that what you write today doesn’t need to be anything more than that: what you write today.
Thank you, Shayne!
Ooh, and she offered this song recommendation:
Wishing you a burst of energy in what you write today! <3