Welcome to that November Novel

Have y’all heard that November is National Novel Writing Month? It’s often shorted to NaNoWriMo. People take this month to write try and write a novel. There’s a nonprofit with a website that has tools and a community for writer’s to achieve their writing quest. You don’t have to join to participate. In fact some writers do it on their own. 

The end goal is that by November 30th, a 40,000 word novel has been written.

This now being December, you might be wondering why I’m blogging about an event that took place last month. Simply put, there’s a bit of an “after” that comes with NaNoWriMo.

For those of you knew to the concept: welcome! You are clearly curious about the title (or just like to keep up with my random thoughts) and want to know what this “November Novel” is.

For those of you familiar with the concept: welcome as well! You fall into three categories. The curious who have heard of NaNoWriMo, but have no further context. The ones who have attempted or thinking of attempting NaNoWriMo, but want more information. And finally, the ones who have participated in NaNoWriMo, finished your novels, and are wondering about what to do next.

If you are in this last category: Congratulations on Finishing that Novel!

It’s a big deal to write a novel - even if it never leaves the archives of your hard drive. It takes time and dedication to write everyday and 40,000 words (or more) is nothing to sneeze at.

However, writing the novel is only step (maybe) four in getting it published and into reader’s hands. (Step one being being struck by the idea, step two being the research phase, and step three being the act of writing itself).

Now, I’m not here to tell you what you’re next steps are (more knowledgeable writers than I can give you that information). I want to tell y’all what NOT to do after you finished that November Novel. This goes for recently completed NaNoWriMo participants and future ones.

So, here’s a list of things NOT TO DO over the month of December:

• Don’t assume that 40,000 words makes an industry ready to publish novel. Though a novel is defined as any body of writing over 40,000 words, that’s the bare minimum. Depending on genre, most publishers are going to want something between 70,000 and 90,000. Rarely will they take anything outside that range. 
• Don’t assume your first draft is ready for any kind of agent or publisher. I know, you’re excited and think your novel is the next Pride and Prejudice, but it’s not. It’s really not. It’s probably full of grammar and spelling mistakes, loose plot threads, and characters you forgot you renamed half way through the month. Find some beta readers or a writer’s group you trust to start workshopping it.
• Don’t start queering agents, publishers, or self publish it. Did you read my last “Don’t”? You’re novel may be “finished”, but it’s not really finished. Also publishers, agents, and self publishing sites are inundated with barely ready novels from other NaNoWriMo writer’s and they will ignore you.
• Don’t pay any money to publish your recently written novel. Vanity presses exist and they will publish your novel for a price. But they won’t advertise or distribute it…unless you pay an even higher price. Please research how the publishing industry works (including he self-publishing industry). Connect with other [preferably published] writers and listen to what their experiences have been. Find and follow literary agents who know and understand how to do things when it comes to publishing. Don’t pay money to get your book published!
• Don’t feel pressure to do anything right away. Yes, it’s exciting to write a novel. Yes, you have stars in your eyes to see it published and win awards. Yes, it feels like life is passing you buy and you want to live it in the now. Take a deep breath and a step back. Writing, editing, queering, publishing, and marketing a book all take time. It varies for everyone, but time nonetheless. You can’t write a novel in a month and then publish it right away. Very few people can.
• Don’t think you’re uniquely special. I mean you are for writing a novel - that takes a special dedication and creative mind. However, you are not an exception to the established rules. You are not special in the eyes of publishing. Especially if you are new to the whole process.

Once again, congratulations on completing a novel. It takes a lot of guts to do it. I mean there’s a reason I prefer writing and publishing short stories to a full on novel.

Now is the time to regroup and think about a strategy on how to turn that first draft into a polished manuscript. You’ve already done the hardest part. The rest may take a lot longer, but you’ve built a decent foundation to complete your authorship goals.

I believe in you!

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y’all like hearing from me.

Until next week.

Welcome to a Book of Many References

 No, I'm not talking about Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentleman (the graphic novels not the movie).

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned I was reading a book called Persephone's Station by Stina Leicht. I recently finished it with a 5 star (it was actually 4.5 stars, but I rounded up since you can't leave a 0.5 on GoodReads) rating. 

I wont this book from a GoodReads giveaway and was very excited to check out the slightly over 500 page novel that is described as a mash up of Casablanca meetings The Magnificent Seven - though I would say that that reviewer missed the more obvious Seven Samurai comparison. 

It also takes place in space.

The first thing I want to note about this novel is that it is very female and very queer. All of the main characters are either women or non-binary. There are several prominent lesbian or bisexual characters and the main character lives next to a gay couple. There is representation for everyone in this story.

And yes, the story is very racial diverse as well.

The main plot revolves around three point of view characters. 

The first is Rosie, a non-binary character who owns Monk's Bar and may or may not be the head of a mafia. There's a lot more to Rosie than first meets the eye. For starters, they've been helping to hide a highly advanced civilization on the colonized world they live on. They are basically the Rick character from Casablanca.

Next, is Angel. An ex-marine with a past. She can't return home, so she's found a place for herself working for Rosie. Her team is quickly framed for the assassination of a high ranking corporate vice president and need to take a dangerous job while laying low. Angel and her crew are the Magnificent Seven/Seven Samurai piece of this story. She even has a ship called Kurosawa (the director of Seven Samurai). 

Finally, we have Kennedy Liu. She's a highly advance Artificial Intelligence (AI) that's been programed to have empathy and has a human body. This isn't a spoiler, we learn this right off the bat. She also has AI sisters who don't have a body, but she can "talk to" when connected to their world's version of the Internet. I found her to be the least interesting of the three main characters and wasn't sure of her point to the plot until the very end.

There's also a point of view chapter with a person named Paulie - one of the native sentient people known as the Emissaries hiding on the planet the majority of the story takes place on. She's more of a secondary character and is the opening point of view chapter.

Though not a point of view character, but still important is our antagonist/villain, Vissia. Vissia is behind the assassination Angel's team is blamed for, the person trying to wipe out the Emissaries, and the person behind the murder of Kennedy Liu's creator (I'm going to also not count this as a spoiler because its a given early in the story). She also has a connection to Rosie - who is actively working to stop Vissia's hostile take over.

All in all - Vissia is bad news.

The story kick's off when Angel's team is hired by Rosie to assassinate the head of another crime family. The back and forth here is reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes and Star Wars with the former being directly called out in text (and an appearance by someone called Mrs. Hudson). Angel's team pull off the assassination, but uh oh, someone else was also killed during the deed. Rosie takes the opportunity to hire Angel and team to protect the Emissaries before Vissia shows up with a squad of mercenaries to destroy one of their cities (Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven references away). Meanwhile, Rosie takes the opportunity to end Vissia's plans.

Oh, and Kennedy Liu is looking for another sentient AI system and gets mixed up in the excitement. 

It's not that complicated of a plot with each event flowing into the next in a way that makes sense in-universe. I found it a thrilling read - though slow early on. The world building is fantastic and I really want to read more stories from it. There's a lot of background stuff (and a few characters) I haven't touched on that I want to have information on. 

What got me to knock off that half a point though was the ending. It felt a little rushed and though it made sense in-universe, seemed anti-climatic - almost an afterthought compared to the middle part of the story. There seemed to be more focus on the references rather than neatly tying the plot together in a way that feels satisfying.

This is very much a space opera fantasy. I do recommend it and hope to read more from the author. It's got great representation and world building. There's a lot of fun references and Easter eggs if you're looking for them, but they can be distracting in the early part of the book. And the final third of the book isn't nearly as good as it's setup. 

If you pick up a copy, let me know what you think.  

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to the Novel, Novella, and the Novelette

Last week, I wrote about the different types of short stories. And, just like how short stories have been divided into additional categories to include flash and micro fiction, longer works of fiction also have additional categories. When writing fiction, it is a good idea to know where your work falls within these categories to better find a place in the market when you try to sell them (unless you don't plan on trying to sell your stories - which is okay too).

Examples of the different forms of prose and poetry. Some are novels, novelettes, novellas, poetry collections, and even an old pamphlet (that'll be Common Sense).

The three main categories of longer prose are the novelette, the novella, and the traditional novel. Specific word count lengths for each of these categories can be debatable. Some publishers feel that a short story caps out at 7,500, some will allow stories to be as long as 10,000. Once your story enters the 10,000 word range, you've entered into the Novelette territory.

Novelettes have an approximate word count range of 7,500 to 18,000 words - sometimes going a little higher. They might have chapters or breaks in the text to indicate a pause in the narrative. These stories are more of an exception to the rule of publishing.

Novellas, however, are more prominent and a lot more well known to the general public. Novellas have a word count range of approximately 17,500 to 40,000 words. There are many famous novellas known in popular culture and even part of a school's curriculum (here's look at you 1984 and Of Mice and Men). 

Today, I started reading The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and am nearly half way through it already (amazing given how slow I read). I like the quick pacing and am glad that the author didn't drag out the story any longer than it needs to be. Some stories just aren't meant to be stretched to a longer length.

My personal favorite novella is A Christmas Carol. Every Christmas season, I sit down and reread the old ghost story - which I totally recommend doing. Despite the many adaptations of the story to screen and stage, there is something wonderful about reading Dickens's prose. He writes in the same way a story teller speaks. Additionally there are a number of things that most adaptations can't pull off (depicting the Ghost of Christmas Past for instance) or chose to ignore entirely (the Ghost of Christmas Present's rant about how classism).

Finally, there's the well known and loved novel. Many a writer's goal is to see their novel published - including myself. The novel starts around 40,000 words (though the preferred minimum for publishers is closer to 50,000) and doesn't really have a word cap, but good luck trying to sell someone on a novel over 500,000 words unless your last name George R. R. Martin.

An excellent novel for people who like fantasy and adventure books.

Chances are high that you've read multiple novels over your life (a lot for school). I have a stack of "comfort mysteries" - as my dad calls them (I believe the industry knows them as "cozies") - next to my bed at any given time. Novels can be stand alone stories or have long series that span over 50 stories.

Novels are definitely the most well known of the three longer forms of prose. It even has the entire month of November dedicated to their creation. If you've ever heard of NaNoWriMo, this is what is being referenced.

However, you shouldn't pick the form of your story based on what you think is publishable. You should write your story because that is how it begins, progresses, climates, and then ends. Sometimes short stories need to be novelette or novellas. Sometimes a story ends up as a novella instead of a novel. What's important is that it is your story and that it is written to the best of your ability. If you don't hit that novel length, it's okay. Your story might not work as a novel.

If you're curious about novellas or novelettes, I recommend reading a few. There are anthologies created specifically for hosting novellas and novelettes. The books that contain my copies of A Christmas Carol and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde are in books that have complied stories of similar length by the same authors. It's given me an opportunity to read stories I might not have otherwise considered.

Until next week!

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.