You Know The Drill: 2021 Writing Projects

Above all, GET SOMETHING PUBLISHED!

Write

Write

Write!

Get a story submitted to the Florida Writers Association's annual anthology!

Get that damn NaNo novel finished!

Clean up your bookshelves!

Wait that's not writing, that's deflection.

Still, it's seven years of dust on that thing, GET IT CLEAN!

Sigh.

Deciding on My 2019 NaNoWriMo project

I'm going to redo a science fiction novel idea I've had, and this time I'm going to plot out the chapters and the main characters so that way I have a structure around which to stay focused. Last few tries I just pants-ed the NaNo attempts and lost track of things. I shall have an outline done while I'm at the FWA this weekend.

To all Polk County FL NaNoWriMo writers for 2019

In case you have a Facebook account, we have a closed group for Lakeland Area NaNo, and if you're not already in it please send a request to join and I will check you in.

Link is here.

Good luck, everyone!

Plan For 2019 As a Writer

One of my priorities is submitting "A Face In the Light" to any publisher willing to accept it. Gwendolyn Kiste, bless her, gave me a suggested magazine to try at the beginning of January!

In terms of other projects, I'm keen on completing the NaNo novel this past year and getting it submitted through IngramSpark (ah, more on that later) which has a deal through NaNo worth checking out.

Otherwise, I need to keep writing. One idea, hopefully not too stressful, is to write a short story once a week. Since stories and not novels are my forte, play to my strengths. There's a ton of Talents 'verse stories I *should* get done (superhero ideas in my head since the 2000s).

One last thing is to see about reclaiming an old domain name I had (I dunno if I ever linked it through this blog before). It's already proving a hard project: even though it's been abandoned, it hasn't been picked up and any attempt to repurchase it is blocked. I need to check with the original domain provider about getting it back...

Writing Plans for 2016... Wait, I Already Wrote This!

Freaking re-runs!!!

ANYWAY.

Writing projects listed in order of priority:

1) Short story for the Writers Group anthology planned for 2016.

On an aside note, there are plans to get the first anthology Stories for All Seasons done as a print book. So keep an eye out for that.

2) The NaNo 2015 winner rough draft Subway Night. Getting that done for editing/submission to ebook print.

3) Attempt to edit articles from my political blog into a non-fiction book.

I'm trying not to jump ahead into too many other writing projects for now. There are some ideas for my Talents superhero 'verse but I really need to avoid spreading myself out too thin.

I should also note I'll be goofing around at the Florida Library Association convention this year as always, and may even make an attempt to visit the American Library Association in Orlando this summer.

Unfortunately, I may have to miss going to any comic-cons this year. My budget's not looking good at the moment.

Anyway, HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Writing Plans for 2016

Well, as always, I've got stuff on my plate.

The NaNoWriMo book deserves a serious effort this year at getting completed. I think Subway Night has the chance to sell more than ten copies. ;)

I have a short story project that needs completing for my Writers for All Seasons anthology. Speaking of which, the ebook Stories for All Seasons has sold reasonably well and the group leadership is making arrangements for a printed version to go to market in 2016 (sweet!).

I have about four - five, perhaps - story ideas still tied into my Talents superhero 'verse, and I may work on those over the year when I find the time.

I may also pull articles from my political blog and get them bundled into a print book, just to see how that goes. I may need to pursue some legal action first as I've discovered somebody had been mirroring/stealing my blog (!)...

So, that said, HAPPY NEW YEAR, people!

Post-NaNoWriMo 2015: What Comes After

Winning a NaNoWriMo challenge is one thing.

Following up with a NaNo project towards completion - adding more to the unfinished story, editing it to something coherent - is the bigger challenge.

There's also other writing projects I've set aside that need attention now - that novella for the superhero 'verse I've created needs a final edit and then publication to Smashwords and Kindle Direct, there's an anthology with my local writers' group that needs a brand new storyline because the one I started is terrible, etc. - that I need to complete before the end of this year, just to clear my slate a litte.

So it's still a ton of writing for me.

I'm feeling great about it all.

Good luck to your writing efforts!

Just Got A Title Idea For a Story

It's set in my superheroes universe.  I just now have to write a story that'll fit the title... ;-)

Lemme get some of it typed before I tell all seven of you what it is.

Sticking To Deadlines

As far as the writing plans for the Labor Day Weekend panned out...  not so well.  In short, I'm scrapping what I did write (which wasn't much).  And focusing on getting a few other projects prepped for later.

Writers Block.  I hate it.  I have it.

There was a time when I spent a lot of it (time, that is) writing.  Mostly fanfiction, back in the Nineties during my love affair with the television show The X-Files.  Gossamer has an archive of most of what I wrote in terms of fanfic.  For normal writing, regular fiction writing, I was focused on short stories mostly for writing contests.  Eventually I coalesced the more coherent shorts into a smallish anthology Last of the Grapefruit Wars, which I published in 2003 through a Print-on-Demand service Xlibris.

And since then?

Most of my ambitious projects - actual novel writings, additional short story attempts for contests - don't go very far or very well.  I've tried the 3-Day Novel contests for years to no avail...  I've joined the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and while the last two years I've "won" the months by hitting the 50,000 word counts I've yet to complete either novel into an acceptable conclusion.  This year was practically a miracle seeing me get some stories - Welcome to Florida and The Hero Cleanup Protocol - self-published...

I could explain it away if I was distracted by work or by family.  But I've been unemployed full-time the last two years (going on three), and my family is mostly off doing their things while I'm struggling with mine (and family have never really been major motivators in my writing projects, to be honest).

The unemployment issue is what worries me most: when I was working, I was stimulated with library work - research, above all - and that stimulation helped with getting some works off the word processor.  Now, stressing out over each submitted resume and cover letter seems to dull my interest in getting writing work done.  Even suggestions that I go into freelancing work (for websites like Guru or Examiner.com for example) somehow don't appeal to me even though there's a huge part of me that does.  It's even part of the reason why I don't blog as much as I should: if I kept more active, I'd think I'd get more traffic here.

As for future projects... there's obviously NaNo in November.  I've been given a heads-up about a 24-Hour Comics contest, hosted this year on Saturday October 1.  I am/will be tempted to join in that.

Wish me luck.

On Lib Guides

One project we're working on at my library system is branching out to different online resources various research tips, online references, and handouts that people can use to improve their skills and their access to library materials.

I've been working on something called LibGuides, which allows you to create a page with side menus and a main box of instructions/explanations. Like what we used to call Pathfinders as printed handouts, a LibGuide allows you to create a simple one-page tool that

• Can list bits of information, such as book titles, names, items of interest;
• Can allow you to link to that information;
• Can allow you to type up instructions on how to use the library, or the computer, or the Internet, or any other thing that you might do in a library;
• Can allow library patrons to access the information even from their homes, so you can assist in remote access stuff so patrons can do their research whenever and wherever.

My first project is creating an instruction page on how to sign up for free e-mail services. Typing up the instructions was easy. The tricky part now is putting in the damn illustrations... I'll let you know how it goes. ;)