A mid-November update on NaNoWriMo and new short stories

I’m smack dab in the middle of yet another NaNoWriMo, right along with all those thousands of others brave enough (or foolish enough) to dive headfirst into this annual frenetic activity. For NaNo this year, I chose to do something a little different in November. Instead of writing something completely new, I decided I would take a “completed” draft from a previous NaNoWriMo (2011, to be exact) and spend the month working on revision. I figured if I could get a minimum of 50K words or 30 chapters edited over the course of the month, I’d consider that a win. So far, progress has been great, and my novel is moving another step closer to becoming a finished product. While it’s far from perfect at this point, it’s improving with each revised chapter.

On the short story front … first, thanks to all of you who took the time to read my last story and leave a comment. I appreciate your support, encouragement, and feedback. Second, I’ve got two different short stories I’m working on right now, though the pressures of November writing might make it hard to finish them as soon on time. One hasn’t even been started, but it needs to be finished and polished up by the end of the month. Ooops. Timing for the other is a bit more open-ended, which is nice. I have a partially written story from years ago already in place, so I hope to expand and complete it in time for that submission. Both should be fun projects.

Hope everyone’s having a wonderful November, filled with plans for the upcoming holidays. My favorite time of year …

–dp

My short story is now available to read

I was happy to be included in this year’s Halloween edition of the Siren’s Call eZine (click here to download the pdf), published by Siren’s Call Publications.

Siren’s Call eZine

If you’re in the mood for some post-Halloween chills, or just want to read my story — The Patch Beyond the Hill — download the eZine and check it out. For any who do, please let me know what you think of the story.

–dp

End of (unannounced) summer hiatus and short story news

Summer is over now, which is fine by me. Though our pool made those 100+ degree days bearable, and sometimes even fun, I’m ready for cool weather and the holidays. It’s also time to jump back into blogging and catching up with everyone else’s blogs.

First up, some good news. I recently submitted a short story to a very cool eZine for their upcoming Halloween themed issue. I was thrilled when they accepted it and am looking forward to when it comes out later this month. When it does, I’ll let everyone know where they can find it should they be interested in reading the story.

Happy Halloween 🙂

–dp

On writing: caring for your writer

Almost a year ago, in this post, I passed along a discussion on how family and friends can support the writers in their lives. Recently, I came upon a new post entitled, “The Care and Feeding of Writers”. I think it complements the old list nicely. You can find it here. Though the entire post is a worthwhile read, if you want to read just the ten steps, skip down about half way through.

For us fledgling writers, I found this quote apropos:

Lastly, for beginning writers and their support staffs, I want you to know that publishing will not solve your life. Whether it’s a book or a story in a magazine, you are still going to have all your issues and problems — and you probably won’t be rich.

–dp

On writing: too much of a good thing?

I find myself here at the beginning of the new year in an interesting place. You see, currently, along with two novels in progress (one complete and in first revision, one three-fourths through first draft), I also have at least four short stories in various stages of the editing process, not to mention the occasional pieces of flash fiction. At first, I thought it would be great to have so many things going on at once. You know, work on whichever project inspires me on any particular day. But now I’m wondering if maybe it isn’t such a good thing after all, that perhaps instead of spreading myself all over the place that maybe I should force myself to stick to one project at a time. Of course my mood changes daily, so while today I feel like I’m unfocused (which is what inspired this post), tomorrow I’ll likely want to work on short story number two, and the day after that it might be novel number two, and … well, you get the point.

Have any of you ever found yourselves with so many writing projects going on simultaneously that at some point(s) you found yourself paralyzed, unable to determine what to work on next? Or in a position where you feel like you’re writing but never getting anything done? Anyone feel like it’s best to pick one thing and stick with it? Or think it’s better to go where your creativity leads you?

–dp

Throwback Thursday: unseen posts from the past

Ok … I’ve finally given in. For a while now, I’ve been seeing “throwback Thursday” blog posts fly by here, as well as on Facebook. So, I figured I might as well jump on the bandwagon. In my case, though, I don’t plan on posting old pictures of myself (because, let’s admit it, who really cares about those), but rather, throw out some old blog posts. Most of you out there following me now are relatively new, say within the last year. Since I’ve been blogging off and on for pretty much for 5 years now, I thought it would be fun to share some of the (hopefully) better posts from years gone by.

First up is something I wrote back in August of 2011. It’s all about rediscovering a dream. Hope you enjoy.

Throwback Thursday post.

–dp

On writing: I finally know what I am

So, that other day I was reading Lucinda Whitney’s blog post discussing my favorite writing software, Scrivener. It’s a great post, and you should go read it. But that’s not why I’m referring to it here.

There have been many discussions on writing styles and their relative merits. Those typically talked about are the “pantser” and the “plotter”, both fairly descriptive of the approach taken by an individual favoring one way or the other. As I was reading Lucinda’s post, though, I ran across a term she used to refer to her writing style, and I must admit that I like it. Check out the following excerpt:

But what I love the most about the binder is the ability to move around the chapters and scenes. As a discovery writer, I sometimes write scenes/chapters out of sequential order. If the inspiration strikes, I write it and I worry later where it goes in the story.

Did you see it? Discovery writer. What a wonderful term. To me, it seems so much more elegant than “pantser”, and seems to convey the real process of writing we non-plotters pursue.

It’s nice to finally know what I really am 🙂

And since this is my last post of the year, I’d like to also wish all my blog friends a wonderful and happy new year. I’m looking forward to keeping up with everyone’s journeys over the following months. Be safe, and see you next year!

–dp

On blogging: to post our writing or not redux

Ok, the first of two short posts today.

For anyone interested, my son sent me this link to an article about what is considered previously published writing. It’s a nice follow-up to one of my earlier posts about this subject, which you can find here. It’s a worthwhile read even though it basically confirms the conclusion reached in the comments/discussion of my older post.

–dp

Why do you write?

Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It’s about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy.
– Stephen King

Can’t say it a whole lot better than that … Someday, when I publish my first book, I will be absolutely thrilled if even only one person reads it and likes it. If no one reads it, well, I’ll still be happy, just because I finished it. Still, wouldn’t mind getting that one like 🙂

Why do you write?

–dp

On blogging: to post our writing or not

To post or not to post, that is the question.

You see, I’m confused. I seem to have gathered conflicting advice on what to do with what I’ve written. Some say never post anything, some say post what you want. So what is it? Is it ok to post just flash fiction? Or short stories? Maybe excerpts from our novels? Or chapters? The whole book? Or maybe this kind of stuff belongs somewhere else, like Scribophile?

Part of me wants to post my writing so I can get some feedback, and to see if anyone actually likes what I write. But the other part of me is worried that by posting anything, I will lose the opportunity to submit to publications who restrict themselves to unpublished work, where unpublished means it can’t even have appeared in my own blog.

Anyone have thoughts one way or the other on this subject? Any experience with posting your own writing, either positive or negative? Using online writing groups, like Scribophile?

–dp