A finished story

I finished a short story this morning, the third one for my MFA program in creative writing. It's due on Wednesday, and though I'll probably tweak it a bit between now and then, I'm thinking of it as DONE, and that's a great feeling.

The best thing about being in an MFA program is that it forces you to actually produce writing, and in my case to actually finish stories. Without the deadline there's no way I would have stuck with this story so diligently. I would have set it aside and gone on to something else when the going got tough.

Here's the beginning of the story I just finished:

"Nancy slams the trunk and that's it, she's all set. She turns and looks at the house one last time. Such a shame. The key is in her hand and she could still change her mind. She could dig in and fight, make a stand, make a noise. But for what? Hers is the last house left standing in the way. It's inevitable. It's gone. "

On Wednesday I'll submit this story, via email, to the three other students in my group and our faculty advisor. I'll get feedback within a week from my fellow students, and within two weeks from my advisor.

In the meantime I'll be writing critiques and continuing to work on my next story submission. It keeps me busy - keeps me from spending all my time with my new camera, which is what I'd rather be doing.

It's especially hard to write when I've got a new toy - the Canon digital SLR I've been craving. But I am definitely NOT complaining. It's true my time seems to go awfully fast these days, but it's consumed with creative pursuits.