Peer Editing Time

"BIG IDEAS," or broad concepts, come to me quickly. What I lack in my writing sometimes is follow through, because my imagination has already moved on to the next broad concept! For example, I think to myself, "Wouldn't it be fun to write a story about the gaurds at the DMZ?" But, the next day, I consider, "Wouldn't it be neat to try to capture my small city from the point of view of a mail order bride from Vietnam?" And then I think, "Shouldn't I finish that story I started last year about a fifty-year old divorced ESL teacher?" In the meantime, I've thought a lot, but not written very much. My hobby is supposedly writing, an action verb. What I need to do is put that verb into action more!
So, this past month, I had so much time off that I decided I had NO excuses. My turtle was fed. My recycling was taken downstairs. My sweaters were washed. It was too gray, windy, and cold to go hiking. And so I wrote. And edited. And mentally insulted myself for the generally low quality writing (and horrendous spelling) apparent in my stories. And then, after a while, I ignored my inner critic and wrote some more stories.
So, I am happy to say, I have a few not-horrible stories to show for myself after all my time off this month. They might not be good per se, but they're not horrible. Now comes the really scary part-I've started sharing them with a few of my well-read friends to get helpful feedback. Luckily, I know some former English major or journalist types with editing experience. Hopefully they can help me whip these stories into shape. If I can get some decent drafts of the stories I am going to enter them in a few fiction contests in the States. Contests that, I most likely, will not win. But if I don't enter them, I will DEFINITELY not win them. So, I have to give it a shot. Between big ideas.