Okay. Final thoughts on WIM 2020. Sadness abounds, but such sweet sorrow and so on and so forth. I've loved taking part in this, and you can be sure I'll dip my toes in next round as well!
From the moment I heard of Writer in Motion, I felt excited - just at the concept of sharing one's process from tiny little fragments of an idea, to a first draft, through multiple revisions and onward to final, finished draft. Not only that, but I felt incredibly gratified that this year was primarily open to marginalized writers, with regards to editor spots. But, thing is, even knowing that, I hesitated until the day of sign-up to actually...sign up. I hemmed and hawed at myself, Impostor Syndrome running wild, until all of a sudden the hour had struck, and I raced to the computer to sign up. I've always been like that, doubting my own right to take part in things, even when they're specifically aimed at people like me. I promised myself back in late 2019 that this was going to be my year, that I was going to put myself out there and take part in everything I possibly could, even if it goes against every fiber of my being. Here I am. This is me.
I don't regret it. I've loved every second of Writer in Motion, both writing my own little fairytale, and reading everyone else's progress from first draft to finished flash fic. I haven't read everyone's final draft, but I'm going to treat myself tomorrow and make sure to leave comments left and right.
There are so many things I take with me, going forward: the stories, the camaraderie, the dread and exhilaration of CP week and Editor week. Thank you, Fariha and Izzy! Your stories turned out absolutely awesome and beautiful, epic slices of what could be much bigger stories just waiting to happen. I think I wrote this in both your story feedback, but I WANT MORE. Whether you run with the concepts of your stories or not, know they grabbed me by the heartstrings and kept me hooked from the first word to the last.
Thank you again to the fantastic Jeni Chappelle for your editorial savvy. I've never had an editor turn their shrewd eyes on anything I've written before, so I was both excited and vaguely terrified at what you might have to say. The excitement was warranted, the terror not so much.
If there is one last thing I take with me from this experience, it is the exhilaration of just running with a concept and watching it evolve, and getting to share the experience with everyone else. It reminds me of my not-so-misspent youth, attending writers' camps during summer breaks.
If you've followed the evolution of my Scandinavian folklore inspired fairytale, I hope it's shown you that there's a lot of thought that goes into writing, even if it's "only" a 1k story about changelings. Not only that, but it's okay to have a million ideas to start with, and (to paraphrase myself from Week 0) once you let it percolate? you're left with something quite different. I started out with an idea of a changeling troll-prince coming home to cutthroat fae politics, and ended up with a story about belonging, thinking outside the literal box, and finding love where you least expect it.
I can live with that. I can certainly live with that.
Topic: Final thoughts on WiM 2020, and the process of writing Kindred (Read 2531 times)