Tag Archives: Jigsaw

What I’ve Done This Week #14…

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I finally managed to finish a story! Granted, it’s not a new one, but it is the first thing I have completed in 2019.

Jigsaw is an old piece of fantasy fiction. I wrote the first version of it in 2000, left it for almost the entire decade, then redrafted it in 2009. That iteration was much shorter, but a lot cleaner and tighter as a result.

I didn’t really think I would ever go back to it, but I had an unfinished attempt sitting on my laptop that I decided to throw myself into… and so, almost twenty years after the story was written the first time, I have fine-tuned it again.

Although it still comes in shorter than the original text, I have added a sizeable chunk of words, bringing it in longer than the last time I looked at it.

It’s a good story: maybe this version will make the editors smile.

What I’ve Done This Week #13…

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I have written seven Jack & Patrick short stories since their first adventure in the summer of 2012. I have one more in progress, which has not gone very far, and this week – for no reason other than I was looking for something to do – I manufactured another few ideas for their continued friendship. These particular stories are like comfortable slippers to me, and writing them always raises a smile, so I look forward to starting those.

Not that I had any intention of doing so, but this week I also picked up an unfinished third draft of one of my personal favourite short stories, Jigsaw. It’s coming along well and should be finished by the end of play tomorrow if I get the time to do it. It really doesn’t need much work but I have been adding some stuff and tidying the language up as I go along.

Jigsaw was accepted for publication in early 2015, but the magazine folded before it ever saw the light of day, which was a real shame because it would have been a quality feather in my cap. Perhaps once this redraft is completed, I will be able to give it the home it deserves.