There usually isn’t anything important about 18 November–though Jim Jones and a few hundred of his craziest followers killed Congressman Leo Ryan on this day, then decided to make the phrase, “Drinking the Kool-Aid”, part of our lexicon, even though they were drinking Flavor Aid–but for me, it was another day of work, fun, pleasure, and writing . . .
It’s also the day that I pushed my story, Kolor Ijo, over the fifty thousand word total, thus winning NaNoWriMo for a second time.
Two for two, so to speak. I won this last year, when I wrote Her Demonic Majesty, and now again this year. Do I get extra ice cream now, because I’ve written over one hundred thousand words in two consecutive NaNos? I mean, I should get something, right?
It’s actually a bit interesting. Demonic Majesty ran eighty-six thousand words after the final edit. Kolor Ijo is going to run about sixty-five thousand words, so ad it up and–yeah, one hundred and fifty-one thousand words written within thirty days over two years.
In terms of production, I’d have to say November has been my best. Though I’ve not finished the current novel, I will, and it’ll join my growing collection of literary masterpieces. The urge to write more stories is there, but something’s missing–
I want them to get out there, to be found, to sell, to be read.
More than anything, I want to be read. There is a feedback loop in this business, where you do something, have other people take it into their mind, absorbing it, then sometimes telling you what they thing of your effort. Sometimes it’s a good reckoning and you feel great about what you do. Other time they go on about how you suck, and you can either wallow in misery over it, or kick it away and move on.
I’ve had this conversation with others, weighting the “exposure versus publication” values, deciding out what you want to do with your body or work. I’ve been writing for a while, though most of the time I was spending my time putting stories together, then throwing them up on a website for others to read. Sometimes there was feedback: most of the time, there was none. When you’re posting your work for free, feedback is your currency, so if no one has an opinion on your work, you’re not getting paid doubly so.
Now I have two novels created during the month of NaNovember. One is out being considered for publication, and the fingers are so crossed it makes it difficult to write. When I’ve finished Kolor Ijo, I’m likely going to self publishing it, though I may just send it out to a few houses as well. There is a reason for self publishing, however: I have to ebooks stories out now, and perhaps this new story will draw people to my others.
2012 was about the writing, getting better at my craft. 2013 is going to be about getting noticed, getting out there, getting published. I can write all the stories I want, but if they aren’t seen by anyone, did I actually write them? Do they actually make an impression on people if they are sitting on a hard drive somewhere, unseen and unloved by anyone save me?
Money is nice, but I want people to enjoy my stories.
Maybe by the time I’m finishing my third NaNoWriMo, I’ll have at pleasure.
