Oops

I was looking at the details for submissions to the Toronto Star Short Story Contest, and I realized that for some reason I thought the limit was 5,000 words, rather than the 2,500 it actually is.  Unfortunately the story I had been planning to submit is already over 3,400.  With little time left, I don't plan on editing it down to the right size, so after all that struggle challenging myself to come up with a story that was more upbeat and positive (and not succeeding there either, as the story has taken a decidedly dark bent) I'm going back to the story that I wrote for the writing prompt exercise.  This probably wouldn't have happened if I had been more productive with my writing time in the past few weeks.  Two things that certainly didn't help: starting a new day job and the Olympics!

Someone once told me that "the writing process is a battle against procrastination."  Yes, indeed.

The Contest

This year's Toronto Star Short Story Contest is up and running.  I was going to enter a story I wrote recently as part of a writing prompt gift exchange with my local writing group (more on that later) when I came across this piece interviewing last year's winner.  Fred Ni says that most short fiction is dark in tone.  Based purely on what I've read, I have to agree, and that certainly covers most of what I write as well.  As a challenge to myself, I think I'll try to write something upbeat and positive and enter it in this year's contest.