The Last Day

I just finished my first revision (not enough changes to qualify as a new draft) of "Carte Blanche." I've decided to rename it "The Last Day." The more I thought about "Carte Blanche" as a title, the less I liked it. I think this fits it better.

I'm going to show it around to a few of the usual people, get some opinions, see if they're confused about anything in the story. I ended up tacking a couple hundred more words onto it in this revision, while removing significantly less. Still, it's under 1,300 words, so that should open up a lot more doors for submission purposes.

Writing a 1,000 word story is a far different animal from writing a 10,000 word story. You've got to take one theme and really run with it, rather than having two or three to play with. It feels a bit like a smash-and-grab; you've got to get in, do your thing, and get out before the dust settles. It's a different process from the kind of pieces I normally do.

But, I'm pretty happy with it. I think another draft, some pruning and polishing, and I'll be satisfied enough with it to start looking at magazines to send it to. I haven't decided what to work on next. I've got a couple ideas, but just vague impressions at the moment. I have a couple characters I'd like to explore, but I haven't worked out a discrete plot, or themes, all that stuff that makes a story worth reading.

Whatever it is, I'd like to be a bit more upbeat. "The Last Day" is a bit of a downer, and two other stories I've written are bittersweet at best. "Where Do We Go From Here," which is available to read on this blog, is fairly positive. I think I'd like to try something funny next, it's been a while since I've written something funny. One of the stories I read in Space and Time was called "Pegleg and Paddy Save the World," by Jonathan Maberry. It was amusing in an off beat, tongue-in-cheek kind of way. I think I'd like to try something along those lines.

-E. Maxfield Moen