It was about a year ago that I composed a document: 2010 Writing Goals. I had never been much for New Year’s resolutions relating to diet or lifestyle or anything, really. But by the end of last year, I had started blogging and had published a book “Kansas Two-Step” on lulu.com, had gotten rather quaint business cards from VistaPrint, and felt that in some small way I was making progress and wanted to continue to encourage my own growth as a writer.
After printing up this document, I taped it to a shelf above my computer so that I could simply look up and refresh my waning memory. Well, it’s a year later and I am taking account of my efforts.
EDIT
I wanted to work on editing four novels. I did a fifth and sixth draft of “The .9 MM Solution” and a fourth and fifth draft of “Swansong”. Both were NaNoWriMo efforts. I did not get started on “Weekend Getaways, or Adventures in Contract Killing” (my transgressive novel) or “The Stooges” (another NaNoWriMo effort).
COMPLETE
I wanted to complete a first draft on two recent efforts: “The Last Road” (a literary piece about a widower’s cross-country adventure) and “All Day Long I Biddy Biddy Bum” (another even darker transgressive piece). The only NEW writing efforts were “Professor thug” (this year’s NaNoWriMo) and “Unemployed and Dangerous: A Trilogy of Transgressive Novellas”. After being terminated from my job of thirteen years, I had a lot of understandable anger which I filtered into these works. EXTREMELY dark in nature, they are not something I want to present to my 80+ year old parents as an example of my efforts. However, they do stand on their own as strong, well-defined pieces.
ACCOMPLISH
Multiple things on this section. No luck yet with finding an agent although I gave a four-week exclusive to Jessica Regel of the Jean V Naggar Literary Agency. Even though that did not turn out the way I wanted, it was a very good step.
As for networking efforts, I got onto Facebook and actively sought out people with the additional repercussion of contact relatives that I either hadn’t talked to in years or had allowed my efforts to lapse. Bonus points for that.
I did get two more books onto Lulu: “Quick” and the aforementioned “Unemployed and Dangerous”. In doing so I continued learning formatting and cover art (thanking my wife/my editor for the photo on “Quick”).
I started initial research on web sites and my brother-in-law (a talented software engineer who also happened to inspire “The .9 mm Solution”) offered his assistance.
Not on the original list was attending Writer’s conferences but I did go to the KWA Scene Conference here in Wichita as well as a seminar by Gordon Kessler earlier in the year. I also learned how to make small movies on Windows Movie Maker. I’m working on a book trailer, just to develop my skills. In the meantime, I did a project for the family for Christmas that was highly entertaining, especially if you know my family.
And finally, there was blogging. I may not have presented as many articles as I desired but I did what time would allow. And I also avidly followed other writers whose efforts seem somewhat similar to mine: refreshing commentary on their lives as writers.
Jennifer Neri (http://jenniferneri.wordpress.com/), a writer from Canada who shared her experiences with motherhood over the past year and still had time to pass on significant motivational comments.
Lawrence Estrey (http://lawrenceez.wordpress.com/), a writer and photographer and IT kind of guy from north of London who writes psychological thrillers, takes very moving photos, and has impressive feedback regarding storage systems and photo editing software.
Ryan David Jahn (http://gunsandverbs.wordpress.com/), a crime writer from Los Angeles, whose novel “Acts of Violence” won the Crime Writer’s Association Dagger award and yet talks about day-to-day life and his impressions of the minutiae as though they should be considered more strongly than the greater events.
Teresa Frohock (http://frohock.wordpress.com/), a dark fantasy and horror writer who gleefully advised her readers of her representation by Weronika Janczuk of D4EO and then of her sale of her book “Miserere: An Autumn Tale” while those of us who read her blog gleefully cheered alongside her.
I wish I could say that I follow more blogs regularly but Time is a beast with wings hovering over my life as a husband and homeowner and employee.
Overall, I would say that I got through nearly half of my goals, some to differing degrees than others. It is not measured as SUCCESS/FAILURE or PASS/FAIL but rather as another chapter on a long road. At some point within the next couple of days I will create a new document and tape it to the shelf above me. And I will proceed and continue and persevere and think and create.
And write.
Reflections on Resolutions
December 28, 2010 at 12:42 pm (Personal, self-publishing, Writing)
Tags: book covers, crime fiction, digital, Facebook, literary agents, NaNoWriMo, networking, novels, self-publishing, submissions, transgressive fiction, Writer's Conferences, Writing
Book Covers
November 2, 2010 at 3:13 pm (self-publishing, Writing)
Tags: book covers, digital, networking, photography, publishing, self-publishing, transgressive fiction, Writing
I’ve done a great deal of experimenting when it comes to my three works that are “published”. I have them on Lulu.com and in the Kindle store. I am working on getting them on Pubit from Barnes & Noble. I’m learning how to make book trailers. This was all above and beyond the writing and editing process.
“Kansas Two-Step” was a novella I wrote during my breaks and lunches on one-subject notebooks by hand at an old job. When I first decided to put it on Lulu, I decided to take the picture myself for the cover since I didn’t want to get into any rights issues. Digital cameras can be wonderful tools. I initially thought it might be too dark of a cover but since it deals with pornography and murder it suited the subject. (By the way, those are my ostrich skin boots.)
“Quick” is an older piece, written at a time when I was trying to jump-start my writing. It was written in that fashion, one chapter a night after dinner with a couple of glasses of wine. No outline. What you would call guerrilla writing. I knew I wanted to convey the essence of speed, since the beginning of the story is the main character (Jamie Quick) leaving the scene of a bungled robbery that turned into murder. The thing with digital cameras is that you can’t take a blurry picture. UNLESS your wife leans very far forward in the passenger seat, almost pressing the camera to the windshield and quickly tries to snap passing vehicles. (This was on Highway 11 in Oklahoma on the way to our cabin in Kaw City, OK.)
After being unceremoniously dispatched from my place of employment after thirteen years, I wrote a series of very dark transgressive novellas. Unintentionally, there was one in first person, one in second person, one in third person. They were so dark that my wife had to do a double take to make sure I hadn’t gone off the deep end. I had not. the writing was excellent therapy. I used a different template from Lulu.com than I had used on either of the first two and was able to create a diverse imagery that I hope creates a sense of the stories.
All of this was within the last eighteen months. There is no sense of perfection here whatsoever. I know there are people out there far better adept at the digital technology. My efforts ARE enough to give me a sign of encouragement that I can learn and develop and grow. I will not be (nor can I afford to be) the grumpy old dude who wishes things were the way they used to be.
As long as I continue to read blogs and follow those writer’s adventures in the New Digital World of Writing; as long as I keep my mind open to possibilities that the technology affords; as long as I keep the brain in creative overdrive, I will eventually meet my goals.
