There are many talents of modern creativity that are difficult for me even decades into the craft. One of my glaring personal hardships is having trouble finishing projects. In writing this usually means I have about twenty-to-one “chapter 1s” versus “the ends”. I’ll hit a spot where I don’t know my next move or have trouble continuing and figure some space will help me focus… Sometimes for several years. This week I’ve been on a roll though.
Just in this week, I’ve completed a story a day for four straight days! This is kind of huge for me. For one thing, I’m ahead now in my writing for the Tavern Tall Tales. Writing for the big Triple-T has been great for making me focus on projects. I’ve been trying to hammer out short stories for the Rizald the Wizard series. It’s a goofy serial with no real solid plot outside of hijinks. So it has been a nice easy run to keep me just physically writing regularly.
Recently, however, I got an adult ADHD diagnosis and begin treating it with medication. Now, besides some headaches now and then, I can actually focus on projects. I’ve had a sense of clarity and purpose when I write that I couldn’t summon before. It has been life changing. If I could have had this kind of control over my head a decade ago? I might have a published work by now🤣
It’s okay though. I’ve been getting all my life-ducks rowed and better for it. Maybe that’s part of it as well. Having more of my basic needs met has let me have more brain power for writing? It’s possible. All I know is that I am on a roll and wanna keep it up.
Since I usually just focus on my novel and one short story at a time, getting several out the door will free me up to finish out a few lingering projects hopefully. I have maybe ten or so other stories that are 60-80% done that I’ve forgotten about. As well as my middle grade chapter book to work on. I’m going on a writer’s retreat with some buddies this weekend. Hoping I’ll knock out my novella and chapter book then.
SO! What I got done; two pieces I am going to submit to literature magazines, one story for Double Issue, and my Tavern piece for next month. It has been a LONG time since I’ve felt confident or healthy enough to send pieces out to new magazines. Even if they get rejected, I think they will fit in just fine with my anthology projects. Which has been freeing as well. I used to spend a lot of time trying to research markets before writing, editing, and submitting to them. It would be weeks before I had something out. Then, more than once, the market would close suddenly without warning. Or, more often, I just would never hear back from the editors. More than once I found my writing copied & pasted on some other site or being sold elsewhere. That stopped me from caring about crafting each and every story as delicately as I had been.
Now my project list looks like:
- Unnamed Novel 66%
- Unnamed Chapter Book 80%
- Novella 79%
- Another Short Story ??%
The chapter book will fly by after I brush back up on it. I finally broke past a section that I was blocked on. As per usual, there was a chapter that I felt like was bad. I didn’t want to back up and throw away five chapters because but I figured out a way forward without having to throw those out for now. I may cut them during my content edits but for now they are safe. I’m just about to the climax so I’m hoping the rest is as down hill from there as the falling action slope. The section is definitely a ‘kill your darlings’ but I want to reach the end before pulling the lever on them. I had started a mini-courtroom-arch that began to bog down the tension. Once I see all the pieces together it should be easier to see if it stays or gets cut.
I also figured out my ending for the novella. It doesn’t need as many words as the chapter book but I was struggling with an emotional beat. Last night I got that puzzled out. I was just too sleepy to do anything about it. I may get after it tonight if I can stay awake after driving to the cabin. That’s another story I’m going to send to a magazine. I’m well ahead of their submission window closure but at its length, I’d prefer not to put it off too long.
Returning to the novel may be the hardest project on the list. It also lacks the most words. My goal is to hit 60,000 words by the end of my first draft. Then I’ll need to go through and do a HEAVY content edit. Between starting it and now I have changed a lot of the world building. I lead an TTRPG within the setting and it helped me immensely. Now I just got to translate that new setting information into the novel. I finally feel like I have a grasp on the world though. When I started, it was “mystery boxed” to the point that I didn’t know much about the world myself. I was kind of learning as I went. Now when I have gone back to it I have had an easier time writing it. I’m just 20,000 words or so away form the first draft. Then I’m hoping to add another 20k or so on the second draft before I start grammar edits and sending it to beta readers.
My next short story project is started but I haven’t picked a market to make it for yet. I also have no idea how long it’s gonna end up. It could turn into another novella (which I’d be fine with personally). It’s already over 2,000 words and just getting started on plot. It has call backs to several other pieces for the anthology. So it also got easier to write once I finished some of the pieces set around it in the same world space. I just need to be careful and make sure the story stands on its own. I think it has enough interesting bits but I haven’t found its core theme yet.
If all goes well and I can sort of stick with at least finishing things, I’m hopeful for the future. I want to keep my realistic goal of writing one story for the Tavern Tall Tales each month, FINISH and submit one piece a month to another market, and just continue working away at my longer pieces. I’m going to try submitting to agents and publishers starting next year if all goes well. If that all falls through though, it looks like I may start self publishing a few things. I want to actually pay for some quality cover art and editing so it may be a minute still. Closer than I’ve ever gotten though (which is nice).
Calculating Normals 