Short Story Project: Week 1

We begin with stories about jobs and occupations

Welcome to the official start of the Short Story Project. I’m glad you’re here! I’m also glad I’m here. I love writing picture books and I love stretching beyond the sorts of stories I’ve written before. 

Here is the schedule for the Short Story Project themes:

• September 12: Jobs and Occupations

• September 19: Foundational Myths and Everyday Magic

• September 26: Fun!

• October 3: Voice (and finding your own)

Each week, I’ll give you a list of short stories and their links, along with a brief description. It’s possible you and I have different taste in stories. I included a story if it did one of these things: made me feel something, surprised me, I couldn’t stop thinking about it (even if I wasn’t sure I liked it), or I wanted to immediately adapt it into a picture book. 

You can choose whether to read one short story or more than one. Go with your gut. Choose a story you have a reaction to. Maybe a description will make you say, “Yes! That!” or “Ew, what?” Start with those stories.

My dog, on a walk. Cosmo knows walks are important for writing.

Here is how this process works for me. You can, of course, adapt it to your own process. But two elements are important: allowing yourself undistracted work time, and noticing what you notice.