My publisher is releasing a series of short stories this year.
We were all asked to submit, but at time of writing this blog, I still haven’t finished mine. I have two distinct versions, neither making it to the minimum word count.
I challenged myself to write something light with no weird Kevin-style twists. When I discussed ways to end the piece, my husband gave me a weird Kevin-style twist. I liked it. I expanded on it. An initial draft was born.
My fear is that in a short story, this twist is ‘too out there’.
If I was writing a longer story, I could hint at the twist earlier, building intrigue. In a shorter work this twist could annoy the reader. It drastically changes the genre, unsatisfactorily resolving the issues set up in the piece.
Sadly, the writing in this twist is really good. It screams my style. I know this is a darling I’ll have to kill.
This is a caper story.
So, this is how the story has to end. It has to be the same whimsical style as the rest of the work.
Yet its lack of Kevin-style weirdness is giving me writer’s block.
UPDATE: After writing in several more whimsical scenes, I added the extra twist back in. It’s too good to waste.
FURTHER UPDATE: A month later, I resubmitted without the final twist. I’m more confident with my new rewrite.
kevin klehr - author 