Inspirational prompt

I hope you liked last week’s inspirational post. As I was looking for another one to post today, I came across this one

When I saw it, something clicked in my head. After working a bit with the 7 point story system I ended up with two stories, one of which draws many elements from my country’s mythology. Turns out that system helps me a lot to get my head around the main points of a plot. I only took notes for that one but I completed the first draft of the second story and although at first I thought there was something missing, the more I tweaked, edited and revised the more I came to like it.  So, in a month’s time since I finished the first draft of The Darkening, I have managed to finish 3 (!) short stories.  Now I need to have it critiqued somewhere. If only I could find a critique partner…

I hope the image proves as much help for you as it did for me. Let me know if it sparkled something interesting.

Hello again!

Continuing on my previous week’s post about my worries and my daily word limit, I’m happy to say that I managed not only to reach my daily goal but to go beyond it! I’m very excited about it. I even had enough time to fiddle with another short story that, if it gets finished, will have the title At Horizon’s End. I say IF because I’m working as hard as I can on my novel and whenever time allows it, on an outline for another book (not serialised). I never thought I could get so much joy out of writing!

In other news, I got a rejection for a short story I’ve had problems with and to a certain extent still have. I can’t say I was surprised to see the “Unfortunately…” email. I have been battling with this story for ages. I have re-written the last scene of it more than five times, each one with a different ending yet I have never been 100% satisfied with the result. The funny thing about that story is that I had made the most extensive planning for it, whereas the one that will be published by Beyond Imagination had had very little of it. The theme of the one that got rejected is based on ancient Greek mythology (no surprise there) and the whole Hades – Persephone myth. I like everything about it, except the ending; something seems to be missing. Since I’m trying to publish it, I can’t post it here but if you are a Scribophile member, you can see it there (http://www.scribophile.com/authors/chris-sarantopoulos/works/when-hades-felt/). The title is When Hades Felt but I have to warn you the story is a bit long (5000 words). You won’t be able to critique or anything, as it’s been there for some time now but you can read it freely. Let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions.

I’m thinking of ways to improve this blog and I had an idea. I was thinking of starting a new section where you and I could share ideas about our stories and discuss how a story could progress. If you are interested in something like that, let me know by leaving a comment.