Sunday, March 28, 2010

Derailed Works-in-Progress

There are two writing challenges coming up next month, and I still haven't finished plotting my three urban fantasies. The characters are coming along, but the stories need more development. It's frustrating, because while I want to jump right into the writing, I'm wary of doing so. I wrote novels by the seat of my pants for NaNoWriMo and ended up rewriting 99% of the latest one. So, yeah, I'm a confirmed plotter.

The other problem is I don't know which novel I want to concentrate on. Not only is there a novel writing challenge, but I'm participating in Script Frenzy. And while I have an idea of what my premise is, I have no idea what my story is really about. Scary, I know.

How will I handle it? Most likely run my screenplay idea through Dramatica Pro. I'm using Novel Shortcuts to develop one of my novels. The other books are also being developed using various story development tools. It's an experiment I'm conducting. How well it'll go is a good question.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Moving Right Along

This past Friday, I received my notice from the RWA my PRO application was approved. Yes, folks, a writing goal to scratch off my 2010 list.

Not only that, but my short novel, the one I submitted with my application, was offered a contract. I wish I could give more details, but have to wait.

Has my life changed significantly since this news? Yes and no. I'm aware I need to work on promoting myself more, although I've already been working on it through blogs and Twitter. I also have accounts on MySpace and Facebook, but spend little time on them. My feelings are mixed regarding fan pages on FB.

There's still my website to design (both for myself and my books), a book trailer to create, and character journals to write. My business cards recently arrived, and I'm thinking of ordering bookmarks and postcards to advertise my online presence. Then there are contests, inviting other writers to blog at my site, cross-promotion ideas, etc.

And my book hasn't been published yet. So yes, this is all in the "pre-production" or "development" stage. Am I jumping ahead? I don't know. I hope I've helped establish my author brand, though. I'm not expecting to suddenly sprint ahead and break the tape at the finish line, but each step forward brings me closer to my goal.