Feeling the writing zone coming... Releasing stories The Harvest & The Repo Blues

I got a feeling that I am getting back into the writing zone again. This sort of thing comes and goes with me, it's one of those feelings where you don't care about anything else but writing. Every idea jumps at you at the speed of one billion miles an hour, everything feels right and you just crank out some words. I had this feeling for a five-day period at the beginning of April where I could do not wrong in writing. I hit about 12,000 words per day, finished a bunch of stories, created new ones, and really liked everything that I was producing.

The only thing I did in order to ensure that I was producing quality was to rewrite it later, show it to a few friends, and sit on it until I was sure that it was ready to be released. Two of those stories are ready to go and will be up on Amazon and Smashwords in the next few days. I figured it would be best to announce it prior so I could explain my thoughts on both stories.

This morning, I felt fantastic after a night in which I had to find time for my writing. I wrote in the blog post how I had to flush all of my distractions. It's the same with a sports athlete. You get distracted with life issues, they cloud your judgement and your intentions. Your talent suffers. After watching the Sharks finished Game 6 and finally close out the LA Kings (who are the Billy Beane version of the NHL), I went home about eleven last night, slept until 5:45 a.m. and just started writing.

That's how I knew I was in the writing zone. You don't get to choose when it comes over you, none of the thought process focuses on your word count goal (if you have one like I do). Everything just cranks. Every idea comes together and you spend time about three days just running out every bit of energy because you have to get it out. When it happens, it is awestruck superstar writing that you can't emulate at any other point. I'm not saying that I can't write without those periods of being in the zone, but to right that clearly is a scary proposition that you can't emulate without it.

The Harvest was one of those stories that came out of the last zone. I am really excited about this short story because it adds several different components which make a fascinating test case for first-person delivery. It will sell for $0.99 on Amazon/Smashwords and has a great cover. I thought of the cover as I was writing the story, so it works well, I believe together. I had three friends check it out and they were amazed. This story is about a UCLA graduate student who receives an assistantship from a professor who moonlights as a ghost hunter.

This short story (9,000 words) came from several conversations I had with my friend, Andrew. At the time, we were discussing the pros and cons of horror stories dealing with paranormal or ghost activity. I think to use a scientific explanation makes it scarier because for me, anything that is plausible has more fear added to it than something that is obviously never going to be possible. Freddy Krueger as a nightmare sandman doesn't scare me as much as a psychotic killer stalking children in a small town.

I enjoyed the character of Ian but he wasn't the only one in the story. I added some stuff from a conversation I had with a homicide detective who was staying at the local casino during a convention. He talked in a strange way while drinking, never disrespectful but interesting. So I put him in the story because I thought he gave it a nice blend of reality right at the point where it could have been been bad. I saw a bunch of cockroaches in a documentary which made my stomach turn, along with a mention from a friend about dealing with them in California during his time there. Both of those things made their way into the story.

The Repo Blues is a funny crime/action story. You get those sometimes that were part of something else. This was part of the follow-up book to Crunk but didn't work as I was going through the third draft (so the character and his adventures were dropped out of it entirely). The Repo Blues clocks in at about 10,000 words and I do like it. I had a few friends read this one, sure that it was going to sit on my hard drive for a while and not see the light of day. However, everyone who read it laughed at it, thought it was funny, and I thought it should see if it could float in the world. It sells for $0.99.

I like the character of TIm Samuels because I've dealt with two guys who are a combination. They've dealt with people they try to do right by, but also keep things from. And it ends up blowing up in their face. The Repo Blues focuses on a guy who is trying to repossess luxury items after rich guys default on their loans and the people who surround his life. I am truly excited to put it online after thinking that it wasn't worth my time. That's why its important for others to read your material (without input from you). They see what is there, whether you do or not.

Thus far today, I've hit about 6,700 words. That includes working on another story which came out of the writing zone which is really good. I mean, it started as an 18,000 novel first draft, but I have the belief that as I'm getting into it, the story is going to cook enough to get up to the 50,000 - 70,000 range and be a great ghost story. Andrew was making fun of me the other day, "What is it with you and demons lately?"

I have no clue. Sometimes, I start writing a bunch of crime fiction. Or horror. The last week, all of my ideas have centered around science fiction. Some of the material I'm working on is strange at the moment, but that's okay. It says that I am working hard at developing the best writing ability possible. In order to do that, you have to practice every day at honing your craft.

So, where you are with your word count goal?