Why "My Story A Day - MSAD"?

Simple. I want to write. I never thought I could write fiction. Yet, when I was younger, I was known to sew interesting stories for my folks and friends. But never wrote it.

I used to dabble in non-fiction articles that would end up published in tiny corners of few magazines or newspapers and were soon forgetten. I started freelancing as well which introduced me to the world of fiction. Yet, I would not even dream of writing fiction for I always considered it to be an art to be done solely by the geniuses of literature. Of course, internet opened up lot more to me than it intended, and I wisened up a bit on this note too - that one need not be a gold medalist in literature to pen a story.

That was when I decided I would write a story too. Then one day, I clamoured all my guts to start writing my first fantasy fiction novel. I was thrilled and that was in 2008. I am still writing the same book. Disappointing.

Why is it that a story whose outline was drawn 2 years back still continues to stare back at me unfinished from my desk? Is it writer's block? Or was it lack of time? Or is there anything graver than that? I realised it is a mix of both and a bit more. My day job definitely contributed in chewing off a part of my writing time, but it was the writer's block that would usually force me to hang up my boots. It would always come to me strongly enough to question the very fundamentals of my writing. Every writer's block of mine had me question my abilities as a writer. Of course, every blog, every article (including the one I wrote) talks about how common this feeling is and yet, it would take me months to recover.

Right now, I am in one of those months. However, this time around I am more prepared and determined to make this work. I am determined to finish off my first novel as soon as possible ( I mean days, not months) and also scale up my writing skills. Therefore, I created "My Story A Day - MSAD".

MSAD serves 3 purposes:

1. Keep me inspired to finish my fantasy novel
2. Help me keep my creative juices entertained
3. Help me improve my writing skills

There are also certain rules of MSAD. A story, ofcourse, can be as long as I want it. But writing one story every day is not a child's play. Therefore, these short stories of mine (Yes, I am using this word for the first time and they are short stories...come on, I can't write a novel in a day!) can range 500 words to whatever length it wants it to be. The only condition being it has to be one story per day. The other rule that I would love to keep alive is about YOU. I would love it if you can take 10 minutes of your precious time and give me feedback on it. This is the only way I can improve as a writer. A writer is nothing without its readers and you, my readers, are going to make a huge difference to me in the coming few days.

So, wishing myself all the best, I plan to start filing up this online diary of MSAD from tomorrow. No more procrastination. The days to deliver results is here!