Well, I have managed to win NaNoWriMo again for another year and as has been the case in each of the past three NaNo’s I learned something new about writing and about myself.

I set myself a pretty ambitious goal this year. I wanted to get my 50,000 words completed by November 20th. That didn’t quite happen. The actual date of completion was November 22nd instead. Not quite what I planned but this NaNo had something others did not: days when I didn’t actually write.

Yes, its true. I had a few things come up where I was on the road without time to write. I think the total non-writing days this year was three so, in theory, I actually finished ahead of schedule. Either way, I’m very pleased with the outcome of this year’s NaNoWriMo.

So, what did I learn? Well, first and foremost, I learned how important the NaNo community is. I spent a lot of evenings on our regional NaNoChat. I also corresponded with a number of people and I made some new friends. The only thing I didn’t do as much of as I wanted was get out and physically meet some of my fellow NaNoWriters.

I also learned how therapeutic it is to write something new when I’ve been rejected on something old. I had moments where I just wasn’t sure if I was good enough. I got past those moments by reminding myself that the only way to get better was to keep writing. And I did (keep writing, that is).

I learned that I can do more than one project during NaNoWriMo and even more important, I learned I could juggle multiple priorities. During the first week or so of NaNo I was editing a novel for submission, writing for NaNo, spending two nights a week with the Boy Scouts and spending time with my family. Oh yeah, and I worked in there somewhere too. Yes, I can multitask alright.

I was also reminded, yet again, just how much work writing can be. That doesn’t come as any surprise, but it is good to have that lesson placed in front of me from time-to-time. It also showed me how doable writing all the time really is. I set myself a pretty ambitious goal of 2,500 words per day. If I knocked that back to even 1,000 per day I could be writing 3.5 books per year. That is actually doable (although I do need to consider edits too).

So, all in all, a very good NaNoWriMo again this year. I’m planning on attending the year-end meet-up so I can meet many of the people I’ve been chatting with and renew a few of the friendships from previous years. And I can start planning for next year too.

What’s Next For Me

With the realization that I CAN multitask, I have decided to work on several things in the coming months. I will continue to put episodes of ‘Get Published’ out, I am entering one of my YA books in a contest and I’m going to enter a few short fiction contests too.

I also started real work on a project I’ve been talking about for some time. It is a Science Fiction/Comedy and I’ve almost got a rough draft of the first episode finished. I plan to record the first episode and put it out in the feed in December. Watch for it. I’m hoping that it will be a lot of fun.

Finally, the NaNoNovel. I’m going to let it sit for a month (or maybe two) and then I’m going to edit it into submit able shape. That will give me three books in the series and I will be shopping them around for an agent and/or a publisher. I’ll also be writing other episodes of the previously mentioned podcast.

Busy busy. I hope your NaNo has gone as well.

Tags: boy scouts, comedy, Get Published, irreverent muse, learning, Michell Plested, nanowrimo, podcast, science fiction

You know that part of the submission process where you send in your work and sit back, fingers and toes crossed, and wait and hope? If you’ve ever submitted your work, chances are pretty good you also know the part where your work comes back with a rejection. All the weeks and months of waiting and hoping come crashing down with the intensity of a kidney punch.

You have two ways of dealing with such a blow. You can curl up in the fetal position and swear to never do it again. Sometimes this means you give up on writing completely and sometimes you simply refuse to send your work out again. I call this the “I will never love again” reaction because, if you truly are a writer, you have a NEED to write. Chances are that need includes wanting to see your work get into print. Giving up is giving up a dream. You are, in essence, severing a key part of yourself to avoid feeling the hurt again.

Then there is the other way to react. You can shrug off the rejection, climb back up to your keyboard and start writing and submitting again. Remember, one publisher’s junk may be another’s treasure. If you were fortunate enough to get feedback on your work you might want to scrutinize said feedback closely to either fix what’s broken or avoid making the same mistakes again.

This year I have now had two rejections. Each was for a different book and in each case I had VERY high hopes that the books would be picked up. You know that saying the higher you go the further you fall? Yeah, it applies to how high your hopes are too. I’ll admit I did the fetal thing for a day or so in each case. I needed to pull my wits back around me and heal the wounds (that may sound dramatic, but it’s true none the less).

In both rejections I received something that many rejectees don’t get. I got personal feedback (in one case a face-to-face Skype call) to tell me why my book wasn’t accepted. In one case the press was focusing on a different age group than my book addressed. In the other, the book was too weak to publish without additional work. In both cases I know that the person delivering the bad news did it at personal cost to themselves.

That didn’t make the news any easier to take, but, and I want to make this point very clear, the person delivering the bad news did not do it without thought or cost. I think we, as writers, often forget that the publishers and editors out there are people too. They are people who do not take joy in saying no. Writing is a business and sometimes the hard decisions must be made.

Often the bad news comes in the form of a form letter with little to no feedback. I know that such a method is largely due to the volumes of submissions most publishers receive, but I’ve also got to think that if a face-to-face rejection was required for each and every submission, there would be fewer publishers out there. It would just get too hard. With that in mind, I want to thank the people who provided me with my last rejections. Thank you for taking the time to be personal and put yourself out there. I appreciate it.

I want to stress that, in both cases, I am able (and willing) to submit future work to the respective presses. I submitted to them in the first place because I respect them and the quality of the work they produce.

So, how do I plan to proceed from here?

Well, the book that didn’t fit the age group is going to be entered in a contest next month. I am writing the second book in the series for my NaNoProject and the third is already written. Books two and three both need extensive editing, which I will do in the new year.

The book that is still a bit weak is going into the drawer for a while. The last time I did a major edit on it, it had sat for eight months and I could finally see some of the warts when I picked it back up. I’m hoping that it won’t be permanently in the drawer (no doubt the characters will try to claw their way out at some point) but we will see.

I also started work on my next piece of adult fiction. It is something I’ve been wanting to write for quite a while and is a major departure from my fantasy novel. I know I’m going to have lots of fun writing it and I think you will enjoy reading it too. It is a Science Fiction/Humor story that could be the start of a new series.

I guess you could say that I’m dealing with my rejection by setting myself up for more. Masochistic, ain’t I?

It’s like I’ve said many (MANY) times in the past: persistence and perseverance are the hallmarks of a published writer. If you don’t get back up after your rejection, you’ll never succeed. And make no mistake, I’m going to succeed.

Have a good week and good luck.

NaNoWriMo Update

I won’t call it a personal update this week as I’ve given you the crux of what’s gone on in the past few days. I do want to give you a word count update for NaNoWriMo though. I am delighted to report that I have passed the 35,000-word mark. It does not put me on the path to hitting 50K in 20 days like I had originally planned but I have had three days where I couldn’t actually write so I’m actually on track. I won’t have any trouble hitting the 50K target in the 30-days.

Tags: irreverent muse, Michell Plested, perseverence, persistence, rejection, writing