Do You Need a Story Sprint?

By

Scott D. Parker

Sometimes you just have to sprint.

I’ve been writing a novel for the entire year. Restarted on New Year’s Day with an end date on 1 July. We all know novel writing is a marathon, an endurance test of stamina and devotion.

But last weekend, a fun thing happened. I was inspired to write a short story. A week ago yesterday, at work, I encountered a gentleman who works for my company. I’d heard about him, how his mind works, and how interacts with my fellow employees. In some ways, he’s on a different level altogether.

In the course of my introduction, he dropped a quote about how he views one of his past times: amateur boxing. I’m not a boxer, have next to zero clue about it, but the quote captivated me. I was so enthralled that I imagined a scene with a fictional character inspired by my co-worker. Over the course of the two writing sessions, I wrote a 3,800-word short story while not touching the novel.

And I loved it.

Being on a Novel Marathon, I chip away at the end goal, day by day, writing session by writing session. Actually, the better analogy would be I shovel words onto the large pile, knowing one day, I’ll get to “The End.”

That quickie short story? Like a balm. It actually sent a charge surging through my imagination on the novel. It also spurred ideas about taking this short story and treating it as chapter one of another novel.

But I have to finish this one first.