I am about two minutes from finishing the short story I’ve been working on. I would actually be done, but it’s only 12000 words and the minimum for the anthology I hope to get into is 15000.

I read somewhere recently that Mary Higgins Clark credits being a journalist with helping her be a really good fiction writer. Because she wrote for radio and had no choice but to write very, very tight. I’m a former journalist, too. I spent a couple of years as a newspaper reporter, and many more writing freelance magazine articles. I get what she’s saying. I almost never use superfluous words. My instinct is to tell the story in as few words as possible. Which is fantastic, and necessary for a newspaper reporter, but not quite as much for a novelist. As a result, I have sort of an odd way of writing. I write the story from beginning to end. And then I write it again, adding more detail and more scenes if necessary. And then again. And sometimes again. So my stories are sort of layered together. I have no idea if that’s good or bad, but it just is.

As an example. This story started out being about 5000 words. I went through and added more and it was like 8500. I’m just finishing up the third go around and it’s 12000. One more time and I should have it right.

One thing I have to guard against is not stopping until I’ve fleshed the whole story out, or it comes across as too–flat? I’m not sure if that’s the word. Not juicy enough.

Another good thing that came from from being a journalist is that I don’t believe I’ve ever had writer’s block. Ever. Spending several years under a constant tight deadline sort of killed the myth of writer’s block for me. I don’t worry about writing perfectly, since I know ahead of time that I’m going to do two or four or ten rewrites anyway. I just start typing. It all works out in the end.

Okay–all that said, on to the reason for this post. I would love to have a couple of beta readers for my short story. Three or four would be great. You don’t have to do any major editing (unless your into self-torture), I’m just looking for general feedback. If you’re a writer, that’s even better. Just leave me a comment or email me at shauntagrimes@gmail.com. I’m happy to return the favor if you have something you’d like me to read. Thanks!