Dragging My Feet

I need to stop dragging my feet. There is always another reason to not get out there. To just say I'll do it tomorrow. Forget that I've been super busy with things outside of my writing and they're good excuses - they're still excuses.

I missed on one of my goals. I just realized I did not send out a story in March. I sent out two in February, but that doesn't count. So I decided I must send out two this month to balance that out. I pretty much know what I'm sending where. I thought I'd have a response from one of them by now, but I'm sure they'll get back to me soon.

Goals are good to keep us on task to where we need to be, but I don't feel the need to beat myself up over little stumbles. This goal is getting me toward where I want to be - published. If I quit now I'll never get there.

So I review my progress every so often. I try to figure out what I'm doing well and where I can improve. It's far more productive than beating myself up. For the most part I write short stories, though I do have a few projects in the novella and novel range that I will continue to work on.

The only hard part is the whole process is not very permanent. A short story gets a few minutes in the limelight and then it is pushed to the side for something else. There are a few places where you may pay and view what you like. Ruthie's Club was one, but they went defunct a while back. Literotica is a free site that is similar, but there is very little in the way of quality control - if you write it and it is within their guidelines, it doesn't matter how well it's written, it's out there.

So there are also ideas in my head that to make those more permanent. Just because it is a short story doesn't mean it can't be out there. And I'll give more information on that later.

And After NaNoWriMo...

I mentioned I prepped 44 short story ideas during the month of October.

Well, I attempted 17 short stories. Attempted is an interested word to use here, because it didn't help that November 1st came by and then I got a prompt from a friend that I simply could not refuse. I would have written it down for later, but it kept circling in my head until I wrote it.

And I'm promising to share that lovely gamer story with a bunch of my friends as soon as I reread it and make sure the sex didn't get out of hand in that 4000 word story.

Five of the attempted stories were not stories I had prepped in October. One was a rewrite from a story I have had out trying to publish, and I finally figured out my angle for a rewrite request I got three years ago. (Yes, even I am rolling my eyes at that one. It should never take three years!) Two were little snippets while I had a weekend that was troublesome to even get computer access. And the other two popped out of my head practically fully formed and I couldn't say no. Three of these are not yet finished, but they're coming along.

The other twelve were stories I'd prepared. Some of them took left turns while I was writing them. They aren't all finished, but I've been continuing writing into this month because I want to finish them. Most of them are ready to re-read and edit.

So I suppose I ought to be starting to bug some readers, but it's also the holidays and I'm not sure how much time they have. I'd better ask if I want to get them publication-ready soon. Then there's the question: How many of them read my blog?

October Challenge!

I managed. One short story idea, some of them not completely prepped but at least they're in there, per day for the month of October. Most of them have characters and a plot with some meat on the bones. I guess you never know what you're capable of until you put it together, right?

For this month: 44 short stories. Unless I come up with another idea tonight, and sometimes they roll that way. Part of a dream is still haunting me from last night but I didn't have words to bring it to the surface. I did push myself for one every day, even when I was ahead from some days that spawned up to 5 ideas.

Life and love are beautiful, and I hope I can capture the complexities in my writings in the near future. And, of course, share them with you.

Self-Publishing

See Dehanna Bailee's POD Database here.

The possibilities are endless for self-publishing. I was idly wondering what it would take to make a series of my short stories into a book. My husband asked who would buy it, but I'm not as worried about who. If I publish it, there will be someone who wants it. Enough someones to justify the investment of some of those presses? Probably not.

Some have very minimal requirements for what's necessary. Others have extensive lists of items that must be met before they will handle the business. It isn't necessarily about the content of the book, though a few are picky about that, too.

I also think sometimes about self-publishing the book I'm working on, but I still haven't decided. There might be a good mainstream market for it, and I'd like to pursue that avenue first.

I probably shouldn't worry about it until I have enough short stories for a book. I'd just like to reprint the ones I've published in a volume, especially for those who don't have access to the sites where my work is visible. There are only four so far...

Reviewing the Year

I guess it's just something we all do at this time of year. Look at the previous year and look ahead to the next one. We make goals and decide how to change our lives for the better.

Looking back, I've published three short stories. I've racked up a few rejections as well, which is good for any writer and her ego. Two rewrite requests also figured into that, and we'll see where they lead me. One resubmitted, the other is still brewing to figure out what's needed.

I made progress on the novel; I made it mostly through a rewrite and nearly finished. That seems an odd way to put it, but after finishing NaNoWriMo in 2007, I left the book at its 50,000 words for six months without touching it. I put all the little snippets in order, then began to rewrite as I went along and smoothed the pieces to make a whole. I finished 16 chapters, with another 3 at the end and a gap in between where I know what I need to say, just haven't done it yet.

I even found somewhere to publish it, but I need to finish it first. A possibility, anyway, which is better than I had before. Perhaps it was a productive year.