I finished a short story last night. It's one I started in 2000 called "The Blue Haired Buddha on Union Street", but never finished. I rewrote an outline on 9/3/2003, and started writing it onTuesday.

Writing for me is much easier if I have an outline. It takes awhile for me to come up with an outline, but once it's done the writing is relatively easy.

Sticking to the outline was hard in the beginning. My first writing attempt on Tuesday went off outline, and my writing became bogged down. I think I wrote myself into a corner.

On Wednesday, I reread my outline and did a freewrite about what the story was supposed to be about. Then I did another character interview, and I was able to get back on track.

I was reading some material on Joyce Carol Oates, and how productive she was, is. The woman is manic about writing. One of my writing teachers knew her when she was young, and he said that Oates could write a short story in a day, and on a typewriter at that.

Some critics have said that she may be too productive, and that perhaps if she slowed down her quality would be better. Quality can be debated, but I don't think anyone can deny that she is one of the finest writers of her generation.

I don't think I'll ever have Oates' work habits, but she is a role model I can learn from and emulate.