Break - verb

1. to destroy or interrupt the regularity, uniformity, continuity, or arrangement of,
2. to put an end to; overcome; stop,
3. to overcome or wear down the spirit,



Effectively this blog post is all about doing the first two to prevent the third.

I've been writing my book now, tentatively titled George and the Dragon, for a good few months now and 55,000+ words in I find myself going over the same bits editting them constantly and not finishing the full manuscript first.

So I decided to take a break, I have few other stories floating around my in my head but nothing that would make a good book. Flitting around on some forums I picked up the idea to put the book down for a couple of weeks and literally throw together some short stories to see what comes out of the melting pot.

I can write 3000 words in about 3 hours. Whether this would be considered worth printing is another thing entirely. Given the amount of competitions out there for short stories it has to be worth a punt though. I might only win £20, however, I might win £15,000! Although I confess I think that unlikely. It's all part of the experience though and I think that's part of the attraction. At the same time when I go back to writing George and the Dragon I should be able to tackle it with renewed vigour and energy.

One of the curiosities I've come across while looking for short story references is the txtlit competition. Imagine if you will writing a story using 160 characters, yes that's characters not words. With spaces that last sentence was 90 characters on it's own. The challenge to write something that concentrated yet still gramatically correct is quite appealing if a little daunting. If I try it I'll let you know how I get on.

Cheers

Phil

(p.s. for those that are wondering the connection with the picture it's a break-water at Portland, a flimsy connection I know but I like the formation of helicopters!)