NaNo Update…And Stuff

As you may have noticed this week, my blog posts have slowed way down. Why, you ask? Because I have so much to do, and so little time! Honestly, November’s going to be a month where I just can’t find a moment to catch my breath. But, oh well. At least the things consuming my time and energy are the things I love to do most (reading/writing).

First: Flash Fiction Challenge 2013. I posted my horror story, “Why?” here, as well as on the NYC Midnight forum to receive feedback from the other competitors. To me, this is the best part of the competition (well, second best to actually writing the story). This is when I get vital feedback about my storytelling and writing skills. So far, the feedback for “Why?” has been positive. Yay! People seem to agree that I’m much better at writing horror than rom-com. Fine by me! Horror isn’t my normal genre, but it’s definitely closer than romantic comedy. Blerg!

In addition to all the positive feedback, there has also been constructive criticisms–AKA, golden nuggets. Like in Round 1 of this contest, I’ve learned so much about my bad writing habits, and the specific things I could improve upon. It’s so awesome. Stings for second, obviously, but then resonates and blooms into something useful and amazing.

As I’ve said time and again, I highly encourage other writers to enter these contests. They may not be the big, shiny manuscript you want published someday, but they’ll make that manuscript shine even brighter in the end.

Second: NaNoWriMo. Well, with the Flash Fiction Challenge swirling around me, things have gotten off to a slower start than I had planned with Fallers. I’ve been getting up every morning this week at 4 a.m. to squeeze in a couple of hours of writing before heading off to work. Unfortunately, it still hasn’t been enough. I’m currently behind by about 2,500 words. I’m not panicking…yet. For me, 2,5000 words isn’t that bad. I can knock that out in a couple of hours–usually. I plan on writing all weekend to catch up and then get ahead with Fallers. Then I won’t have to be waking up at such a godawful hour (yes, I’m yawning as I type this).

How about you? Doing okay this week? How’s NaNo? Don’t give up on it! This is when you really need to start digging deep and pushing through the pain. I’m sure most of your initial exhilaration and determination is wearing off, but don’t stop. Remember, keep swimming! You can do it!

…If there are typos in this post, forgive me. I don’t have time to proof it a hundred times like I usually do, lol!

 

Related articles

• Geek 501 – On NaNoWriMo (comparativegeeks.wordpress.com)
• NaNoWriMo Day 4 (eloreenmoon.wordpress.com)
• NaNoWriMo Update – November 7th (heronthereeverywhere.us)