Friday Musings 9/22/2017
I've had fellow writers read a story of mine titled The Cat. This story is one I have worked over time and time again in the hopes of making it work. I have painstakingly attempted to rewrite and change aspects of the stories, without killing the core of each--which I have been told both have an excellent premise. It will not be an easy thing to do, but I'm up for the challenge.
One thing I know I've done, between the day job taking a huge chunk of my day, and family life taking another chunk, then various projects I had done for other magazines and such, I have put on hold the most important thing and that would be to write. And read.
I have enjoyed the extra activities I've become involved in. In the end, however, they have kept me from my ultimate goal--to become a writer who is capable of living off of that work.
Don't get me wrong. The activities I've done have gotten me out there, and helped me make acquaintances. Some of those activities, like the radio show I am on with Jessie Dedman, will not end. Unless something extreme like I have to buckle down and finish an novel a publishing house is waiting on, though, it will only be temporary. And I really don't see that not allowing me to jump on for two hours a week to talk on the show.
Truth be told, all these things have helped build me up and work harder and create the beginning of a name. A presence. And I am very thankful for all of them.
Now the time has come to get down to the writing. In a prior post, I have said I am starting editing my novels. This will be a great undertaking. Each chapter is like editing a short story. Each novel has about 25 plus chapters, or so. That's like editing 25 stories. And I am trying to get this done quite quickly, as I want to start sending out queries to agents around Winter time.
I have thought about sending out the first three chapters and seeing what happens. Now if someone takes the bait and wants to see more, that's where getting down to business comes in. See, "snail mail" is rarely used any longer. Now it's email and cloud share drives. Ultimately, it will get a fire under my rear, but may also cause me rush and not put the proper quality into my creations.
I still will write short stories, to further my name out there, having goals for pro sale magazines. They will be diversions to my writing. This method can help you keep writing and not take do-nothing breaks between sessions, because you're just starting a different session of something you were taking a break on, as well.
All this complication would look like a jumbled puzzle board where the pieces are laid out in a big pile. There are a lot of pieces to put together. It's going to be daunting. But I'm up for the challenge.
WCM
One thing I know I've done, between the day job taking a huge chunk of my day, and family life taking another chunk, then various projects I had done for other magazines and such, I have put on hold the most important thing and that would be to write. And read.
I have enjoyed the extra activities I've become involved in. In the end, however, they have kept me from my ultimate goal--to become a writer who is capable of living off of that work.
Don't get me wrong. The activities I've done have gotten me out there, and helped me make acquaintances. Some of those activities, like the radio show I am on with Jessie Dedman, will not end. Unless something extreme like I have to buckle down and finish an novel a publishing house is waiting on, though, it will only be temporary. And I really don't see that not allowing me to jump on for two hours a week to talk on the show.
Truth be told, all these things have helped build me up and work harder and create the beginning of a name. A presence. And I am very thankful for all of them.
Now the time has come to get down to the writing. In a prior post, I have said I am starting editing my novels. This will be a great undertaking. Each chapter is like editing a short story. Each novel has about 25 plus chapters, or so. That's like editing 25 stories. And I am trying to get this done quite quickly, as I want to start sending out queries to agents around Winter time.
I have thought about sending out the first three chapters and seeing what happens. Now if someone takes the bait and wants to see more, that's where getting down to business comes in. See, "snail mail" is rarely used any longer. Now it's email and cloud share drives. Ultimately, it will get a fire under my rear, but may also cause me rush and not put the proper quality into my creations.
I still will write short stories, to further my name out there, having goals for pro sale magazines. They will be diversions to my writing. This method can help you keep writing and not take do-nothing breaks between sessions, because you're just starting a different session of something you were taking a break on, as well.
All this complication would look like a jumbled puzzle board where the pieces are laid out in a big pile. There are a lot of pieces to put together. It's going to be daunting. But I'm up for the challenge.
WCM
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