NaNoWriMo
It's coming. Again. Sometimes I'm so stunned at how quickly it comes back around every year. This is the first year in a while that I'm not shooting for anything crazy. No major Conqueror Worm installment. No 250k sprint or w/e. I've overwhelmed with work already, and I've got grad school applications to finish, so I'm not testing myself this year with nano.
Instead, I'm aiming for a nice, clean 50,000 words. I'm doing a series of short stories, in order to get more practice with the smaller, more concise form, and because I need material to send out for submissions.
The only preparation I've been doing is jotting down any story ideas I've had between now and Nov. 1, and reading a lot of short stories to reorient myself creatively. The only other things I've gotten to read recently is Victorian doorstops (Dickens' Our Mutual Friend, for one). Those are not conducive to short story writing.
I'm hoping all goes well this year. Otherwise, I haven't been writing as much as I'd like. Stalled out on the new novel, with half a dozen half-finished short stories on the old hard drive. Schoolwork is a real bitch sometimes.
Instead, I'm aiming for a nice, clean 50,000 words. I'm doing a series of short stories, in order to get more practice with the smaller, more concise form, and because I need material to send out for submissions.
The only preparation I've been doing is jotting down any story ideas I've had between now and Nov. 1, and reading a lot of short stories to reorient myself creatively. The only other things I've gotten to read recently is Victorian doorstops (Dickens' Our Mutual Friend, for one). Those are not conducive to short story writing.
I'm hoping all goes well this year. Otherwise, I haven't been writing as much as I'd like. Stalled out on the new novel, with half a dozen half-finished short stories on the old hard drive. Schoolwork is a real bitch sometimes.