Hello
Everyone,
It is the
first Wednesday of the month, and IWSG Time.
IWSG is a
writer support group created and led by Alex Cavanaugh. It is a big help to
many of us who do not mind sharing our insecurities, our successes or giving
encouragement and help to others.
So, if you
are interested and would like to join, the link below will lead you directly to
us:
My report:
Submissions –
None – (I am busy revising and will start submitting again in December or
January 2018.
Outstanding
Submissions
Three poems
to the Lascaux Review – Still Outstanding
November, The Month of NaNo
Lying in my stack of books to write on my
Evernote program are five novels that I have yet to finish. Three of them stem
out of NaNo (National Novel Write More) an event I have been participating in
for the last seven years. This year, I have not signed up for the very reason
that it is time to take those manuscripts out of the stack and get them to the
finish line. After I finished the debut, I plan to dive into one of them again.
For me, participating in NaNo comes down to me asking myself why am I writing? Am I writing to publish or writing
just to be writing? Since almost everything I do is attached to my vision; I do
my best to develop clear goals that are going to keep me moving forward. We
tend to forget, or at least I do, that the journey is not infinite. It will end
one day. Keeping this in mind, I want to move these books out of the dormant status
and see them published, and that is not my being morbid.
There are people I need to touch with what
I write, and I cannot do that as long as my books are sitting in a stack on my
computer in my Evernote program or Scrivener.
Besides that, I find it a waste of my time to write just to be writing
with no goal in sight. Not that that is wrong. This is not a judgment call on
anyone but me.
For this year and maybe the next three
years, I am not consciously planning to participate in NaNo. I am making it
dependent on how fast the books I have already written take to get on the
bookshelves of online vendors, bookstores, and libraries.
Have a lovely month of November and to
those of you who are participating in NaNo, the best of luck to you.
Walk carefully through November and stay
safe.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G
The take this month to do some polishing! Someone is waiting to read what you wrote.
ReplyDeleteYou are so focused. I admire that. Aleikhem shalom
ReplyDeleteI'll be finishing up a project and polishing this month too. I like to have goals as well. It helps my focus. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteHave fun diving back into those manuscripts!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with NaNo. We can do this. Thanks for telling me about that broken link. Here is the fixed link if you need it still to vote for Lee's book.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.tckpublishing.com/readers-choice-voting
Yeah I am ready to get some stuff published too not just free on my blog to read. Again best of luck, HUGS
Juneta @ Writer's Gambit
I agree with Alex. I know your words have had and will continue to make an impact. In their time, those waiting stories will grace the laps of eager readers.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have the right idea to take NaNo time to do some polishing this year instead of writing. I know there are real gems among those manuscripts! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteAs Alex mentioned, someone is waiting to read what you wrote... ME!! I'm delighted that you are going to start polishing the stories you wrote so that they can be published. You have such a wonderful drive. I'm applauding you! You are a winner!
ReplyDelete"For me, participating in NaNo comes down to me asking myself why am I writing? Am I writing to publish or writing just to be writing?" Yes! (jumps up and down in her seat like an overeager second-grader) That's it exactly. I'm 55, and know that my years left on this plane of existence are not limitless. Time to publish or get off the pot. I'll be back in the query trenches with my mystery novel in January, and if I don't have success by the end of June, I'll self-pub that one. As you say, these novels aren't touching anyone if they exist only in my office. Best of luck with your publishing journey.
ReplyDeletePolishing is just as important as writing that first draft. Get those projects edited and in the best shape possible!
ReplyDeleteI'm taking the month to rewrite too :-) Good luck!
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work, Pat. I hope you are well and that you keep smiling throughout the winter months. Take care.
ReplyDeleteI like your questions. I often ask myself that and what I find interesting is that my answer varies. Sometimes I am writing just to write, and I rather like that I do. "This is for me," I say and let fly with whatever I want.
ReplyDeleteI think you are spot-on. Tackle those drafts, and make them into books. Though for me, I need to kind of alternate, draft one, edit one...
ReplyDelete—Rebecca
My IWSG Post
I totally understand, Pat. Do what works for you. It is frustrating to not finish anything but to continue writing ad nauseam.
ReplyDeleteGreat plan: to finish what you started. I need to do that too, as I also feel my mortality nipping at my heels.
ReplyDeleteYes, Pat, you have a gift to share with readers. Don't let that gift lie dormant in your unpublished pages. Great vision.
ReplyDeleteJQ Rose
Great idea. Get the work out. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnna from elements of emaginette
I have to be in the right head space and the write story space to do NaNo. I too have several MSs languishing on the computer needing that final polish. But they need some time to marinate so I'm diving into NaNo again :)
ReplyDeleteI like your idea. I'm not and have never done NaNo but I like to cheer people onward.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to do Nano, but I'm not going to lie; I may give up. :) Here's what I wrote in reply to your comment on my blog about Litsy: Yea! You joined! I looked for you, but didn't know what name to search under, so you'll have to let me know what your handle is so I can shout you out on the app. I'm not sure about the picture. I don't think it needs to be a specific size, but it may need to be relatively small. I'll leave a comment on your blog in case you don't read this.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you. I have enough unfinished works lying around, why should I start a new one? Good luck with polishing up that big debut!
ReplyDeleteHave fun polishing your manuscripts, Pat!
ReplyDeleteHappy November!
Consider all the writing you've done as practice. Definitely not a waste of time. Now that you have a focus, whip those manuscripts into shape and get them out there. We all want to read them. Best wishes and good luck!
ReplyDeleteI have a few dusty manuscripts I could try to clean up. I never thought to use NaNo to revise. Good thinking!
ReplyDeleteBest wishes for finishing your manuscripts!
ReplyDeleteI'm using NaNo this year to polish for a submission in December. You're right, can't let them stack there forever.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for stopping by my blog and offering your words of encouragement. I'm so sorry for not responding sooner, life got in the way.
ReplyDeleteI think it's good that you are taking time to work on stories you started in past years. I think there is a time and place to write just for the sake of writing, but it's more important to know when that time has passed. I wish you all the best and can't wait to read what you've written.
I hope you manage to get your stories to the finish line!
ReplyDelete(Sorry for the late visit.)
That works too. =) I'm just bowing out of everything right now, but hey, we have to do what works best for us, right? Here's hoping you make some epic progress in the publishing vein this month!
ReplyDeleteSorry so late--been very sick again--still. I agree with you about writing which is why I don't do the NaNo. I have book I need to reach others and change their lives. If Nano taught me how to write fast, I would worry about the quality and spend the same time rewriting and editing as I am on the book I'm doing now. Love You!!
ReplyDeleteI suppose writing just for the sake of writing can be perceived to have some merit. That's kind of how I look at blogging, although it is nice to have somebody reading and commenting on things I have to say. Writing for other productive outcomes would be nice too and if it involved payment then I think that could be exceptionally good.
ReplyDeleteLee
Tossing It Out
I completed my first NaNoWriMo challenge this year, something that no doubt God wanted me to do. I have the first half of a great novel, and I intend to finish. After the holidays I will once again choose a month, hopefully January to be diligent and write what He tells me to each day and complete the task. I needed the diligence badly. It has come not just as answered prayer to write a story, but it saved me from depression too. I know I must limit myself to one project at a time and follow the instructions He gave me. I hope you pick a month and work as hard finishing as you did beginning, I must. I love you, Patty! You can do this. He says you can!
ReplyDelete