Always Another Challenge

The more we put challenges in front of ourselves with the expectation to do something with them, the more we will accomplish. Well, maybe it's better to just say that is how I manage. I set high standards for myself and I reach to achieve them. 

So the end of 2011 is going to see the end of something else - me not submitting new stories out to be published. It's been a long time since I sent anything out. I know, I had the acceptance in September. But before that, I had submitted nothing this year. 

Nothing. I will admit I looked around a little, but it's disheartening to think all of the stories that I have written and not done something with. Okay, some of them have gone to friends to enjoy - and luckily they're very kind with their responses. 

So last night I sent out another story. I struggled so much with a title and a bio. Those shouldn't be the difficult things. Okay, titles I'll give you as a bummer; they either come to me or I struggle horribly with them and get people to make suggestions. 

Total for 2011: 2 submissions and 1 acceptance. [Will let everyone know the status of the other one when I find out.] 

Next year, I have to believe I can manage to do better. I should be able to manage at least one submission a month. I have a few stories that are ready, or very close to being ready, to go out to publishers. I've been researching several markets and I know there are matches out there.

I've also been thinking about self-publishing a collection of short stories. That gets into difficult decisions, though, like whether to put them according to erotic interest (kink, vanilla, gay, straight, mind-boggling...) or to just mix them together. If anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them. 

Here's for something better in 2012. Wishing the best to all of you, as well. 

Of Writing Dreams

First, writing a dream is always difficult because dreams don't always make sense once you wake up. They're bits and pieces of thoughts and somehow they flow together great with the subconscious mind, but when the logic kicks in everything falls apart. Or at least enough to realize there isn't a true plot line.

Without a solid plot, images can still be taken to create new things. I keep having an image haunt me during dreams, and that follows the inspiration in my daily writing. The problem is, I don't like having so many stories focused around the same kind of thing, plus I can't seem to write that image out. I'm not sure why my obsession has latched on to one particular focus.

Sometimes the lack of variety makes me a little annoyed and that blocks the flow of creativity. So should I just go with it? I don't have to polish all the snippets I write to try to publish them. I find it odd that it keeps cropping up, though. It managed two or three times during the November writings and a few more times this month. A couple of them I just went with, because I can manage a couple of anything. But there doesn't seem to be an end in sight.

I probably need to go find another inspiration. Any takers for that challenge?

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.

Nearly November

That means my challenge is just about complete. So far I'm sticking ahead of the thing, though a few days were a little harder than others. I'm sitting at 36 stories prepped, though one of them seems like it should be split for two different ones because the pieces I scribbled about it are not related and probably shouldn't be. Number 37 is brewing in my head for today, too, because I got a tweet from a friend and it's not leaving my mind now.

Thanks for following along. Almost done with the month and my challenge. Then I'll get to WRITE!

20 Days in October Done, 11 To Go

For those of you who've stayed tuned: I have 31 story ideas in several stages of preparation. It averages to one and a half stories a day, but no day is average. I do one, or two, up to five if the ideas won't leave me alone.

And it's definitely the case at this point. Ideas are coming to me faster than I can really develop all of them at the moment. It's wonderful and terrifying. Luckily I can take notes on my phone to put in later, and I've been dragging a composition notebook around (of course it's pink with a pen to match) to record my ideas. I know I've got to look funny heading into the gym with a notebook under my arm, but sometimes there just aren't that many options. I want to write, I want to get it down, and so I haul it around with me.

Technically I could stop now, flesh out my ideas, and say my challenge has been met. But I'm going to continue until the end of the month. See what happens with the next eleven days. Of course, this day isn't over and another one might present itself to me. It's just been a lovely month that way.

Have you challenged yourself lately? What's likely to come out of that?

11 October

Did you forget Coming Out Day?

Still working out the details of today's story. But in the first 10 days, I have managed to do the preparation for 13 stories. Ahead. I'm such an overachiever.

It's probably one of those things you do when you realize your world is about to explode. Or maybe that's my head.

So what crazy fantasy or situation makes you think you need a story written about it? Just curious what people are thinking out there.