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davidlevine) wrote2006-01-01 11:54 pm
1/1/06: Reflections and resolutions
I am disappointed in myself. 2005 was a good year for publications, but a wretched year for production and sales. I wrote only two new stories, one a collaboration, and made only one pro sale. Basically, I took a break after submitting the novel and (for a variety of reasons including being called upon to do some addional novel-related work, but also including my own laziness) never got back on the horse. As a result of this, I currently have only four stories in submission and no sold stories awaiting publication. I fear that I may have sabotaged my career.
So. That's going to change.
My new year's resolution is to write a hundred words a day, no matter what. I know that this is a very achievable goal -- I can write 500 words an hour when I get rolling. The point of the hundred-word goal is to get my butt in the chair and writing, even on days when I "don't feel like it." I'm not making any commitments about what I'm going to write. Could be new stories, could be rewrites on existing stories, could be a new novel. But I'm going to put my butt in my chair and by God write.
I'm off to a good start, with 325 words on a from-the-ground-up rewrite of the Jupiter story (despite not getting back from dinner until 10pm). This story has had near-misses at all the major markets and the consensus of the editors is that it's too distanced; the main character is all reflection and reaction, not action, and the whole story's told in flashback. So I'm rewriting it from scratch, with the same plot outline but a new main character: an engineer instead of a photographer. If I can keep up this pace I should be done in two or three weeks, and that would feel good. Wish me luck!
You can do it!
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I know what you mean about the story production problem. I didn't write any stories this year because all of my writing energy and time was focused on finishing my first novel and starting the second. It's a big risk to move in that direction instead of writing solely stories, which you know you can sell. But you've got an agent and a fine book, and at some point the risk is going to pay off, not just in novel sale (let's hope!) but also in what you've learned about the craft.
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I want to make some sort of resolution for my own writing this year. Either a new-words-written-per-day goal or a number-of-short-stories-written-and-one-novel-edited goal... not sure which to commit to yet.
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Motivation!
Discipline!
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