Howdy, howdy! It’s (already) April once again. Can you believe it? A quarter of the year has passed us by. As many of you know, that means it’s National Poetry Month. I admit that I haven’t given poetry much of my time this past year, but I want to change that. At least for a month. I didn’t realize how much I missed it until my Facebook friends started posting daily poems. So, I thought I would devote this post to a few of the ways that I hope to celebrate this month.
1. Write a poem. I honestly can’t remember the last time I wrote one. But I recently had a nostalgia moment where I read through some of the ones I wrote as an undergrad, and that made me really miss the structure that poetry provides. I used to love writing villanelles and haikus and sestinas. Anything with strict constraints. I liked looser forms as well, but they weren’t as challenging. That little trip down memory lane even resulted in me submitting a poem to a contest. Send good vibes!
2. Read a book of poetry. Maybe I’ll read an anthology filled with different authors writing about the same subject. It’s always interesting to see how different people tackle the same basic topic. Then again, maybe I’ll read a collection by one author. I like to see how a collection connects from one poem to the next (or doesn’t connect at all). Hell, maybe I’ll read both kinds. It’s still early in the month after all.
3. Base a story off a poem. I’m almost done with my current novel attempt, so I’m hoping to work on more short stories and flash pieces, that way I have more things to submit. I know I use art a lot for inspiration, but I’ve also been known to use songs and poetry in the past as well. It might be an adaptation, or it could just be loosely connected, but hopefully it’ll be something good.
4. Take the time to listen to some poetry. I don’t know of any upcoming readings around here, but YouTube has plenty. And there are always podcasts. I’m sure if I asked my Facebook friends for recommendations, I’d come away with too many options to check out in a month. Feel free to shoot me some podcast or other ideas for places to listen to poetry here as well!
5. Look back at some of my old favorites. I used to have a few poems memorized, but I can’t get all the way through any of them anymore. From Ai to Donne to Poe, there are a lot of poems I should probably revisit.
That’s my plan for celebrating National Poetry Month. What about you? Are you going to read or reread some of your favorite poems? Maybe you’ll write some of your own poetry. What about my visual art friends? Have you thought about making your art based around a poem? Feel free to share your plans here or on my social media pages!
Howdy, howdy! I want to take a second to say thank you to DerekHoffman one more time for his guestpost last week! I’m in the process of lining up more guests in the future, so if you’re interested in something like that, feel free to e-mail me (shawna.n.borman@gmail.com) or get in touch via my social media pages.
And now, on to this week. Happy spring! I had zero ideas what to blog about this week, so Dad suggested I do a post of random thoughts I’ve been having lately. Therefore, if you don’t like this post, blame him. Anyway, here are five things that have been on my mind recently.
They’re so cute and fuzzy!!! Yes, cute and fuzzy makes me abuse the exclamation mark.
1. I’ve been wondering why it always seems harder to write words the closer I get to the end of a story. I still haven’t finished the shitty first draft of my current novel attempt (I know, I know… judge me all you want), even though I’m only a few thousand words away from typing THE END. Revision ideas keep popping into my head, but I make a note and then ignore them, like a good little writer. It’s like my brain doesn’t want me to finish. But I will prevail! I’ll reach THE END, then I’ll get stuck in the editing process and complain about that for a while. Am I the only one with this problem?
2. Recently, I finished reading a book and told myself I wasn’t going to start another one until I finished the one I put down without finishing for various reasons (none of which have to do with the book itself). The next day, I wore my Howl’s Moving Castle t-shirt and realized I hadn’t read the book yet, so I started reading that instead. I feel like a very fickle reader. Shame on me.
I should probably buy some new shirts.
3. Honestly, I’ve been thinking a lot about my Stonecoast friends. I was feeling really isolated, especially since it’s pretty much writing con season (ICFA, AWP, StokerCon, etc.). But then I realized my Stonecoast people are magical psychic unicorns, because within a few days of my thoughts, I received a Facebook message saying someone was thinking of me and a surprise package in the mail from someone else. Also, I know I’m not the best at keeping in touch with people, but I really do appreciate them.
4. I want to start drawing again. It’s something I’ve randomly thought about for a while now, but I’ve been too lazy to see if my tablet thingamajig even works any more. It’s super old. Maybe I’ll just buy a new one so I don’t have excuses. (P.S. This drawing desire will fade soon, so don’t expect anything new from it.)
It’s the only realistic picture I’ve drawn that I really liked, even though I totally screwed up the perspective of the flooring in the background. I mostly just like to color.
5. Multiplication tables. When I have trouble getting to sleep, I’ve started doing multiplication in my head. I start at one and go up to thirteen, then two to thirteen, and so on until I reach thirteen times thirteen or until I fall asleep. It’s actually been pretty helpful with the sleep bit, but I’m still slow at math.
There you have it. Five bits of random thoughts. Feel free to share some of your own thoughts here or on my social media pages!
Hello, hello! Welcome to my first quarterly (March/June/September/December) guest post. For the inaugural edition, please welcome my friend and fellow Stonecoast alum, Derek Hoffman!
How Transmedia Storytelling Can Kickstart Your Stagnant Writing Project
By Derek B. Hoffman
You have a story. Yes, that one. It’s the one you know you’re supposed to write, but you can’t seem to crack it (or regain inspiration to continue) and you cringe each time a friend asks how it’s going.
Yet it still calls to you. Whatever else you try to fill your time with, creative or otherwise, it’s the thing that won’t let go and won’t move forward. So what do you do?
Think sideways.
Think outside of the screen, the pen, the shuffled stack of drafts you’ve shoved in a half-crushed Amazon box. Think transmedia.
I know, what does that really mean? To put it simply, it is a way of telling a story across multiple media. But it’s more than that, it’s also using multiple types of media purposefully because “each medium makes its own unique contribution to the unfolding of the story” (from “Transmedia Storytelling 101” by Henry Jenkins). You can find the wiki here, a couple great resources here and here, and a slew of academic articles here and here. It’s a lot to take in, but what it boils down to is a call to think in 4D about the story you need to tell.
If you aren’t familiar with the book, you can scroll through Amazon’s “Look Inside” option to get an idea of what’s inside.
Transmedia storytelling uses technology and media to broaden the story and engage a greater audience. In House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, the main book is a series of nested narratives that tell a story about a story, about an event. As a family unpacks in their new house, they discover it contains a mysteriously expanding labyrinth that holds more than a few secrets of its own. The narratives mimic the labyrinth, with text twisting and winding through the pages. Footnotes are peppered throughout, giving it a more academic and researched feel, though only 25% of the references are legitimate.
To give the story credibility, Danielewski published a website before the book release. The Internet was still capitalized back then, and the website played to the interests of an audience seeking hidden truths, long before the doubts of Fake News and strategic disinformation. There were also rumors Danielewski helped the manuscript go viral by dropping it at tattoo parlors and bars as a loose collection of papers tied with a string. The musician Poe (Danielewski’s sister) released an album of songs alongside the novel. Suddenly, readers could actually hear the echoes down the five and a half minute hallway.
More simply and more recently, transmedia storytelling can be seen in the 2017 show Thirteen Reasons Why, about a set of cassette tapes left by a girl who committed suicide. Jay Asher published the book in 2007 with hints to lead readers to, you guessed it, a set of audio tapes he had posted on a website.
Well, maybe the reason your book isn’t writing itself is that it is more than just a book. Are there:
different entry points into your story?
multiple audiences you want to engage?
different perspectives, voices, or subplots that lend themselves to audio, video, blog, or website?
supplemental facts, graphics, maps, or historical details that could add dimension
Let go of the pencil and pick up the keyboard, microphone, brush, or camera to give your story new life.
What next?
Set yourself up for success
First, take a moment to set achievable goals. Unless you have an amazing amount of free time, and/or resources, be real with yourself and your story.
Spend a weekend breaking down your story to see what areas could benefit (or not) from a transmedia approach and our thinking sideways experiment.
Then think about your creative resources (e.g. your own talents, friends and family, and local schools and artists).
Take account of how much time and money you may be willing to put toward this endeavor (consider crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter as well).
Lastly, remember to think about any ethical impacts your project may have during execution. Don’t worry, I’ll talk more about this in a couple sections.
Get uncomfortable
It’s time to break your story. What’s left inside when you peel back everything else? What is it that made you want to write it in the first place? A character’s tale that had to be told? An image that haunts you? An intimate, whispered conversation? A political or religious allegory? Or are you determined to buck every trope in a given genre? Whatever it is, find it (or remember it).
Anatomy of a breakdown
Since everyone’s results from this will vary, I’ll throw down first.
A girl stands in the shallows off the rocky coast of Maine. Her long nightgown is soaked up to the frilled collar. She walks forward into the ocean, grim and at peace.
Seventy years later, a reporter on hiatus because of a major screwup at her job visits her friend in Maine. Out of her morning newspaper drops a microfiche news story about the girl’s disappearance.
That’s all I had, but it bugged me for a year and a half while I attended my graduate program (in Maine). Every time I watched waves crash against the rocks under a foggy sky, I saw the girl. Six months left in my MFA. It was time to get this going. I thought about:
What was in the news story for the girl on the microfiche?
What did the reporter’s online newspaper look like? What stories had she written before?
Did the girl have a diary? What was her story? Why did she likely kill herself?
Maybe the girl had letters from a secret love???
Did the reporter have a personal blog?
Alright, that’s a good start for different ways to approach or enhance the story. What else? Since I was in this program with other creatives, could I directly engage them? During the winter, we stayed at a cool, old inn. A ghost story, perhaps?
Maybe “accidental” audio or video of the girl from the reporter’s cellphone/camera.
Find out the history of the inn. Would it fit with the girl’s story?
An evidence bag from the old missing person’s case left at the front desk or someone’s room?
Whoa. Hold on, now we are moving into ARG territory. ARG? Alternate Reality Gaming. It can totally be done. Check out some cool stuff from Lance Weiler here, but there are some major ethical considerations in going down this path:
What if someone believes your story is real? What kind of emotional/psychological impact could it have? Could they miss work or school? Could they report findings to the police? I know this sounds extreme, but you need to consider all of this.
Is there a way for people to opt-in/opt-out?
If you are performing research while executing your story (e.g. by using analytics on websites) are you obtaining permission? Is there a notice on the site that clearly states what is being collected?
Again, the above isn’t to scare you out of incorporating some really cool ARG into your transmedia project, but you need to be conscious of its potential effects and the rights of those involved behind and in front of the story.
Speaking of those behind the story…
Creative Role Call
Now you have an idea of what can be done. How do you do it? Well, there are several options depending on your social and financial resources.
You can form a creative collaboration with one or more trusted creative friends. These should be people whose work you know is solid, even if they aren’t professionals. You don’t want to have to manage people’s egos or confidence. Depending on what the work is, if it will be profitable, what kind of friendship you have, and more will determine how you might be able to compensate your team. Personally, even though I have some friends working with me on a transmedia project, and some have offered their services for free, or at a great discount, I want to pay them what their work deserves. It’s not that I have the financial resources, but I don’t want my creative friends to get burned or short-changed just because they are my friends. How will I pay them? We’ll get to that in a moment.
You can go it alone. If you have the skills to perform/create in multiple media, good for you! Make sure you have the time, and that it is worth the “life cost.” And whatever you plan for time, double it.
You can find creative resources online and locally. Do you need photos? Check Unsplash. It’s a great resource for free, hi-res photos that can be used however you like. They don’t even require attribution (though I highly recommend it). There is Fiverr for freelance design, translation, video, and more. Check out Artstation for inspiration and some freelance conceptual, environmental, and 3D artists. If you want to build a website for your project, check out Squarespace, Hugo, and WordPress/Themeforest. Also, contact your local community colleges and universities to see if they have a way for you to post what you’re looking for to students who might want some more real world project experience (and please pay them).
If there are self-publishing components to your project, check out Lulu and Blurb.
Now that you are finalizing your project plan and team, how are you going to pay for it all?
Show me the money
Short of your own financial resources, or those of a publishing/media company, you need to crowdfund. And for this type of project, the only option really suitable to the task is Kickstarter. If you have to go this route, you need to look at their tips for creating a successful campaign, and you need to do some math to make sure that your project funding goal includes fees for using Kickstarter, shipping, production, taxes, etc. It’s not just about paying your creatives. And whether you use a crowdfunding site or not, you need to prep your mind for selling your project. Whether it is to people who have cash they are looking to invest in a cool enough story, or people you want to pick up your book, think of how to pitch it, how to package it, and how to sell it. This is the story that won’t let go. Now’s the time to push it out there. You got this.
Which brings us to the why…
So what?
Maybe you’ve read though this anxiously waiting for the secret to reveal itself on how to move forward with your project. Maybe you found it, but more than likely you are half-pumped, half-scared, half-apathetic, but fully convinced I can’t do math. No, this is about thinking sideways to move forward. It doesn’t matter if you create the most amazing project plan and gather the most talented team of artists, if you can’t finish the story, you’ve got nothing.
You are a writer. Transmedia, whatever you may think of its use to you and your project, is just a tool. One you can put in your rusty, blue, metal box with the squeaky hinges. Put it beside the Passive Voice Detector and whichever Manual of Style you despise the least. But put it in there.
Transmedia can refine how you pitch and define your story by forcing you to communicate with a creative team, and the world at large. It is a storytelling tool as much as it is a marketing tool. And this alternative thinking allows you to more easily evolve your narrative regardless of whether you continue down the transmedia path or simply use bits and pieces of the methodology from your toolkit.
Now, get back to writing.
—
Derek B. Hoffman is a writer, designer, technologist, husband to a scientific wonder woman, and dad to two awesome boys. He can be found online at https://derekbhoffman.com and is happy to respond to your transmedia-project-induced cries for help at https://veracitybydesign.com.
Howdy, howdy! Apparently, March arrived when I wasn’t looking. The problem with that is, it forces me to make a confession. I still haven’t finished the shitty first draft of my current novel attempt. There’s no real excuse for it. Sure, I could blame the killer headaches my allergies decided to unload on me. I could blame the general blahs I’ve been feeling for the past few months. But the truth is, I didn’t even push it with my writing on the days when I felt normal. I’d start writing and let myself get distracted by stupid things. I just haven’t been able to find the right rhythm for this particular novel. I’ve struggled with this one all along. So, I decided to do something I said I would never do.
I decided to write every single day (which is totally not as impressive as it sounds when done my way).
It’s one of those golden writing rules that writers say they live by in order to sound like they’re doing a ton of work every day, but in reality, most are lucky if they write a few days a week. Then, they throw a word count on top of it that makes it even more daunting. Like 1,000+ words a day is some easy task they can pull off in ten minutes. It’s not. In fact, writing 1,000+ words in a day can be exhausting. And it’s why I swore I would never be one of those people who even attempts it when I already know I’ll fail.
That being said, when my usual writing techniques failed me (repeatedly), I decided it was time to give this whole every day thing a go. BUT! I promised I wasn’t going to kill myself with 1,000+ words a day. Even 500+ words was too high for me to consider. So, I made my daily goal ridiculously low, with the caveat that four days a week I would shoot for my usual 1,000+ words. Otherwise, my goal is a measly 50+ words a day.
I’m going. I’m going. Chill.
It might seem stupid, but I can knock 50+ words out in ten minutes before I get ready for bed. And I’ve actually averaged about 100 words a day. I’m still struggling with my 1,000+ words days, but even those are getting a little easier. People will say that I’m building a habit and that’s why it’s getting easier, but for me, that’s not exactly true. I’m very much achievement oriented, so when I fail to meet my goals, I get stressed and upset. Setting super easy goals helps me build my self-esteem back up, which motivates me to tackle harder goals. And so far, it seems to be working.
Close enough.
I suppose it’s important to try new techniques when old ones stop working. Hopefully, I’ll finally finish that draft this month. What about you? Do you have any projects that might benefit from setting super low goals? What do you do when your standard techniques stop working? As always, feel free to share your thoughts and comments here or on my social media pages!
Howdy, howdy! I was cleaning out the notes on my phone yesterday, when I came across something from one of my workshops at Stonecoast. This particular group was led by the lovely TheodoraGoss. Just about every day, she would send us off with questions to think about and we’d discuss our answers the following day after we finished our critiques. One day, she asked us to list seven things we believe. There were no guidelines beyond this, so things went in a lot of different directions from what I remember. Anyway, I thought I would share my old list and make a new one.
It’s just a pretty picture.
The old (2014) version, in no particular order:
1. I believe music keeps me sane while inspiring me.
2. I believe growing up and acting your age are scams created by people who are jealous of the young at heart.
3. I believe in priorities: food, sleep, and eye candy.
4. I believe life is too short to be serious all the time.
5. I believe family is more than blood. It’s the people who love you and keep you around because of your flaws.
6. I believe coffee and booze were created to be mixed together.
7. I believe the angels punted my soul into the wrong body at birth. I should’ve been Japanese.
I just found this, so I thought I’d put it here and save it for later.
As you can see, I wasn’t very good at the whole introspection thing back then. Spoiler alert: I’m still not. I still completely believe in all of those things, especially the boozy coffee one. But I thought I would give it another go now that I’ve graduated and have no one to ask me these weird questions anymore.
Here’s the new (2018) version, also in no particular order:
1. I believe there is more than one way to be a professional writer. As long as you get words on the page and out into the world, it doesn’t matter if you write every day or not. Find your own rhythm.
2. I believe binge watching anime (or whatever makes you happy) is good for the soul and cleanses the mind. Not every day, but once every couple of months, just to give yourself a break from reality.
3. I believe puppy kisses have magical powers to perk people up.
4. I believe it’s important to surround yourself with people who have different viewpoints/backgrounds than you. Along with the understanding that we don’t always have to agree, but that we can have civil discussions if we put in a little effort.
5. I believe in a thing called love! Please tell me I’m not the only one who remembers that song.
6. I believe it’s perfectly reasonable to buy a book just because the cover is pretty.
7. I believe in myself. This is not something that even crossed my mind when I was originally asked to list things I believed. Despite all the rejection and failure, I’m finally at a place where I can say that I believe in me. I will succeed. Eventually. At something.
Yeah. That song by that guy.
There you go. Seven things I believed back then and seven more from now. What are seven things you believe? Feel free to leave your list here or on my social media pages!
Howdy, howdy! Happy Valentine’s day! Or Singles Awareness day, or VD day, or Chocolate Appreciation day, or Wednesday, or whatever. Since it’s a special, lovey-dovey day and I’m sitting over here all single, I thought I would take a moment to treat myself. I know I’ve said it before, but self-care really is important. And I’ve kind of been neglecting myself lately. Sure, I’ve been playing my mindless games, but Sunday was the first time I’ve watched anime in at least a month, probably closer to two. I can’t even remember the last time I read manga. Honestly, I’ve just been a bit blah towards everything lately. I need to change that.
Sounds like a good plan to me.
So, after I write my words, I think I’m going to take the day off from my usual routine. I won’t worry about reading the things I’m supposed to be reading. I might even put writing on the novel to the side and write a random flash fiction piece or something. Instead of worrying about my goals, I’ll write whatever I feel like writing. But I’m coming up to a good part on the novel, so it’ll probably be that (I’m boring, I know). Then, who knows where the day will take me.
I might rewatch some Ouran High School Host Club. That’s about as close to romantic as I get, and it’s mostly because I adore the twins. There’s also Yuri on Ice. I could probably rewatch all of those episodes if I don’t procrastinate on my writing. Maybe I’ll just find something completely new to binge watch. On the other hand, I still haven’t finished rewatching Cardcaptor Sakura, which means I haven’t had a chance to watch the new episodes either. I was super excited when I first heard about the new episodes, but I even got blah over that. Shame on me.
I totally squee-ed a little the first time I saw this, so I’m not too far down the blah road.
Then again, I might not watch any anime. I might decide to read some manga instead. I’m so far behind on it all that no matter what I choose to read, I’ll have to start over again. I could always just stick with some old favorites. It has been a few years since I reread Angel Sanctuary. That’s always super fun. There are a couple of other titles I’ve been thinking about recently too, so I might try them again. Who knows?
The point is, I’m actually starting to miss some of the things that used to entertain me. What better day to get back to some old loves than Valentine’s day? What are your plans for the day? I know it’s a Wednesday, so many of you are probably working, but do you have any tiny (or huge) plans to pamper yourself or your loved one(s)? Feel free to comment here or on my social media pages. Even if you don’t like the holiday, I hope you have a wonderful day full of all kinds of good things!
Hello, hello! Welcome to 2018. I hope everyone has a wonderful year. May the year be filled with everything you need and something you want! A few weeks ago, I talked about my goals for the new year (here). So, I thought I would go ahead and share my January goals this week. Even though it’s only been two days, I’ve been doing pretty well so far. Let’s hope the rest of the month is just as productive!
Definitely not the view here in Texas.
So, here are my January goals in no particular order.
1. Get DS1’s (the current novel attempt’s code name) shitty first draft to at least 60,000 words. It’s currently 44,000 and I’m aiming for a complete draft of 70-75,000ish words. For a month, 16,000 words is a pretty reasonable goal. Hopefully, I’ll get further, but it’s always a good idea to stick with tough but reasonable goals.
2. Submit stuff 10 times (2 every Monday). This refers only to short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. Not agent searching. Last year, I focused primarily on my novel and neglected my other work. I don’t want to do that this year. Sure, it means more rejections, but I can’t get any acceptances if I don’t submit, right? (More positive thinking is also something I’m working on this year.)
Sounds like a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, but I’ll try it.
3. Write 1 flash piece OR short story. I should probably include poems in this, but it’s been so long since I’ve written any poetry that I probably suck at it now. That’s not negative thinking, it’s just the truth. I’ll probably set aside some time for writing poetry when I start focusing on my revisions. For now, I’ll stick with short stories and flash fiction.
4. Read 2 books. I recently joined GoodReads to try to keep better track of what I’ve read throughout the year. I’m a slow reader, so my goal is to read 24 books in 2018. I’m currently halfway through a book I started a week ago, so I guess technically my January goal is only 1.5 books. Is that cheating?
5. Stop dwelling on rejections and sucking and just do the damn work. This is where the positive thinking really comes in. I’ve been down about all the agent rejections I received last year. After 100 rejections (or just flat out being ignored), it’s hard not to think it’s me and my suckiness. But! I just need to suck it up and move on. I’ve got other projects that might interest people. It’s time to focus on those!
6. Make time for people. I always say that I need to talk to more people and I always fail. But I will keep adding it to my goals until it actually happens! I used to be so good at keeping in touch with people back when Yahoo chatrooms were a thing. I don’t know what happened to that me.
This is not wrong.
7. Turn 32. Yup, I’m a January baby. In about 9 days, I’ll be turning 32. I’m old. But I’m okay with that.
That’s my plan for January. What about you? Do you have any goals for this month? What about goals for the new year? Feel free to share them here or on my social media pages!
Howdy, howdy! A couple of months ago, a friend asked me if I would be interested in creating some writing goals for the new year and sharing them with each other for accountability purposes. I agreed, because accountability is the best way to motivate me. So, since we’re (not so) slowly making our way through December, I thought I would go ahead and share them with everyone. As I’ve probably said before, I don’t care for the idea of making resolutions, because they’re usually vague things (eating healthier, exercising more, going out more, spending less, etc.) that people keep up with for a few days or even weeks then forget. Goals, on the other hand, tend to be more specific, thus easier to keep track of and definitively complete. So, here are my writerly goals for 2018.
Pretty much.
1. Finish the first draft of DS1 (code name for my novel-in-progress). I probably should’ve finished this by the end of December, but I hit a road block and decided to work on my fetish fairy tales for a little while. I’ll finish the fairy tale I’m working on this week, then get back into DS1. I should finish that by the end of January/middle of February.
2. Revise LR1 (code name for the shitty first draft of the last novel I wrote). I’m actually really interested in getting back to this one. No idea if it’s still as awesome as it felt while I was writing it (first drafts never are), but I’m looking forward to tearing it apart and making it better. Hopefully revisions won’t take me more than two months, but we’ll see. I’m not the best at revising things.
It’s not wrong. Though, I’m still using .doc instead of .docx.
3. Revise DS1. Despite getting a little stuck on this one, I still absolutely love the idea and the characters. I hope I feel the same way after I finish it. My biggest problem is that I know the ending, I just don’t know how to elegantly connect it to what I have thus far. I guess I’ll smash it all together and smooth things out during the revision process!
4. Query 100 agents for LR1 or DS1 depending on which is better. I’ve decided to put G&G away for a while and focus on the other two novels. Hopefully one of them will have more appeal for agents. I can always go back to G&G later, but after 100 rejections, Bailey definitely deserves a nice little break.
5. Write 10 short stories/flash pieces OR 1 new novel. I really want to use 2018 as the year of revision. But at the same time, I also want to keep producing new work. I’m leaning more towards the short stories/flash fiction option because I could take a couple of days off of revision each month to work on something fresh, but like I mentioned above, I don’t really know how long revision will take me. If it doesn’t take too long, I wouldn’t mind working on another novel.
6. Submit short stories/flash pieces (2+ subs a week). I admit that I’ve been neglecting my short story submissions this year. I want to change that in 2018. Maybe I’ll eventually snag someone’s attention!
Maybe. I doubt it. Reassurance, please!
And those are my writing goals for 2018. Do you have any goals for next year yet? Feel free to share them here or on my social media pages!
Hello, hello! Today hasn’t been a very pleasant day and I have no idea what to write about, so I decided to have some fun with this post. Earlier, I ran across one of those things where you use your initials to make a random phrase from their options (this one was “your nerd identity”). I really liked mine for once, so I decided to use it as a prompt for a quick flash piece specially written for my blog. It’s a first draft, so sorry if I ramble. As always, feedback and thoughts are welcome!
The initial thing in case you’re interested.
The Pale Freak of the Moon
The dust cascades ahead of me as I slide down the side of the crater, no doubt signaling my arrival like ripples on a pond. At least, that’s what I imagine when the Freak tells me about the motion of the water on Earth. Nothing like it exists up here, so it’s hard to follow her stories sometimes.
I slip through the shadows, avoiding prying eyes, as I make my way to her cave. No one else dares to follow me down here for fear of her, but they have no qualms about throwing rocks from above when they see me out in the open. According to the Freak, bullies are the same whether they’re here or on Earth. Difference makes you an easy target until you prove yourself otherwise. But no matter what I do, they still come after me.
“You’re late, child.” Her voice, strong and deep, rings out from the depths of her home before I even cross the threshold. “Did you bring it?”
I skitter into the belly of the cave without answering. A soft glow tells me she’s by the shrine in a corridor off to the left. She sits by the altar with her legs crossed and her arms stretched out to welcome me. Her features are that of an Earthling, but her skin is so pale it emits a gentle white light. Taking me in her arms, she performs the welcoming ritual of a hug. I struggle with the gesture every time, my tentacles tangling around themselves as I attempt to reciprocate.
“Well?” she asks.
Pulling a vial from my pouch, I hold it out to her. Inside, a single seed floats in a viscous purple fluid. Blood. Namely, the blood of my mother. The seed, a pulsing green orb, is her life force. She left it to me when she passed into the nether realm less than a week ago. Normally, I would be expected to plant it in the ground and raise the resulting child with my life partner in order to keep my mother’s bloodline flowing, but I have no partner. No one here wants to spend their life with someone whose eyes are as bright as the stars. Not in a place where darkness reigns supreme.
That’s why I have to do this.
Mother understood my decision to interrupt her eternal cycle, even condoned it. She knew how miserable I was here. Still, guilt pulls at my hearts when the Freak takes the vial from me.
“It’s beautiful,” she says. “Are you sure you want to do this? You can’t come back if you’re unhappy there.”
My tentacles raise in an involuntary shrug. “I know I’ll never be happy here, so what’s the point in staying?”
The Freak nods and turns to the altar. It’s covered in things from Earth: leaves, stones, flowers. I wonder, not for the first time, how she keeps these items alive, but don’t voice the question. She chants in a language I have never heard. It sounds older than time itself and lulls me into that place between waking and sleep.
When I’m finally pulled back into consciousness, I can’t tell how much time has passed. I wipe the sleep from my eyes, but instead of the usual tentacle, I have a hand. The flesh is a rich tawny beige that I always imagine when the Freak speaks of sandy beaches. My entire body now appears to be that of an Earthling. I rush to the reflective glass she has hanging on the wall in the main room as fast as I can on legs I’m unaccustomed to, falling countless times before I get the hang of it. My eyes are still the pale blue, almost white, I’ve always been scorned for, but they somehow seem natural in my new face.
“Amazing,” I say. “You’re a miracle worker.”
“It was all you.” She touches my shoulder and turns me toward her. “I only allowed your human form to come out. Everything else was already a part of you. I told you you were beautiful inside. We’re not done yet, though. Are you ready to make the journey?”
I swallow hard and nod. Words refuse to form on my tongue.
The Freak opens the vial I had given her. My mother’s scent fills the room and tears prickle at the corners of my eyes. Pouring the seed into her palm, the Freak makes a fist. She chants more unknown words until the fabric of space and time rips open. Past the ragged hole is a beach unfolding into the ocean. It’s just as I always imagined.
“It’s now or never,” the Freak says.
The seed in her now open palm is withering. The opening to Earth begins to shrink. Hesitating, I take a shaky breath. The scent of saltwater hits me for the first time and a calm comes over me. Yes, I can be happy as long as I have this view and this aroma to get lost in. I step through the portal and into a place where no one knows me, where I’m not yet hated. I start my life anew.
Hello, hello! I hope everyone had a delightfully scary Halloween! It was pretty dreary around here, so we just sat in the house and waited to see if any trick-or-treaters were going to show up (only my four munchkins showed up). Anyway, since it’s now the first (and apparently national author’s day), I thought I would post something writerly in celebration of the day. Actually, it’s not so much writerly as it is something to hold me accountable to my writerly things. I’m talking about goals. It worked really well for me in September, so I’m posting them publicly again.
Rocks are nice, Charlie Brown.
1. Write 18,000+ words. I know it’s not NaNoWriMo levels of writing (I like what little sanity I have left, so I don’t participate in that), but it’s something I can accomplish in a reasonable fashion without killing myself. Plus, it leaves me with time to do the rest of the things I have to do each day. But I wish everyone doing NaNoWriMo well. I’ll cheer you on from the sidelines!
2. Read two and a half books. I’m currently in the middle of The Curious Affair of the Somnambulist and the Psychic Thief by Lisa Tuttle for my own amusement. I’m supposed to read Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate for the book club I’m in. Then, I have an ARC (advanced reader copy) of The Curious Affair of the Witch at Wayside Cross, also by Tuttle, to review by the end of November. Not to mention reading all the little things I have to keep up with.
A little slow, but decent so far.
3. Revise and send a flash fiction piece out into the slush-void. I got some wonderful feedback from my critique group on the piece I sent to them back in September. They all insisted that I clean it up and send it out. Some of them might flog me if I don’t, so here… it’s officially on my to-do list.
4. Submit a story to my critique group. It’s just another flash piece that I forgot I wrote a long time ago. It suddenly popped back into my head a few days ago. So, after I find it and clean it up a little bit, I’ll send it their way.
5. Last, but not least, I want to write one new short story or flash fiction piece. I know that I mainly want to work on my novel, but I haven’t written anything short in a long time. I miss the feel of completing something in a few days instead of months. I’m probably rusty, but I want to get back to the conciseness inherent in short stories. I’m afraid I’ve grown too accustomed to writing longer pieces. I don’t want to lose the ability to focus on something short.
So yeah. Those are my writerly goals for November. What about you? Is there anything specific you hope to accomplish this month? Are you participating in NaNoWriMo? Feel free to comment here or on my social media accounts! Let’s hold each other accountable.
Shawna's Blog of Doom 