Ever Preptobering & Realistic goals
Dev Blog #3
NaNoWriMo is in full swing, and I am still Preptobering. The last two weeks of October were more demanding for my attention than I had thought, so writing got a backseat. So it happens.
But, I am very close to being done with my Preptober. I should be in my NaNoWriMo by the end of this week. My goal for this NaNoWriMo is more abstract then the traditional 50k words. I am aiming for about 20 to 25% through solidifying my Developmental Edits (think high level edits, such as character choices and the actual plot between the start and end of the work) of my novel “WildWood”. Ideally I want to get more done then that because I want to be done with this draft (3rd) by end-of-year. However, the holiday season is getting into full swing and who knows what fun things will happen. My NaNoWriMo goals for the past few years I have always adjusted the goals, because I want to do my best to keep realistic on what I can do in that place and time. That way I don’t run the danger of unrealistic goals butting against other life expectations and if I do have the time to surpass my goals, I can feel even better about everything. Rather then the alternative of feeling like I missed my mark, Success is self defined so why hurt yourself?
I have also been submitting my shorter works to lit mags (literature magazines) this past month to editors inboxes and submission tools. I want to keep things rolling that are ready to be out in the world.
Another low key goal for the end of the year is to get a good handle on my promising short stories, where they are in my process, and plot their paths forward to be in publisher inboxes.
“Cave&Woods” went through my writing group last month, and it got many accolades for what it currently is! Which makes me happy and really helps me feel like I am pushing my skills and breaking out of my current skill plateau. I believe this goes back to me putting focus on working on character voice, and “why” for my stories. As always, I got some great feedback on things that should be evaluated on the piece as well, and I am hoping next month to circle back when I need a break from my novel to go through this piece. If all goes well from this point, I hope to be able to quickly iterate through the fine points that are hammered out in the remaining drafts of my process. Ideally I’ll be looking to send to lit mags early next year, I’d love to say sooner but I got a day job and plenty of other things in life.
Also last month (granted it was the start of this month) my main newsletter went out. I kept it concise and focused, as I felt it was needed to best carry the point of it. I had wanted to talk on Dyslexia and my experience with it ever since starting the newsletter, because of its motivation, complexities and being a root in my interest in stories & writing. While I had put some thought on it not being either of the first two newsletter topics, I still struggled with getting it to paper. In the end, it was a late night fever dream writing with a tad more personal bleeding out than I was expecting, but in some ways I think that was for the best. I am hoping to get my main newsletter for Nov out soon! I already have a topic, I just need to make some time.
If you did not read my main newsletter, check it out here: