Posted by Nicky Drayden on Dec 6, 2010 in
Writer's Life 
Photo by Pascal Creative Commons
My goals for 2011 are to land an agent and nab a multi-book, seven-figure deal. (Gotta make it big before the apocalypse strikes so I’ll have enough money to build me a secret underground bunker!) I’m not going to say this is a ridiculous goal, because crazier things have happened, but I’m just not going to stake my future on it. That goal is out of my control.
What I can control is my manuscript (to the extent that it will allow me to control it). I can make sure that I’ve proofed it and that it’s been seen by at least one other pair of critical eyes. I can control how many agents I query, despite the rejections or responses that must be getting sucked into some black hole never to be seen again. I can control how many short stories I submit. This year my goal was 100 submissions, which I just crossed! I can control (for the most part) how much time I have my butt-in-chair, fingers-on-keyboard.
A new year is fast approaching, and with it, new possibilities. I’ve got a few goals planned out already, mostly novel-centric. I’ve got this year’s NaNovel to finish, polish, and start querying, plus another novel that I’ve been working on during my down time. I’d like to get another 100 short story submissions for next year, and participate in NaNoWriMo again.
So have you started to set your goals for next year already? Are they goals that you can control? And most importantly, do you have a secret underground bunker with room for one more?
Posted by Nicky Drayden on Dec 4, 2010 in
Writer's Life 
Photo by Anderson Mancini Creative Commons
Dandelions make a great metaphor for the creative process. Our ideas begin like a tangled mess of weeds sprouting up in the far corner of the backyard. We ignore them for a while, maybe think about cutting them down before they get a chance to spread, but then they grow flower heads and start to look a little pretty.
We try to see the best in them. Try to convince ourselves that they are worthy of admiration, that maybe they’d look nice braided together and worn on top our heads for all the world to bear witness. But still we do not pick them, because in our hearts we know that they are merely weeds that we’d be embarrassed for even our neighbors to see.
But then, those yellow crowns magically turn into a fluff of white, and suddenly what was once a weed is now divine inspiration…ready to be plucked, and the seeds of our deepest wishes and yearnings instantly metamorphose into brilliant, captivating prose to be set adrift on the gentle and roiling winds that are the written word!
Okay, I admit it. It’s a horrible metaphor. Really, I just thought this dandelion image was amazing, so I’m using it, and that’s that.
Posted by Nicky Drayden on Nov 29, 2010 in
Writer's Life 
Echium Filigree Boomsnaggle Stahl. That is not my protagonist’s name, but it was for the ten-minute process of padding out my NaNovel the necessary 2500 words to reach 50,000. At this point, it’s a tradition for my characters to suddenly gain two middle names somewhere around November 30th.
But I am still proud of this work of art. It’s wild. It’s wacky. It’s got killer space rhinos, talking flatworms, and zombie politicians. There’s more left to the story, but I’ll sort that out in December. For now, it’s time to celebrate. So Echium Filigree Boomsnaggle Stahl, this one’s for you!
Tags: NaNoWriMo
