Short Fiction

“The Tower” should be finished this week. It is currently at 3,350 words (13 pages) and I plan to have it finished by 6,000 words.

I made an error in my last fiction blog. It is what I get for not looking at my “writing calendar” I incorrectly believed that my next short story after “The Tower” would be a crime drama. Actually my next short story will be a fantasy. The one after that is the crime drama. So many genres to juggle . . . it might get confusing as to what the next project is suppose to be . . . I love it.

I have been thinking about what the fantasy story should be about. There are many subgenres of fantasy. There is High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Modern Fantasy, Steampunk, Heroic Fantasy, Celtic Fantasy, and many others. As I was pondering another story about Elves, Dwarves and Hobbits (or Kenders) abound, I found myself wondering if it was what I really wanted to write. I response to my self-dialogue over what I could and could not write, I found myself on a quest for something else to play with.

I found it in Wuxia. This is fantasy style blended from Chinese philosophy of a hero and of the history of the martial arts. Some examples of this can be Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, and (at least in my opinion as a parady) Kung Fu Panda.

The problem with the idea of writing Wuxia is that: 1. I am not Chinese; 2. I have never been to China; and 3. the style of marital arts I personally study started out as a Chinese-Japanese mix but has evolved into so much more. This could be a problem when it comes to writing Wuxia.

I have decided not to write Wuxia, but instead do what I do with other puzzles in my life. I have taken the idea of Wuxia and some other styles and subgenres of fantasy and have tossed it all into a blender. Then I hit the “liquefy” button.

Next week I will start to plot what ever this fantasy story will be. Until then I will let my mental blender twirl, mix, chop, and combine the various ideas together. Maybe I will have a good story come out of it like a delicious smoothie. Then again, I may have something indigestible. We shall see.