Monthly Archives: January 2012

January Results

The first month of the year starts with the most potential, but also happens to be the craziest due to weather, work, and everyone getting sick. This January was better than last January in regards to sickness, but still crazy. And I rocked it.

• Short Stories Written – 1 (with another in progress)
• Short Stories Revised – 3 (with another in progress)
• Short Stories Submitted – 1 new + 17 resubmissions
• Crits: 5
• Read: 2 (it was a Tami Hoag month)

Did I mention I received 15 rejections this month? Whirlwind! In addition, I did some minor work on the novel to prep for the revision, and I started my VP letter for the workshop application. I couldn’t seem to switch tracks to get to the picture books though. I might drop my count to 6 instead of 12 for the year. It’s off topic of my focus, so I’m not really worried about it just yet.

February Goals

For February, I’m expecting some insanity. Hiring/interviewing at work, training another person, learning some new tasks myself, and preparing my family for a vacation. I think my goals might be a little more hopeful than practical, but better to aim high and miss it for legitimate reasons than laziness. 😉 I’ll be revising the novel using Holly Lisle’s How To Revise Your Novel class. I’d started it before, but the novel I used was so badly messed up (formatting issues, I couldn’t even read the thing) that it broke any motivation I’d had. This project is better for learning a new method. The catch however, is that I’d like to use the first 8k of this novel to apply for VP. Which means, I might just give the first 3 chapters a rewrite first then worry about the official revision.

• Shadow of Blood: revision
• Short Story Drafts: 1
• Short Story Revisions: 2 + submit both (these two are close, so it shouldn’t be too hard)
• Crits: 4
• Read: 1 – 2

I honestly don’t know how long this revision is going to take. The first half of the novel needs rewriting due to the writing being five years old. The second half was rushed a bit, so I’m sure I need to add in a lot of background details and link information I missed in the first half. I’m planning for a 6 month revision. It used to take me a year to revise a novel when I went chapter to chapter and took my time. I’m motivated. This novel is getting revised and critiqued, and then I’m cleaning it up to submit it. Submission may not be in 2012, but it’s coming. I even have a sequel in mind.

Good luck to you and your projects for February, writing or otherwise. Dawn

Hi All,

It’s been pretty quiet here. I’ve been busy writing and revising, working on some good stuff, I hope. I’ve had a lot of rejections this month, I think all the editors made New Year’s resolutions to return all January subs before the end of the month…

One of those rejections was pretty interesting. It was some serious feedback from the Triangulation anthology with a comment that if I rewrote it, they’d look at it again (no promises, of purchase, of course). Based on their feedback, I’m giving the story a serious workout.  The story is short, under 2k, but this is probably one of the toughest revisions I’ve worked on yet. Still, I’m hopeful. Even if the Triangulation editors choose not to buy it, I’ve moved the story along in a good direction.

I’m working on a new story, too, based in a world I’ve written another short story (a WOTF honorable mention), and am planning to write a novel in as well. It’s a troubled world with lots of potential for manipulation and seeds of dark magic. Strange creatures too, some magical, some not. I’m enjoying it.

I’ve been reading, too.  The blog that caught my eye tonight was Patty Jansen’s, which answered my question about when I should start self publishing. I’ve held back and am watching many of my peers put their work up for sale. My writing is stronger than it ever has been, but I’d like to see it a little stronger before I put myself that far out there.

I’ve also been skimming through sections of the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas and have been asaulted with ideas to revise my novel Shadow of Blood. I’ve got two anthologies going as well, one being Triangulation: Last Contact. Tonight I read David Barr Kirtley’s “Family Tree” from Way of the Wizard. Damn good story, and with an ending I couldn’t predict. I don’t know why I can’t read an anthology straight through. I have six anthologies on my nightstand right now. I suppose I like variety. And a little bit of chaos.

Time to get back to it. (The writing, not the chaos. Oh wait, that’s rather the same isn’t it?)

Happy Writing.

~ Dawn

I have a new article up in Issue #66 of  Vision: A Resource For Writers.

Do You Duotrope?  If you’re submitting your fiction and you aren’t aware of Duotrope or using it, it could be worth your time to read.

Happy Writing — and Submitting.

~ Dawn

FMWriters is traveling the web via the Merry Go Round Blog Tour. Site members have grouped together to write monthly on themed topics and turn the blog tour concept on its head: we’re not the ones touring: you are, as you read one writer’s perspective after another. This is my contribution to the Merry Go Round Tour. Enjoy your ride. ~ Dawn

I’ve heard that some writers envision their reader and target their story for that person. I haven’t been able to do that, which has been my struggle with the picture books. I’ve tried writing for my daughter, but if the idea doesn’t work, it isn’t going to work. Maybe I just don’t write that way. Honestly, I have enough ideas flowing past me, I can snatch them out of the air, until I start trying to be picky. So, I just hug my muse and start writing.

So who would enjoy my writing? That’s tough to say.

My blog and nonfiction writing are definitely aimed at writers, especially those beside me in the trenches.

My science fiction is less techie and more sociaological. I love creating a planet (or planets) and figuring out what causes conflicts, and what makes them worse.  I love challenging my character to grow, to find what’s inside them to overcome their obstacles.

My fantasy writing tends toward the same, though I revel in creating magic systems. Figuring out and putting together a network of magic that needs to run smoothly, that can make or break someone’s lives, that’s just too much fun.

But the characters in both genres are people that have someone to lose, or in some cases, nothing left to lose and it’s their very soul they’re trying to save from bitter meltdown. We’ve all been in dark places, haven’t we? (If you haven’t, I want to borrow your life for a little while, just til I get bored). My stories take those dark places and gives it meaning, assigns it value as a tool for growing and moving beyond.

My “ideal” reader in all honesty, is me. I write for me. I write to remind myself the dark is in the past, and that whatever darkness may come, I’ll face it down. I think that’s why I can’t write humor. I think that’s why the picture books are so challenging for me, despite the fun my daughter and I have creating stories together. It doesn’t mean I’m giving up on them. Maybe it means my focus just isn’t there right now. And by dark, I don’t necessarily mean horror, though I’d dabbled a bit with it. I mean dark literally as the opposite of light, happy, and airy.

As much as I enjoyed My Little Pony as a child, I’m probably not going to write anything that fluffy.  I’ll try though, as my daughter enjoys such things, but probably for her eyes only.

But for me, and for the rest of my readers, whomever you may be, here comes the dark. Here come battles of the heart and soul. You’ve been warned.

Happy Writing

Dawn

PS share with us in comments the kinds of books you enjoy reading. Is there anything that makes you squee in delight and buy the book without even reading the first page?

Today’s post was inspired by Forward Motion’s Merry-Go-Round January  topic ‘My Ideal Reader’. If you want to get to know nearly twenty other writers and read about their ideas, then check out the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour.   The next Merry Go Round writer is Bonnie. She’ll be posting her take on this same topic on the 5^th for your reading pleasure.