One of my favourite quotes of all time comes from a movie called Stick It. It's about ja girl who's forced back in to gymnastics after she walked out of the worlds. If you haven't seen it, it's a fantastic movie. Anyway, here's the quote:
Gymnastics tells you no. All day long. It mocks you over and over again.
Telling you you're an idiot. That you're crazy. If you like running
full-speed towards a stationary object, vault's for you. If you like
pealing pieces of skin the size of quarters of your hands... bars is for
you. Because the only thing more fun then rips, is when your rips get
rips. It's super sexy. And floor, are you serious, I mean who doesn't
want to parade around in a leotard getting wedgies and doing dorky
choreography? It's delicious. If you like falling, then gymnastics is
thee sport for you! You get to fall on your face, your ass, your back,
your knees, and your pride! It's a good thing I didn't like falling... I
LOVED IT!
So, why am I telling you this quote? Quite simply because, in my eyes, I can equate it to writing.
Sure, as a writer we don't actually physically run toward a stationary object, but we do run toward the ending of a book, not knowing exactly how it's going to turn out. We may not have skin peeling off our hands, but we have wrist problems from writing so much, and headaches from listening to characters.
But, most of all, it's the falling that really got to me. We don't literally fall on our faces, our asses, our back or our knees. But when you don't know where to take the book, it feels a little like you were running full out and landed on your face. When you realize half way through a chapter that you don't need it, or the one before, it feels a little like the ground has fallen out beneath you and you find yourself on your ass not sure you want to do the work.
And out prides? The pride of a writer takes a beating unlike almost any other profession in the world. We work for ages on this book, something that we've poured our heart and soul in to, we fuss over it like it's our child, and worry about whether it's any good. Then we send it out in to the world and hope that we've done everything right.
As I learned this past week, more often than not that results in a fall. Our pride takes a beating as we get back rejection letters telling us that the work that we poured in to our manuscripts or short stories wasn't enough. That we did it wrong.
Being a writer isn't all fun and games. To be a writer, we have to (as the quote says) not just like falling, but love it!
We have to be able to get past those beatings and continue onward toward our ultimate goal.
With that in mind, I'm going to take that story and submit it somewhere else. After I lick my wounds for a couple of days. Because, no matter how bad of a beating my pride took, I know that this is what I want to do. And if I want a story published, I have to be persistent.
Now, I just have to find somewhere that I think is good enough for my story, and hope they think it's the right fit too.
Wish me luck!
Have you gotten any rejection letters yet? What do you do to keep yourself from thinking that you're not good enough?
Showing posts with label submissions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label submissions. Show all posts
Monday, December 17, 2012
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
There is Only One Goal
Each writer has their own goals, set using different variables. How fast we write. How fast we edit. When we need to have something done by. What's going on in our lives. etc. But there's one goal that every writer has: To be able to call themselves an author.
There is a difference, of course, between a writer and an author. While you have to be to a writer in order to be an author, the same is not true for the other way around. You see, writers are people who write, but have yet to be published. Authors are people who write and have had a piece of work published.
I'm a writer.
My friend Eric A. Satchwill, however, is an author.
This momentous occasion occurred today! He wrote a short story and submitted it to an anthology. One yes, a couple blog posts, and some publishing later, and he finds himself with the brand spanking new title of Author. Shiny, right?
Of course, there may have been some small amount (or huge mountains full of) jealousy on my part, but I still couldn't be happier for him. He has achieved the first step in making it in the world of writing. He's gotten published, and -- for today at least -- he can sit back, look at that short story and think that he has achieved something. He's accomplished his goal.
Just like the rest of us, though, his journey isn't going to stop there. Let's face it, I doubt there is a single author out there that got their first book/short story/poem published and thought 'yep, that's it. My life goal. I'm done!' No. We always have more dreams, more goals, more accomplishments to push toward.
His is the novel he's been working on for the past two years Fallen Things. As someone whose a part of his critique group, I can tell you that it's great, and one day it's going to be out there on the shelf ready to be purchased.
And me? Well, we all know that I have a short story out for submission (50 days and counting...hoping to NOT get a response, because they're saying that an early response is not generally a good thing). And, of course, there's Pandora, which I'm currently editing. It's going well, for once. I think that may be because I got most of the issues ironed out in the first go around.
One day soon I'm going to join Eric in the ranks of published author. I'll have that shiny new title (may even make a name plate that says so...just for the hell of it) and I'll be ready to jump in to the work of authors and make my mark (I'll probably use a red pen...)
How close are you to getting your shiny new title? Do you already have it? What are you working on hoping to get published??
There is a difference, of course, between a writer and an author. While you have to be to a writer in order to be an author, the same is not true for the other way around. You see, writers are people who write, but have yet to be published. Authors are people who write and have had a piece of work published.
I'm a writer.
My friend Eric A. Satchwill, however, is an author.
This momentous occasion occurred today! He wrote a short story and submitted it to an anthology. One yes, a couple blog posts, and some publishing later, and he finds himself with the brand spanking new title of Author. Shiny, right?
Of course, there may have been some small amount (or huge mountains full of) jealousy on my part, but I still couldn't be happier for him. He has achieved the first step in making it in the world of writing. He's gotten published, and -- for today at least -- he can sit back, look at that short story and think that he has achieved something. He's accomplished his goal.
Just like the rest of us, though, his journey isn't going to stop there. Let's face it, I doubt there is a single author out there that got their first book/short story/poem published and thought 'yep, that's it. My life goal. I'm done!' No. We always have more dreams, more goals, more accomplishments to push toward.
His is the novel he's been working on for the past two years Fallen Things. As someone whose a part of his critique group, I can tell you that it's great, and one day it's going to be out there on the shelf ready to be purchased.
And me? Well, we all know that I have a short story out for submission (50 days and counting...hoping to NOT get a response, because they're saying that an early response is not generally a good thing). And, of course, there's Pandora, which I'm currently editing. It's going well, for once. I think that may be because I got most of the issues ironed out in the first go around.
One day soon I'm going to join Eric in the ranks of published author. I'll have that shiny new title (may even make a name plate that says so...just for the hell of it) and I'll be ready to jump in to the work of authors and make my mark (I'll probably use a red pen...)
How close are you to getting your shiny new title? Do you already have it? What are you working on hoping to get published??
Monday, November 12, 2012
Forbidden Submissions (Day 12)
Well, we're not quite half way through
the month, and already my mind is wandering away from the first
drafts I'm currently working on and focusing squarely on something I
really shouldn't even be thinking about during NaNoWriMo:
Submissions.
I'll admit, this topic isn't quite as
forbidden as editing is during November, but I'm probably still going
to get people telling me to focus on the writing. December is for
everything else. To those people I would say: Have you ever had to
sit at work with no access to your current novel knowing that you
could be doing something productive? That's what happened to me.
It's a holiday today, so a lot of
people seem to be assuming that we're closed (we are a registry, so I
can see how they came to that conclusion, but lo and behold, we are
open.) This means that there has been a lot of chatting, and wasting
time going on. Which, for me, tends to mean I have a Word document
open on my computer and I'm typing away.
The current project (other than Aliens
Stole My Socks, which I should have finished last night, but I
didn't. I'll do it tonight, I promise!) is a short story for a
submissions call I found out about nearly a month ago.
I've had an idea for it floating around
in my head since I saw the call, and I've been looking for a way to
find time to write it. Today that time presented itself on a silver
platter. (Okay, okay. There was no silver platter. Sue me, I'm a
writer).
Anyway, I opened the word document, and
started typing.
Now, this story is a little on the
darker side, and I'm feeling a little awkward writing it at work, but
at the same time, I know that if I don't write it here, I'm never
going to get it done. At least not this month. While the submission
deadline isn't until February or March, it also said, basically,
first come first serve, so I'm trying to get it in as soon as
possible.
I'm not very far in to it, but I think
the dark feeling is coming across. I'm hoping, anyway. But writing
it also made me think of my other submission that I sent out in
October. I haven't heard back from them, which I'm taking as a good
sign. I'm desperately hoping that it's in the 'We Must Have This'
pile, even if that means I won't hear back until March. That story
deserves to be published, and I would love for my first choice to
accept it.
Anyway, now I'm thinking about
submissions instead of my novel. It could become a problem. But
there's a write in tonight, which should get me focused back on NaNo.
At least I'm hoping it does.
For now, though,
it's back to work on the short story and serving any customers that
wander through our door. Maybe I'll get this first draft done today!
Do you ever get distracted by
non-nano projects? Should I use the word count from the short story
toward my nano count?
* * *
Daily Word Count: 9,490
Total Word Count: 110,337
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Pushing That Button
I started at my screen, my breath coming in short gasps, and my heart beating rapidly in my chest. I had just spent hours getting ready for this moment, and I was going to blow it. I was going to chicken out and not press the button.
Wondering what I'm talking about?
Two nights ago, I decided that the story that was sitting on my computer doing absolutely nothing (a short story entitled Blood Mask) needed to be put out there.
So I opened the already edited story, and sat down to figure where I was going to submit it. The truth of the matter is that it's not as easy as it sounds to find a place where your story fits. I went through a lot of publishers, rejecting for various reasons. From the fact that some of them seem to think that 'dark fantasy' automatically means 'horror' (ie. Please only send us work that will make us unable to sleep at night.) to magazines that get published so frequently I wondered how any of their authors could truly be featured.
Now, I'm not saying that any of these publishers are bad. The opposite, I'm certain, is true. The plain truth, however, is that this is my baby. It might not be a novel that I've spent years of my life working on, but it's still something that I've poured myself in to. Every single story I write has more of myself in it than I want. If I'm going to put it out there, I want it to be to the publisher that I feel comfortable with. I want the best things for it.
So, I spent most of my night sorting through publishers and formats. I had pretty much given up hope, and I ended up deciding to make my search just a little bit less refined. I decided to allow the search engine to show me publishers that aren't open to submissions.
This may seem counter productive to you. It's entirely possible that I wasn't thinking clearly, my head clouded with thoughts of how I was never going to get this story published, but whatever the case, it worked.
I came across a publishing house based right here in Calgary. The entry in duotrope was actually for Tesseracts Sixteen (which is an anthology), which was closed to submissions. But I went to the website, because, I'll admit, I was enthralled with the concept. I was sad that I wasn't going to be able to try and get my story in to this anthology.
Crazy thing, though, when I went to that website, lo and behold, Tesseracts Seventeen was being displayed as accepting submissions.
It was crazy! The very thing I wanted, and there it was, open for me to try for.
So I did!
After a couple more hours with me pulling my hair out trying to get this submission up to the standards they were asking for. (My open office REALLY didn't want to format anything. I'm not kidding you. I would format it exactly the way I wanted, close it, open it to double check because I'm just paranoid like that, it was back to the way it was before...kill me...) I got the email set up, the story attached, and had my mouse hovering over the send button.
And that's where you came in.
For the record, I didn't stare at the button for too long. I think it was about half and hour. That's not too bad, is it?
A friend on twitter managed to convince me that I had to actually hit the button, so I did. After which I had a complete freak out which lasted a couple of minutes after I talked myself down, reminding myself that there really wasn't any way to get it back, and now I was just going to have to sit back and wait to see what happens.
So, now I have a story out there in submissionland, certain that I'm going to get rejected, and not so sure I'm upset about that. After all, a rejection is still someone who has read my work. Maybe it just doesn't fit with their anthology, and maybe it just wasn't their style. Whatever, my work is officially out there in the world! It's getting read by people who don't know me or anything about me. It's getting judged by only it's worthiness as a piece of fiction, and I can't wait to see what comes of it.
No more pounding heart, no more shallow breaths. At least, not until the email comes from them that tells me my fate.
Have you submitted anything lately? What was your reaction?
Wondering what I'm talking about?
Two nights ago, I decided that the story that was sitting on my computer doing absolutely nothing (a short story entitled Blood Mask) needed to be put out there.
So I opened the already edited story, and sat down to figure where I was going to submit it. The truth of the matter is that it's not as easy as it sounds to find a place where your story fits. I went through a lot of publishers, rejecting for various reasons. From the fact that some of them seem to think that 'dark fantasy' automatically means 'horror' (ie. Please only send us work that will make us unable to sleep at night.) to magazines that get published so frequently I wondered how any of their authors could truly be featured.
Now, I'm not saying that any of these publishers are bad. The opposite, I'm certain, is true. The plain truth, however, is that this is my baby. It might not be a novel that I've spent years of my life working on, but it's still something that I've poured myself in to. Every single story I write has more of myself in it than I want. If I'm going to put it out there, I want it to be to the publisher that I feel comfortable with. I want the best things for it.
So, I spent most of my night sorting through publishers and formats. I had pretty much given up hope, and I ended up deciding to make my search just a little bit less refined. I decided to allow the search engine to show me publishers that aren't open to submissions.
This may seem counter productive to you. It's entirely possible that I wasn't thinking clearly, my head clouded with thoughts of how I was never going to get this story published, but whatever the case, it worked.
I came across a publishing house based right here in Calgary. The entry in duotrope was actually for Tesseracts Sixteen (which is an anthology), which was closed to submissions. But I went to the website, because, I'll admit, I was enthralled with the concept. I was sad that I wasn't going to be able to try and get my story in to this anthology.
Crazy thing, though, when I went to that website, lo and behold, Tesseracts Seventeen was being displayed as accepting submissions.
It was crazy! The very thing I wanted, and there it was, open for me to try for.
So I did!
After a couple more hours with me pulling my hair out trying to get this submission up to the standards they were asking for. (My open office REALLY didn't want to format anything. I'm not kidding you. I would format it exactly the way I wanted, close it, open it to double check because I'm just paranoid like that, it was back to the way it was before...kill me...) I got the email set up, the story attached, and had my mouse hovering over the send button.
And that's where you came in.
For the record, I didn't stare at the button for too long. I think it was about half and hour. That's not too bad, is it?
A friend on twitter managed to convince me that I had to actually hit the button, so I did. After which I had a complete freak out which lasted a couple of minutes after I talked myself down, reminding myself that there really wasn't any way to get it back, and now I was just going to have to sit back and wait to see what happens.
So, now I have a story out there in submissionland, certain that I'm going to get rejected, and not so sure I'm upset about that. After all, a rejection is still someone who has read my work. Maybe it just doesn't fit with their anthology, and maybe it just wasn't their style. Whatever, my work is officially out there in the world! It's getting read by people who don't know me or anything about me. It's getting judged by only it's worthiness as a piece of fiction, and I can't wait to see what comes of it.
No more pounding heart, no more shallow breaths. At least, not until the email comes from them that tells me my fate.
Have you submitted anything lately? What was your reaction?
Sunday, September 30, 2012
A Brief Overture
So...I may have missed my post on Wednesday. Honestly, I don't even have a good excuse for why. I was home (having had some plans cancelled) and all I did all night was watch shows. I didn't even write. So why couldn't I get words down to post on my blog?
I think it may have been lack of inspiration. It's been months since I've missed a post, and as much as I love posting twice a week, lets face it, sometimes it's hard to come up with things to write about that I haven't already said a million and a half times.
But here I am posting today (though I actually don't have a firm topic for this post...you may have noticed already). I'm getting back on track.
In that spirit, I thought I would tell you all just what my goals (and plans) are for the next month.
October is probably going to be just as busy as August was, except that critique group is still meeting, which means that I have to have two submissions for the course of the month. The first is going to be a short story that I wrote and submitted to an online magazine. The magazine in question has yet to get back to me, and has told all submitters that if they wish to send their stories out to other publishers, they understand. I have decided that it's just been too long for them to have not gotten back to me and will be withdrawing my submission and shopping it in other markets. As I view this story as one of the best things I've ever written, I'm hoping that it will get published.
For the second submission, I have no idea what I'm going to send in. Originally I was planning on writing another short story to submit, but now that I'm looking over my month, I'm thinking that idea is going to be just about as smart as thinking I could do Camp Nano in August. In other words: that's a dumb idea...so I'm still working on that. If my month goes the way I expect it to go, I doubt it's going to happen.
We will be moving at the end of the month (lame...I hate moving). This wasn't exactly our choice, and we will be moving further away from my work, which means my drive is about to double (and take me on roads I don't particularly enjoy driving on.) But I'm grateful that we have a home and we're not scrambling to find somewhere to live. Unfortunately not only does that take a day for the actual move, but then there's the packing and the unpacking involved. Coupled with the weekend getaway to my grandmother's house and all the other random little plans I make on a week to week basis, I'm worried about getting any of my work done, never mind anything else.
Pandora, my novel that I'm trying to edit, isn't going as well as I had hoped. I have four chapters left to edit, and it's the last day that I was supposed to be working on the second draft. I have already done two chapters today, though, and I have a friend working with me online. I'm hopeful that I'll get it done tonight (and by hopeful I mean that I'm going to be frantically editing for most of the night before falling in to bed exhausted.) but I don't know if I actually will. Wish me luck!
I have been plucking away at the planning for my fourth and final novel for nano. So far my lineup is: Stolen Magick, Aliens Stole My Socks, Betraying Eden and Birth. Birth is the one I'm currently working on. I have some brainstorming done, but I'm actually ahead of schedule on that one. I wasn't even supposed to start the planning until tomorrow, so I'm not too worried. But I need to make sure I don't get behind in those goals.
This month is going to be hectic, but I'm hoping that I still manage to get everything done. Now I just need to go finish the second draft of Pandora.
What are your goals for the month of October? Are you going to join us in our blog post a day challenge in November?
I think it may have been lack of inspiration. It's been months since I've missed a post, and as much as I love posting twice a week, lets face it, sometimes it's hard to come up with things to write about that I haven't already said a million and a half times.
But here I am posting today (though I actually don't have a firm topic for this post...you may have noticed already). I'm getting back on track.
In that spirit, I thought I would tell you all just what my goals (and plans) are for the next month.
October is probably going to be just as busy as August was, except that critique group is still meeting, which means that I have to have two submissions for the course of the month. The first is going to be a short story that I wrote and submitted to an online magazine. The magazine in question has yet to get back to me, and has told all submitters that if they wish to send their stories out to other publishers, they understand. I have decided that it's just been too long for them to have not gotten back to me and will be withdrawing my submission and shopping it in other markets. As I view this story as one of the best things I've ever written, I'm hoping that it will get published.
For the second submission, I have no idea what I'm going to send in. Originally I was planning on writing another short story to submit, but now that I'm looking over my month, I'm thinking that idea is going to be just about as smart as thinking I could do Camp Nano in August. In other words: that's a dumb idea...so I'm still working on that. If my month goes the way I expect it to go, I doubt it's going to happen.
We will be moving at the end of the month (lame...I hate moving). This wasn't exactly our choice, and we will be moving further away from my work, which means my drive is about to double (and take me on roads I don't particularly enjoy driving on.) But I'm grateful that we have a home and we're not scrambling to find somewhere to live. Unfortunately not only does that take a day for the actual move, but then there's the packing and the unpacking involved. Coupled with the weekend getaway to my grandmother's house and all the other random little plans I make on a week to week basis, I'm worried about getting any of my work done, never mind anything else.
Pandora, my novel that I'm trying to edit, isn't going as well as I had hoped. I have four chapters left to edit, and it's the last day that I was supposed to be working on the second draft. I have already done two chapters today, though, and I have a friend working with me online. I'm hopeful that I'll get it done tonight (and by hopeful I mean that I'm going to be frantically editing for most of the night before falling in to bed exhausted.) but I don't know if I actually will. Wish me luck!
I have been plucking away at the planning for my fourth and final novel for nano. So far my lineup is: Stolen Magick, Aliens Stole My Socks, Betraying Eden and Birth. Birth is the one I'm currently working on. I have some brainstorming done, but I'm actually ahead of schedule on that one. I wasn't even supposed to start the planning until tomorrow, so I'm not too worried. But I need to make sure I don't get behind in those goals.
This month is going to be hectic, but I'm hoping that I still manage to get everything done. Now I just need to go finish the second draft of Pandora.
What are your goals for the month of October? Are you going to join us in our blog post a day challenge in November?
Sunday, August 19, 2012
My Goals
Today I thought I would revisit the goals and deadlines I have set out for myself. This isn't a new topic by any means. I've discussed my goals on here more times than I care to count. Unfortunately, I have yet to be able to actually finish a goal. Somehow I always end up behind on every deadline I set for myself.
I've always wondered why I could do nano so well, but my own goals seem to be pushed to the wayside and never seems to happen.
It could be because nano is a deadline that's been set out by another person. Rather than just the arbitrary goals I come up with in my head. I have something that tells me how far I am to my goal, something that reminds me how long I have to complete the goal. It's something I can't change, because it's not a goal that I came up with.
So, I've come up with some more goals for myself, and I'm hoping that I won't flake out on them like I normally do. I'm going to really try hard not to.
The Goals:
Finish editing to chapter 20 of Pandora by Friday August 17th. This dead line has obviously already passed, and sadly I have no accomplished it yet. I'm working on chapter 14 right now, so I'm actually not even close. Which means that I'm going to have to push back all of my deadlines for Pandora. I'm going to have a tentative goal of finishing the second draft by the end of September, and ready for submissions by the end of January.
Finish planning Aliens Stole My Socks by the end of August. I'm actually on track for this one. I've broken it down into steps, and set goals for those steps. The next part I'm working on is a point by point outline for it. After which will come character bibles (of which I have about six or seven) and then a full plot. I think I can keep on track for this one. I kind of need to, because I have two more books to plan out before the beginning of November, and I only have two more months to do it.
Which brings me to my next two goals, which I'm going to lump together. Finish the planning for the last two novels I will be writing in November. I'm giving each novel (one about a world were air is a valuable commodity, and the other about a Phoenix.) a single month.
At this point I'm not sure if I'll be able to get it all done. I hope I can, but I definitely can't guarantee it. There's a lot of work to do. Each of the novels I'm writing in November is a new project, which means that new worlds need to be explored. I can't put them off too long. I'd have to start planning each new novel on the first day of each month.
Plus, I really can't put off Pandora, because there's no reason to continue writing new projects if I never get my work out there. I actually need to finish a book, all the way through to a final draft. I can't just sit on it anymore. I want people to read my work, which means that I need to send it out into the world. I can't continue to constantly work on new projects.
So I'm going to commit myself to these goals. I may not make them all, but I'm going to damn well try my best. If I don't succeed, at least I'll know that I did everything I could.
I've always wondered why I could do nano so well, but my own goals seem to be pushed to the wayside and never seems to happen.
It could be because nano is a deadline that's been set out by another person. Rather than just the arbitrary goals I come up with in my head. I have something that tells me how far I am to my goal, something that reminds me how long I have to complete the goal. It's something I can't change, because it's not a goal that I came up with.
So, I've come up with some more goals for myself, and I'm hoping that I won't flake out on them like I normally do. I'm going to really try hard not to.
The Goals:
Finish editing to chapter 20 of Pandora by Friday August 17th. This dead line has obviously already passed, and sadly I have no accomplished it yet. I'm working on chapter 14 right now, so I'm actually not even close. Which means that I'm going to have to push back all of my deadlines for Pandora. I'm going to have a tentative goal of finishing the second draft by the end of September, and ready for submissions by the end of January.
Finish planning Aliens Stole My Socks by the end of August. I'm actually on track for this one. I've broken it down into steps, and set goals for those steps. The next part I'm working on is a point by point outline for it. After which will come character bibles (of which I have about six or seven) and then a full plot. I think I can keep on track for this one. I kind of need to, because I have two more books to plan out before the beginning of November, and I only have two more months to do it.
Which brings me to my next two goals, which I'm going to lump together. Finish the planning for the last two novels I will be writing in November. I'm giving each novel (one about a world were air is a valuable commodity, and the other about a Phoenix.) a single month.
At this point I'm not sure if I'll be able to get it all done. I hope I can, but I definitely can't guarantee it. There's a lot of work to do. Each of the novels I'm writing in November is a new project, which means that new worlds need to be explored. I can't put them off too long. I'd have to start planning each new novel on the first day of each month.
Plus, I really can't put off Pandora, because there's no reason to continue writing new projects if I never get my work out there. I actually need to finish a book, all the way through to a final draft. I can't just sit on it anymore. I want people to read my work, which means that I need to send it out into the world. I can't continue to constantly work on new projects.
So I'm going to commit myself to these goals. I may not make them all, but I'm going to damn well try my best. If I don't succeed, at least I'll know that I did everything I could.
Monday, July 30, 2012
It's Baaaack!
On this the last Sunday of the month, I feel the need to mention, however obvious it might be, that camp nano will be returning to the world in only a few short days.
I, of course, have already figured out what I'm going to write. I actually have it plotted and ready to go. Not because I'm amazing, just because I need to know it's ready before I even start writing. I have to have that plot, or I start to freak out. Trust me, I know this. How? Because I'm (literally) in the middle of a pantsing novel that does nothing but stress me out when I so much as think about it.
So with my mind firmly on the novel I'm about to start writing (with the occasional distraction of the novel that I'm currently editing) I thought I would make today's post a little shorter than normal and give you all an update on what's going on with me and my projects.
I've never been one to have only a single project that I focus on. I get bored and need to move on to something different, so I currently have a few different things on the go.
Pandora a novel about a werewolf who also happens to be an assassin (I love it so far, even if I did just realize that I need to rewrite half of it) is in the middle of heavy editing. I was supposed to be editing The Commons this month, but unfortunately feedback has been delayed, and I haven't been able to work on it. I ended up pulling out Jayne's story, and now I actually can't wait to see how it turns out.
I've finished planning out the novel Stolen Magick, a YA about a school that teaches Arcanists (humans with the ability to wield magick) how to control their powers. I'm very excited for this one, because I can't wait to see where the series goes. Unfortunately, it will have to wait until November, as I won't be writing it until then.
I have 3 more novels I'll be planning for November as well. None of them are named, but I have started brainstorming for a mid grade about a 10 year old who catches an alien stealing socks out of the dryer. Stay tuned for more. This one should be fun.
Three short stories have been written this month. One has been submitted, and I'm waiting for a response. One is going to be looked over one last time before I try to find somewhere that I want to submit it, and the last is going to be a kick off point for one of the novels for November.
The Techs, the second book in The Commons series is completely planned and ready for me to dive in August first. (I've been eagerly awaiting writing this book, and can't wait to start. The goal is to have it done by the 20th.)
I got some feedback from a beta reader today on The Commons and have come to the realization that I need to go over it many times more and fix many problem spots, but I can't wait to get started. Unfortunately, it's now going to have to wait until I get through Pandora.
Okay. I think that's all the updates I have for now (Yeah, I know, it's a lot. I'm a little crazy...) I'm excited for every single one of these projects, and I can't wait to see where they go. I hope that your camp nano is amazing!
I, of course, have already figured out what I'm going to write. I actually have it plotted and ready to go. Not because I'm amazing, just because I need to know it's ready before I even start writing. I have to have that plot, or I start to freak out. Trust me, I know this. How? Because I'm (literally) in the middle of a pantsing novel that does nothing but stress me out when I so much as think about it.
So with my mind firmly on the novel I'm about to start writing (with the occasional distraction of the novel that I'm currently editing) I thought I would make today's post a little shorter than normal and give you all an update on what's going on with me and my projects.
I've never been one to have only a single project that I focus on. I get bored and need to move on to something different, so I currently have a few different things on the go.
Pandora a novel about a werewolf who also happens to be an assassin (I love it so far, even if I did just realize that I need to rewrite half of it) is in the middle of heavy editing. I was supposed to be editing The Commons this month, but unfortunately feedback has been delayed, and I haven't been able to work on it. I ended up pulling out Jayne's story, and now I actually can't wait to see how it turns out.
I've finished planning out the novel Stolen Magick, a YA about a school that teaches Arcanists (humans with the ability to wield magick) how to control their powers. I'm very excited for this one, because I can't wait to see where the series goes. Unfortunately, it will have to wait until November, as I won't be writing it until then.
I have 3 more novels I'll be planning for November as well. None of them are named, but I have started brainstorming for a mid grade about a 10 year old who catches an alien stealing socks out of the dryer. Stay tuned for more. This one should be fun.
Three short stories have been written this month. One has been submitted, and I'm waiting for a response. One is going to be looked over one last time before I try to find somewhere that I want to submit it, and the last is going to be a kick off point for one of the novels for November.
The Techs, the second book in The Commons series is completely planned and ready for me to dive in August first. (I've been eagerly awaiting writing this book, and can't wait to start. The goal is to have it done by the 20th.)
I got some feedback from a beta reader today on The Commons and have come to the realization that I need to go over it many times more and fix many problem spots, but I can't wait to get started. Unfortunately, it's now going to have to wait until I get through Pandora.
Okay. I think that's all the updates I have for now (Yeah, I know, it's a lot. I'm a little crazy...) I'm excited for every single one of these projects, and I can't wait to see where they go. I hope that your camp nano is amazing!
***I'm currently collecting donations for OLL (Office of Letters and Light) who hosts NaNoWriMo every year. My goal is $500 and I've already hit 60% of that. I need your help to complete my goal, however. Help me raise money for the organization that single-handedly helped me to figure out jthat I'm a writer.***
Thursday, June 28, 2012
The Story Won't Leave Me Alone
As a writer there are different ways each of us interpret and convey our stories. Some of us listen to our characters and tell the story that they're telling us. Some of us line up our characters and tell them what to do. Some of us do a mixture of the two. None do exactly the same thing. We each have our little process and techniques that we cling to because they've become habit.
No matter how we connect with our characters or our story, though, there is one thing that each writer has in common: Occasionally a story or character will take over our brains.
I'm not talking about literally taking over our lives, of course (though now I'm thinking that would be an awesome idea and I may need to write that in my Shiny New Idea Book.) I mean that the character or story will become something that we can't stop thinking about.
We'll picture scenes, or just the character themselves. Hear the dialogue running through our heads. Find that ending that we just have to put down on paper (or in a word document, whatever.) And it will distract us from anything else we could (or should) be working on. It doesn't matter if we're in the middle of a novel, these projects overpower anything else until we're left wanting nothing more than to write that story.
Not too long ago I was introduced to a new webzine that a friend of mine helped to start up entitled Insomnia Press. I was reading through their website (including submissions. I may not write a whole lot of short stories, but I thought I might as well take a look) and I came across the theme to their third issue: Death, Lies and Secrets.
I'll admit, this may seem like a rather broad theme. When I first read it I thought 'that's it?' I was going to just navigate away, sure I could never write anything dark enough to fit in either that theme, or the publication itself.
Apparently I was wrong. (Okay, I hope I was. I'm not actually done writing yet, and for all I know it could turn out horrible. I'm going to optimistic this week.) I had just navigated away from the page when a scene flashed through my head.
I'm not going to give away the story now (as I'm hoping to get it published and all) but it's definitely one of my darker pieces.
This story latched itself into my brain, and it's refusing to let go. Stubbornly holding on even though I tried to inform it that I'm in the middle of Camp Nano, and I want to finish the novel I've been working on. It's one of the most insistent stories I've ever come across (and, trust me, I've had some insistent stories.)
After a computer crash that cost me an entire day of writing (no, I didn't kill my computer, yes I wanted to) I decided that 50k words in 4 days, while actually plausible for me, isn't something I was interested in doing during June, so I finally gave in to this driving urge to write the short story.
I started it last night. While I'm only 500 words in (I can only go up to 5000, so I'm trying to be careful with my words) so far, I think it's fantastic.
I will, of course, be looking for beta readers when I'm done to make sure that it has the impact I'm wanting it to have. But, until then, I'm looking forward to writing the rest of it. Even if it's only so I can think about other stories again.
No matter how we connect with our characters or our story, though, there is one thing that each writer has in common: Occasionally a story or character will take over our brains.
I'm not talking about literally taking over our lives, of course (though now I'm thinking that would be an awesome idea and I may need to write that in my Shiny New Idea Book.) I mean that the character or story will become something that we can't stop thinking about.
We'll picture scenes, or just the character themselves. Hear the dialogue running through our heads. Find that ending that we just have to put down on paper (or in a word document, whatever.) And it will distract us from anything else we could (or should) be working on. It doesn't matter if we're in the middle of a novel, these projects overpower anything else until we're left wanting nothing more than to write that story.
Not too long ago I was introduced to a new webzine that a friend of mine helped to start up entitled Insomnia Press. I was reading through their website (including submissions. I may not write a whole lot of short stories, but I thought I might as well take a look) and I came across the theme to their third issue: Death, Lies and Secrets.
I'll admit, this may seem like a rather broad theme. When I first read it I thought 'that's it?' I was going to just navigate away, sure I could never write anything dark enough to fit in either that theme, or the publication itself.
Apparently I was wrong. (Okay, I hope I was. I'm not actually done writing yet, and for all I know it could turn out horrible. I'm going to optimistic this week.) I had just navigated away from the page when a scene flashed through my head.
I'm not going to give away the story now (as I'm hoping to get it published and all) but it's definitely one of my darker pieces.
This story latched itself into my brain, and it's refusing to let go. Stubbornly holding on even though I tried to inform it that I'm in the middle of Camp Nano, and I want to finish the novel I've been working on. It's one of the most insistent stories I've ever come across (and, trust me, I've had some insistent stories.)
After a computer crash that cost me an entire day of writing (no, I didn't kill my computer, yes I wanted to) I decided that 50k words in 4 days, while actually plausible for me, isn't something I was interested in doing during June, so I finally gave in to this driving urge to write the short story.
I started it last night. While I'm only 500 words in (I can only go up to 5000, so I'm trying to be careful with my words) so far, I think it's fantastic.
I will, of course, be looking for beta readers when I'm done to make sure that it has the impact I'm wanting it to have. But, until then, I'm looking forward to writing the rest of it. Even if it's only so I can think about other stories again.
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