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 Changing Times and Literature

7/21/2021 - update. The most I think about this blogpost the more I am dissatisfied by it. I wrote this as more of me "thinking out loud" than trying to make an argument.  I'm not sure that the idea of updating books in the public domain to match modern language necessarily good or bad. I know I've struggled with books that were written 100 years ago because the language is very different from today. If they don't have updated language, then a guide and/or glossary should probably be included (it's the only way that I got through The Prince). If an author is still alive, a book should NOT be modified without their permission, but if they want to update their own books that's up to them (George Lucas has had varying success with the Star Wars movies).

I’ve started reading two books that were written in a very different time than the one that we are currently living in. One is an advice book on how to be an adult that was written in 2013. The other is about a dog parodying Proust’s writing style written in the 1990s (at least I think it was written in the 1990s because the language sometimes feels much older - like 1940s or 50s).

And I can’t help but noticing how dated their language is in places.

The 2010s was a rollercoaster ride for social movements and major events. And reading these books shows how much the United States (at least has changed). It’s not that these are bad books. It’s just that some of their humor and word choices have not aged well. The advice in the book from 2013, for example, is still fairly relevant to people moving away from home for the first time - just not all of it. And I can’t help but cringe at some of the humor. The dog book uses descriptions that may be accurate (like using the female word for a dog that is offensive to human ladies), but stick out like bad haircut in that one selfie you can’t escape. 

I almost wish I could read these books with 2021 language. 

That’s not to say that all books written in the past need to have their language updates. I’ve read plenty of books (even from a hundred plus years ago) that had language that was clearly from the era it was written in. If their language was updated to 2021 standards, it would probably take me out of the story.

However, that doesn’t mean that some language, especially language which is found to be very offensive, shouldn’t be updated. A few years ago, I remember hearing about a controversy about updating Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn to include less offensive language. Though it’s true that Mark Twain wrote that book to mimic the way people spoke (at that time in Missouri), I could barely read it and stopped less than half way through.  Between the offensive language and off syntax, I lost interest in one of “the American Classics”.

There are some publishers who have gone a head and updated their books as times have changed. Most notably are the girl detective series Nancy Drew. 

This is the version of the book I am most familiar with.

I grew up reading the Nancy Drew books. In fact, they were what motivated me to improve my reading I the first place. However, the books I read in the late 90s and early 2000s had been revised significantly from their original publication in the 1930s. 

The first major revisions began in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Many of the plots were updated to be less violent, sexist, and even racist (dang! Nancy, not you too!). Modernization has continued, though nothing as dramatic from the first major revisions. Thankfully, modernization hasn't gone too far. Nancy’s original stories mostly take place in a timeless spot somewhere between the American 30s and 60s. I don’t think I would have enjoyed too much modernization in the original novels. 

I don’t know if this is the latest version of the cover or not but it embraces the 30s/40s

However, like Scooby Doo, the Nancy Drew books get a facelift ever decade or so. And I really can’t complain because these are mostly marketed as new stories. I remember the first I’ve I picked up a Nancy Drew book and she was solving a murder in Paris.  To my young mind, Nancy Drew didn’t solve murders - that was Poirot or Ms. Marples. She also didn’t have a cell phone or laptop.

The Nancy Drew games have done a fantastic job keeping up with modernization and even remastering and updating the older games. It doesn’t always work out perfectly, but I’ve been impressed with he effort the Nancy Drew game developers have done to keep the famous girl detective relevant to new audiences.

 Modernization can be hit and miss. Some books pull off timeless story telling. Some books and stories are clearly products of their time. However, if we want to keep certain classics in the public eye, we’ve gotta get rid of the offensive language or be very careful how we teach the material. Certain references and jokes may age poorly, some may become the signifier of a generation.

After all we still read and preform Shakespeare (though my 12th grade class had a lot of trouble with Hamlet before our teacher found a recorded copy for us to listen to).

What are y’all’s thoughts on modernizing literature. If it’s super popular should it be updated every decade or so to make sure language is understood and inoffensive? Should books be products of their time? Who has the final say?

And this just doesn’t apply to books. It can apply to video games (already mention), comics, movies, etc. I’m just using books in this post.

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 y’all like hearing from me.

Welcome to Feelings of Writing

In early fall 2020, one of my poems was selected for publication in a larger collection of poems about climate change. I was excited to have a poem published, honored that it was for a cause that I felt deeply passionate about, and eager to publish again. I am always eager to publish again - the amount of happiness I feel when I see an acceptance email is greater than the amount of water in all the oceans and seas. It was the first acceptance of the year.

By the end of 2020, I had three different works selected for publication - one more than I had for 2019. Today I get to humble brag that I met that number for 2021. I'm confident that I'll pass it and reach my publication goals for the year.

I'm still going to get 100s of rejections.

But I know that someone out in the crazy universe is reading my work and that is amazing...and a little intimidating.

Lots of people want to be writers. There's a certain mystique that comes from being a writer. They're occasionally featured as the protagonists in films and given a bit of a glamourous lifestyle. None of it is true. Writers barely make any money unless they're part of the big leagues. And most of our time is spent staring at blank computer screens/pieces of paper/notebook pages waiting for the "magic" to happen.

But those of us who battle through our writer's blocks, finish the first draft, polish it until it shines like fresh cut gem, and face a slew of rejection emails revel when we're told that our work pleased the editor so much that they want to publish it. Writing is hard. Publishing is hard. Self marketing is the worst.

The collection of poems I was accepted for publication in is available on the Poets' Choice website (it's the Global Warming Collection). The company is based in India and accepts poets from around the world. Global Warming includes poets from predominantly English speaking countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, and the UK. And also from countries like The Philippines, China, and India (there they are located).

I wish I could give this collection of poems a glowing endorsement. It's clear that a lot of love and passion when into the poems on the many contributing writers' behalf. Unfortunately, the editing isn't really there. I noticed that there was a typo in my poem that wasn't caught before publication and, since reading the whole book, it was clear that editing and formatting isn't the best. There are some times where I can't tell if the format or typo is supposed to be the way it is or if it's just another issue that wasn't corrected.

Those issues aside, the poems are pretty good. There's a huge variety going from really short to several pages long and everything from form poetry to free verse. I'm enjoying reading them, but the poetry isn't my favorite part of this collection.

See each poet was given the opportunity to say something about themselves on the page before their poem or poems. I'm loving taking the time to read about the different poets. Some wrote a couple of words about their other publications, passion for environmentalism or climate change, or their hope that the readers like the poem(s). Then there are the poets who tell their whole life stories and in great detail explain how writing changed their lives, why they are so passionate about climate change, and the careers they've had. Nothing longer than a single page, but sometimes longer than the actual poem. On the rare occasion it's a blank page with only the poet's name in bold.

I am loving that I have this option. It's like peeling back the curtain to see all the people who want to express themselves like I do - through poetry. I'll likely never meet any of the other poets, but I feel connected to them through their biographies and their poems. I'm reading their words and they're likely reading mine.

Over the past two weeks, I've had three acceptances for publication. One of which is a chapbook of gothic/horror poetry. I'm not sure when everything will be released, but I'll be letting people know one way or another. 

My life has been a bit chaotic which makes it difficult for me to be creative. I'm still writing when I can, but I easily get distracted by the stress that real life has thrown my way. Hopefully things settle down soon and I'm able to easily write my next horror story or gothic poem.

If you guys are interested in anything I've written, you can find the two anthologies and link to Poets' Choice below: 

• Hell's Mall: Sinister Shops, Cursed Objects and Maddening Crowds
• Hell's Highway: Terrifying Tales of Tormented Travels
• Poets' Choice: Climate Change Poetry Collection
• Tales of Reverie by Paragon Press

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 Creative Block

 I seem to need stability and a routine for me to be able to work on some of my creative projects. I’ve been really struggling with writing, painting, and my webcomic throughout the pandemic and it’s been a bit worse since my last layoff. 

I thought that with so much time on my hands, I’d be able to use it to finish my horror novel, maybe get a chapbook published, or work more on my art work. That hasn’t been the case. Anytime I sit down in front of my computer, I feel the need to work on job applications. Blank pieces of paper stay blank. I can’t remove the wrong words from a page to create some blackout poetry.

I have come to realize that I was able to do some of my best writing and art when I was working full time. Which sounds silly. I have a lot more free time now that I’m not working, why can’t I use it to do some creative work?

If I were to guess, it’s that I’m so stressed out right now that I just can’t create.

Well, that’s not entirely true. I can do some creative work. I’ve embraced doing cross stitch and crochet. I’ve brought a few patterns and pinned a bunch of ideas to my Pintrist board. 

I enjoy the repetitive stabbing of a needle trough a piece of fabric hundreds of times to create a picture. It’s therapeutic. Plus, I have a pattern to follow, so I’m not coming up with everything out of my own head.

Creativity is hard.

I tried taking a class on creativity. It became so overwhelming that I couldn’t finish it. Not that I didn’t enjoy it, just that I couldn’t find the right head space to work on the projects or the lessons. I’ve been taking a lot of online classes since the pandemic, it this was the first I really struggled with and I haven’t opted to take anymore since.

The creative process isn’t easy. It takes brain power, concentration, and the right head space. Since my world is off center at the moment, my struggle with creativity is at its highest. And I’m not alone. Lots of people have been having similar issues.

If you’re one of the creative types having a hard time right now, know you’re not alone.

There has been some good news for me since the year started. The anthology my short story “Model Mannequins” is in was just released. If you’d like to order a copy you can click the link here. I also just found out that another short story I wrote a few years ago called “Last Train to Waldwick” will be in Cosmic Horror Monthly.

So I’m struggling, but good things are still happening for me. I just gotta keep hoping the good things continue. It’s what I’ve got going for me.

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 short stories, flash fiction, and microfiction

So, you may have decided to try your hand at writing during this time. Awesome! More stories and voices are always welcome - especially from fresh and innovative writers. Are you looking to record your memoirs, start a blog, draft a play, or work on fictional prose? What kind of story do you want to tell? Who are you telling this story to?

There are a lot of options to chose from when you decide to take up writing as a hobby. I’m particularly found of working on different styles of poetry (there’s a lot more than limericks, haikus, and sonnets...many don’t even rhyme). Knowing what story you want to tell can help you narrow down what form to choose.

But before you sit down to write that 500,000 word epic novel, might I make a case for a slightly more manageable type?

This being the short story.

The short story is one of my favorites to read and write. As a kid I had many anthologies spanning multiple genres from horror, fantasy, and even biblical. These short stories were easy to read and often had really cool fully illustrated pages.

As time passed, I moved from the short stories, thinking them only for kids, until I was much older and picking up my first copy of Edgar Allen Poe stories. One book of short stories lead into two, then ten, and now I’m kicking myself for only valuing the novel for so much of my life.

I find short stories to be a lot easier to write then novels. Novels require a lot of time to plotting, character development, editing, and revisions. Short stories require all of these things too, but at a much smaller scale - which I find more manageable.

My first publication was a very short story that’s in an anthology. The story I wrote wouldn’t have fit in a longer style. I also wrote the story on a dare.

The short story has the bare bone structure of a novel, but on a compact scale. To practice, I started writing and practicing the form using fanfiction. This is here I learned more about pacing, writing comedy, and found a lot for scaring people. It also allowed me to receive feedback from commenters.

Yeah, fanfiction might have a bad rep, but this practice was invaluable when I was a new writer. However, fanfiction is copy right infringement (unless that work is in the public domain) that most authors don’t mind as long as you aren’t making money. It wasn’t long before I wanted to write my own original stories with my own characters, get published, and make money. In this case I started to go to writer’s groups to workshop these stories and get feedback from different people, some who had already published.

This is where I learned about the three main types of short story.

• The traditional short story - traditional short stories are anywhere from 1,000 or 1,500 to 7,500 words. Occasionally you’ll find a publisher who will take a short story around 10,000 words,  it htthese stories are usually considered novellas.
• Flash Fiction - most flash fiction is between 500 to 1,000 words. Some publishers consider anything under 1,500 words to be flash. They have a beginning, middle, and end - just like short stories. I love flash fiction, but it is a challenge to write.
• Microfiction - known by other categories or names such as drabble or dribble in fanfiction communities and two sentence stories on places like Reddit. Microfiction can hover around 100 words to as few as 50 or as high as 500 words. These stories still need all the trappings of a short story (beginning, middle, end, character development, and plot).

Guess what, you can get all three types of short stories published and get paid for writing them. However, if you’ve never written a flash or microfiction, you might want to get some peer or professional feedback first before submitting to publishers. 

Flash fiction and microfiction are incredibly difficult to write despite their short length. Each word matters and must be used strategically. It can be tough cutting out two or three sentences that you thought would rock the literary world all in the name of meeting a word count.

However, short stories are not for everyone. Some people have a need to write longer prose. That’s okay too. Hopefully, you’ll give consideration to short stories, flash fiction, and microfiction on your journey to write during these crazy times.

Until next week.

Welcome to Writing During the Time of Covid-19

There’s been a lot of talk on social media about people wanting to take up a creative endeavor (such as writing), and having trouble doing it. Though I can’t speak for all writers, I can speak for my own experience writing. And I know that when my life feels completely out of my control, I struggle with writing anything...even in my personal journal.

However, that struggle shouldn’t stop writers (new and old) from trying. All I ask is that writers don’t put a ton of pressure on themselves right now to write the next great novel or classic short story.

I blog to stay sane...

I was recently gifted a year’s subscription to MasterClass. There are a lot of different classes to take and learn from some incredible and accomplished people. The first class I finished was a gardening class (because naturally I would pick a class on plants) by the gangsta gardener Ron Finley. It was fun and entertaining and I was excited to check more classes.

To my delight, there were a ton of classes by famous authors on writing.

Now I’ve been writing for a while, though I’ve only recently had my first publication, and have learned a lot by attending writer’s groups and workshops. Some of the best ways to learn to write is to connect with other writers to better understand the craft (and writing really is a craft).

One of the first classes on writing I decided to try was on writing short stories by Joyce Carol Oates. So far, it’s been a good class and I’m also trying to work through the workbook that goes with the class.

In a past blog post, I wrote about keeping a journal has been helping me during these crazy times. That practice was brought up during Joyce Carol Oates’s class. If you’ve been needing an outlet or are interested in starting a writing project, find a blank notebook (or a half used notebook) and start putting pen to paper. If you can’t find a notebook, I’ve been known to use my notes sections on my phone and tablet to write (for me it’s usually poetry).

I have a lot of journals

However, some of you guys might be interested in starting a writing career while stuck at home with little todo. I think that’s a great idea. Whether it’s a novel, series of poems, or some short stories, writing stories is awesome and we need more writers.

Now, you might be wondering, what about publishing the stuff I write?

To which I would tell you: woah - hold your horses.

Getting published is an awesome goal, but don’t be under some misguided notion that that’s what is going to happen right away when you start writing. It took me years of hard work and learning about the craft of writing to even get my foot in the door. And my experience isn’t that unusual. Rejection will become your greatest frenemy.

If you want to write during the time of Covid-19, do it.

Write anything and everything and don’t worry about publishing. Write a journal, poetry, short stories, novels, or even that weird fan fiction idea that’s been buzzing in the back of your mind (it might not be as weird as you think). I don’t keep it a secret that I got my start writing in fan fiction.

And like I said, don’t put pressure on yourself to write something great. There’s a lot that goes into writing that goes beyond the craft (like emotions).

If you’re interested in learning more about the craft of writing, see about taking an online class, check out one of the many books on writing, or join a writing group (one that’s meeting online) whom are good at critiquing (it’s harder than it sounds). Don’t forget to read as much as you can.

Some of the books in my “to read” pile.

But just know that publishers are going to be flooded with isolation and quarantine stories until someone finds a vaccine for the virus, so maybe stay away from writing those stories.

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.

Until next week.

Welcome to the Sudden Changes I Probably Needed...

...but didn't really want.

A few years ago, for LGBTQ+ month, I took the time to watch the six hour HBO miniseries "Angels in America" adapted from the play with the same name by Tony Kushner. I knew very little about the play other than a recommendation in one of Lindsay Ellis's YouTube video essays and by watching Kyle Kallgren's YouTube analysis of it.

I immediately fell in love with the 2 part, 6 episode production. If I ever get the opportunity to see the original play on stage, I will take it in a heart beat.

One of my favorite quotes from the play comes at a point where one character, Harper, is being forced to reevaluate her life and figure out what she wants. She ends up having a conversation with an animated mannequin of a pioneer Mormon woman that goes as follows:

 “Harper: In your experience of the world. How do people change? 

Mormon Mother: Well it has something to do with God so it's not very nice.
God splits the skin with a jagged thumbnail from throat to belly and then plunges a huge filthy hand in, he grabs hold of your bloody tubes and they slip to evade his grasp but he squeezes hard, he insists, he pulls and pulls till all your innards are yanked out and the pain! We can't even talk about that. And then he stuffs them back, dirty, tangled and torn. It's up to you to do the stitching.

Harper: And then up you get. And walk around.

Mormon Mother: Just mangled guts pretending.

Harper: That's how people change.”

I was laid off this past week.

It's a little easier to type those words out, now that it's been a few days. When I first got the news, I tried my best to not cry in front of my boss (though I think he knew I was going to), but I couldn't stop all of the tears. I spent the next few days alternating between feeling numb, crying my eyes out, and screaming away my pain.

I knew my current job wasn't going to be forever, I just thought I'd stay on a few more years. I really liked my coworkers and bosses. I liked the work. I wanted things to go a lot differently.

I was content with how my life was going, even if it wasn't perfect.

Tuesday came, and the universe decided I needed a good hard b!tch slap.

Thankfully I'm in a better position than I thought, even if it's been difficult for me to see that through all of my emotions. I have a very loving and supportive family, even if it sometimes feels like they are trying to smother me. And I have some of the most wonderful friends a person could ever ask for.

Everyone is giving me really good advice and assuring me that it's not the end of the world...even if I still somewhat feel it is. I need to process all of my emotions before I can take my next steps.

I have no idea what's going to happen over the next few weeks, let alone the next few months. Well, I do know that my sister needs help with her wedding, so I have that on my agenda.

And I do have some good news to come out of this week. I received my first publication contract. One of my short stories will be appearing in the anthology Hell's Highway. It was wonderful news to come after being laid off.

The Mormon Mother's words on change are graphic, painful, and spot on. My body felt like it was being ripped to pieces on Tuesday.

Today, though I'm still sad and scared about what the future will bring, I'm doing a lot better. I'm more hopeful and positive.

Change is a constant of life. I may be resistant and try to avoid it, but I may have needed it.

Thank you all for reading and if you haven't seen it, please go watch "Angels in America".

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.

I might take next week off from writing since I need to dedicate some time to my sister's wedding. So I'll simply say, until next time.