Writing goals

[cjsmith]

Quote from Rob: "If this is a bit scary, it's probably the right thing for you to do."

Could my goal be "Get a novel ready for submission somewhere, and submit it, within one year?" Last night Rob and I handwaved some length constraints, pace estimates, and rewrite-time guesses. We're hindered by not knowing much about what it takes to get something submittable, but on the other hand, we do have some constraints we know about. We decided that:

1. Standalone novels are not 50 kwords. The shortest fiction book I can find on my shelf is maybe ~75 kwords, and it's a really freakin' simplistic book.
2. The pace must be maintainable (alongside a day job, square dance calling, and swimming) and must produce writing I can hand to critiquers. If I hand out stuff I should be ashamed to have my cat read with her butt, I won't have readers the second time around.
3. Double the estimate, at the very least, to add a first pass rewrite (section by section or reworking major structure) based on critiques.
4. It's reasonable to assume that if I join a writing group and get feedback, I'll spend a bunch of time reading and commenting on others' work as well. This stuff doesn't come for free.

It looks like a year just to finish the second draft, and it will likely still be shitty at that point. So in short, no. At my skill level, I can't create a submittable novel in a year.

Could my goal be "Get a short story ready for submission somewhere, and submit it?" Welllll... far fewer short story anthologies get published than novels. Yet I do enjoy working on shorter stuff. Not sure how or whom to ask about this one.

What if I hope to get good at humor? Welllll... there aren't many openings for newspaper columnists. Besides, I'd rather tell a story. Books with humor/silliness and little else are, to me, like eating a room full of candy for dinner, so I'll have to get good at the "else" (the story) either way.

So I'm still confused. I don't yet have something I'm willing to commit to.

Comments

Some random rectally-derived ideas

[shoutingboy.livejournal.com]

How do you feel about genre fiction? There's a big market for science-fiction or mystery short stories (plenty of magazines out there). What kind of writing do you do?

The risk is being ghettoized--but if you're unpublished, being typecast may seem like an appealing prospect. Anyway, you could always write genre-fic under one name, then change names for Serious Art once you've got some books out.

Another possibility--and I mean this, so please don't spit yet--is romance novels. They're short, there's a huge demand, the publishers may well hold your hand somewhat as you write the first few. Great writing certainly isn't required, but from what I hear, it isn't forbidden, either. It's a way you could work on your craft while getting used to facing down those scary blank pages. (Other similar options, if you're fanboy-inclined, might include those generic series books--Forgotten Realms, video-game tie-in books, that kind of stuff. Not art, but it can be craft, and there's a lot to say for craft.) But in that case, you'd pretty likely want a pseudonym--if they even let you put your name on the cover.

Re: Some random rectally-derived ideas

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

For genre, I'm most likely to go fantasy. Honestly, I'm not sure I'd even mind being ghettoized. I don't ever have to break into Great Literature. If it's fun for the reader it's good enough for me.

I think your idea of romance novels has merit. I haven't found many romance novels I've liked, but there are a few, so the "write what you enjoy reading" stricture could hold. There's a lot to say for craft, indeed. I would want to make sure I could write fantasy in the future, so if that means a pseudonym, that works for me.

Re: Some random rectally-derived ideas

[shoutingboy.livejournal.com]

'For genre, I'm most likely to go fantasy.'

Well, there are some buyers for fantasy short stories--notably Fantasy & Science Fiction (http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/) magazine, though I expect there are others. So you have options short of a full-on novel.

And speaking of romance novels...

[shoutingboy.livejournal.com]

Here's a new approach! (http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=11032006)

Re: And speaking of romance novels...

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

*laughter* I never bought one of those "flip to page 119" books, but I saw some in a bookstore once. Very odd!