NaNoWriMo?

[temporus]

Anyone else diving in to National Novel Writing Month?

I'm diving back in, after taking last year off due to impending arrival of child.

This year, I'm trying to work in the Hero's Journey as an underlying structure. Going to see how that works out.

Ed

[aprilg]

I'm there with you! It gets me into the habit of daily writing. I love the Hero's Journey; it really does help with the structure when you are writing by the seat of your pants.

April G.

[temporus]

I like the Hero's Journey concept. What I need to be sure of while I use it, is to make sure it informs choices, not dictates them.

Ed

[Steven Barnes]

Amen! Perfectly said.

[delilah]

I'm doing NaNo for the first time, and it seems to have pulled me out of my novel rut. I'm at 10,000 words.

Delilah

[aprilg]

I'm about one third done, and it's getting to the point where it feels like I'm walking through mud. It might get to be where I need to jump ahead and write the last two chapters so that I can clarify where I'm heading.

Just a random thought here: After last year's Wrimo, I felt really good about my writing and had planned to produce at least two short stories a month. Well, life intervened and I wrote only three and a half short stories in the whole year! But it really strikes me how much effort goes into making a short story, creating the world and the characters and the plot. It's all so compact in a short story.

Forgive me for stating what is very obvious, but it just always blows me away.

[marylahree]

One third of the way there, April? That's great! I learned about the contest from this site and decided to join - late. I have a whole (estimated) 3,500 words so far, LOL. I don't mind that I'm behind. I'm having too much fun on the Forums. If you get the chance 'This got published' is a must read thread for those who want some good belly laughs. It's under the heading, about three down when you first enter Forums. regarding 50,000 words, (I forget exactly what the title is.). These are sentences from published novels that made it past an editor's scrutinizing eye. The one about a woman's "curled" nipples "convulsing" just tickled me to my knees - OMG! - seems it was meant to be a line to a love scene.

My story seems to be moving along, however slowly, but coming up with a title has me stumped. Nothing that I can call 'good' comes to mind and I'm not willing to settle for less than I want for the title.

[Steven Barnes]

Write down a hundred titles. Give yourself permission to use terrible, bad titles. Along the way you may trip across a good one!

[marylahree]

Thanks Steven. It probably is a good idea to write possible titles down, as opposed to just thinking about them and dismissing them. I once wrote a short (true) story for a writing aptitude test that I was completing, and couldn't come up with it's title until I had finished. After reading the finished story the perfect title came to me. That may end up being the case with this story.

I'm feeling a little discouraged though, having read on the internet that, most submitted manuscripts, perhaps even excellent stories, are tossed without ever being read. That, unless an author has an agent, or so I read. I suppose that I write mainly because it is an expressive outlet. But it wouldn't hurt my feelings any to become a successful author, and reading that it doesn't seem all that likely to happen for most, makes me wonder whether I should even try. I mean, does it really boil down to who you know?

[drea]

this is my last week on this continent for a while and i've set as a goal to join in the NaNo challenge next november. the comments about short stories have interested me and i'll try that on when i get home and no longer have to queue for a computer. dont know how you post thing and hope the lifewriting package is there waiting for me. is it best to start fresh? i'm interested to turn a few 1or 2000 word bits into short stories, and dont know which will provide the best learning.

[aprilg]

marylahree said:

I'm feeling a little discouraged though, having read on the internet that, most submitted manuscripts, perhaps even excellent stories, are tossed without ever being read. That, unless an author has an agent, or so I read. I suppose that I write mainly because it is an expressive outlet. But it wouldn't hurt my feelings any to become a successful author, and reading that it doesn't seem all that likely to happen for most, makes me wonder whether I should even try. I mean, does it really boil down to who you know?

I wouldn't let the idea of not getting read discourage me. There are magazines which pay professionally and perhaps their slush piles are so big that things don't get read; however, if you go to duotrope and plug in for magazines that pay token to no payment you improve your chances of getting read even though you have no agent.

Actually, deciding if I want to be published without being paid is a huge issue with me.

1) Story #1 was bought by Pulphouse back in the 90's. It was sat on for a year and then the publication folded. Never published and never paid.

Took 14 year hiatus from writing while working towards Ph.D., getting married, having kid.

2) Story #2 bought for $25 by a person who loved my fanfics. Got paid, got copies of the magazine. Her magazine folded after one issue.

3) Story #3 bought for $5, signed contract for it to be published on-line. Never got paid, story was up on line for a couple of weeks and then it disappeared from the net like it never existed. Legally I feel that story is in limbo. They broke contract, but it was published. Don't know how to send it out again.

4) Story #4 Published by an on-line magazine that doesn't pay.

I have nine more stories some of which have been rejected as many as six time (i.e., #1 which was bought but never paid for or published).

I hate searching for magazines to submit to. I hate having to decide if it's worth trying to get money for my work or it I just want a publishing credit.

Nanowrimo is a breeze in comparison.

[temporus]

Mary,

The single most important rule when it comes to submitting work, is to know your market's requirements. If you don't do your homework, and you submit a novel or story to a market that doesn't accept unsolicited work, then yes, it will be tossed unread.

If you don't follow the guidelines for a market, sending them work in the right genre, or send in work that doesn't fit with their needs, your story might get tossed unread.

But if you do your homework, and you follow the "rules" (and here I don't mean how to write, but how to properly submit your work to that SPECIFIC market) then your work will be read. The sad truth, is that much, if not most, of the work that is submitted can be discarded after only a few pages. An experienced editor or agent is going to know rather quickly if that story is going to meet their needs or expectations, and the majority do not.

Should we give in? Toss our hands up and say, it's too hard? I don't believe so. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. It is work. If you want to do it for fun, by all means, do not stop. But if you want to make a career, you have to treat it like a career. Work at it.

If you were playing piano, would you expect to get to Carnegie Hall after successfully playing a note perfect concerto?

Regards,

Ed

[marylahree]

Drea, here's wishing you a safe journey. I'm not sure I'm the best qualified, (nor even qualified at all), to respond to your questions regarding short stories. Sorry, I have to leave that to those who would know. Myself, an excerpt is about as close as I get to writing anything short.

April & Ed, thank you both. I guess I needed to be reminded that almost everything worthwhile in life comes only after hard work and some risk - if it comes. Writing is a self-serving act to me in that, I can pour my thoughts or imagination on page. For me, gratification wouldn't necessarily come from seeing my work read. I don't believe the prospect of fame would interest me. I often wonder if a part of their fame must feel awful to those who have it, given that they can so easily fall from public grace if they neglect to maintain "image". I would think that they would grow tired of so much acting. Further, I wonder if they come to feel like an object to fans and media. For those reasons, only the potential to earn income while doing something I enjoy interests me.

[aprilg]

I'm two-thirds of the way through now. I've written the penultimate chapter, so I know how it turns out.

I've got 20,000 words to go. In theory in the timescape of the novel I could jump straight to the ending. Instead, I need to find some subplots and red herrings to fill it out. Grrrr. I need to really come up with something pithy or the story will feel that way, like I just needed filler.

I hope everyone's nano is going well.

[Steven Barnes]

It is not "sad" that most stories are discarded after a few pages. Do you eat a whole meal if the first bites are poor? Do you think a reader is going to keep reading a magazine if they don't enjoy the first five minutes? That's what they do standing up in the store! If it doesn't catch an editor's attention, of COURSE they're going to toss it! So make your first page d**ned good!