Who wants to be a published pro?

[erin]

Just curious! I can't be the only one in this lot of writerly fen.

I have always wanted to be a fantasy novelist, even after I discovered that most real fantasy novelists still have to hold down day jobs.

[kate]

I definitely want to be a published author! My dream is to be a novelist. But I'm also in college to be a librarian, because like you said, a day job helps!

[Andy]

Count me in, I want to see my name on a book containing a story that I wrote...wait, I have done that, done it twice. 2001 & 2002 CrossTime S/F Anthology. What I want is to be "PAID" for writing the story in the book. ;D CrossQuarter Publishing paid cash and a book deal for first, 2nd and 3rd place got cast, I finished 4th...twice
Wow a Liberian what a job, I could dig it. A whole building full of books...sweet

[Hope]

I have been writing with a dream of publishing since I was in Mrs. Tracy's class. Third grade. That's a lot of years ago!

My baby sister, who is tall, blond, lovely, a PhD, and reached 139# nine months pregnant, is a published author. And I still like her. Really! (Interested folks can check out the reviews of Zenana, by Laura Ann Ring, on Amazon.com. It's non-fiction, about women, culture/religon, and the creative act of peace in Pakistan. I highly recommend it.)

My plan--because a dream without a plan is only a wish!--is to devote a day a week to writing when Joy starts Kindergarden in 2010, approximately 20 months from now. I want the rough draft of my first novel to be done by Christmas. Since my day "off" has never been a break, I see no reason to start then!

[Chantal]

I do and am finally working on it. NaNoWriMo just isn't helpful enough; you really have to commit to it every day, even just a little bit, if you want to get anywhere.

I give myself a target goal of 500-750 words a day. This is short enough that I still have time to do the other things I enjoy doing in my life, without giving myself the insane NaNo pressure of 1700 words a day, every day.

I have two fantasy novel ideas that I am currently working into stories, this year. The first is my 2008 NaNoWriMo attempt. The second is about an original character who I created for a Harry Potter RPG, but I liked him so much, I decided he deserved his own novel so I could tell his story outside of the Potterverse.

Aerden will eventually get his own novel, too. I actually created him for a novel before I created him for Pern. Which is bad, because that was a scary long time ago.

I like to write fantasy.

Chantal

[erin]

Jan 3, 2009 11:26:43 GMT -5 Chantal said:

I give myself a target goal of 500-750 words a day. This is short enough that I still have time to do the other things I enjoy doing in my life, without giving myself the insane NaNo pressure of 1700 words a day, every day.

I have a recommendation for you: check out the LJ community "thing_in_150". It's small group of people with the goal of writing at least 500 words a day. I don't know what the membership criteria are -- most of the members went to the same workshop but I don't think they all did. I'll vouch for you.

[Kelli]

I've planned on publishing a novel for a while; me and short stories don't mix for some reason, so I've been cleaning up the 800 page monster novel to make it shorter. I also have two novel ideas on the back burner sitting around simmering. Honestly, ideally in 5-10 years I plan on becoming a full time writer and part time EMT if I can swing it, but it'll all depend on where life takes me. I'm in no hurry because I only seem to get better as I get older, and the current holding pattern is fine by me for now.

[Andy]

I’m with you Kelli. The short stories I submitted were limited to 10,000 words by the publisher, you just can’t say much in that short of a space.

[erin]

I've been writing short stories for a long time and I have a few I think are pretty good.... but I don't enjoy them very much. I think I've learned a lot about writing working on them. I don't regret spending so many ages just writing short stories. But I think composing a short story is a really different skill from writing a novel.

The novel I started for NaNo last year is up to 72000 words near end of my 2nd draft. I'm soooo enjoying writing a novel more than any of those short stories.

[Trini]

I had to finally weigh in on this topic, despite sitting on my hands.

I do think that writing short fiction is a great way to learn about crafting a story: rising action, scene and sequel, beginnings, middles, ends. When you're writing a novel, besides being longer, there are A plots, B plots, C plots, which is awesome, but more to keep straight. So learning the ropes on a short story is like learning to sail a sloop before you attempt a square-rigged schooner.

So I don't regret ANY of my time spent writing fan fiction short stories. Without a doubt it taught me what I needed to know to write a novel. Heck, I don't even regret all novels I started and never got past the third chapter. No writing is ever wasted, because I learn something every time I put figures to keyboard, even if it's just to journal or do a writing prompt or whatever.

I look at it this way: No matter how talented a gymnast is, they don't just wake up one morning and win an Olympic medal. They still have to go to the gym and build strength, flexibility, muscle memory... I would venture that just about every writer who publishes their first finished novel has a closet full of unpublishable and/or unfinished and/or amateur stuff that they just don't talk about.

Kelli: 800 pages? That *would* be a tough sell. Can you cut it in the middle and make two books?

Erin: Go you on the NaNo thing!

[JustPlainKitty]

Many moons ago I had dreams of being a pulished author (I even have rejection letters from MZB! Sad loss there. ) but it's been maybe 8 years or so since I did regular, dedicated writing. Now I've lost the skill I once had. I fear it would take more time than I have available to gain that skill back. Especially with also trying to regain my artistic skill.

But it doesn't stop me from dreaming.

[Erica]

Feb 3, 2009 16:39:52 GMT -5 JustPlainKitty said:

Now I've lost the skill I once had. I fear it would take more time than I have available to gain that skill back. Especially with also trying to regain my artistic skill.

Kitty, you never lose your skill...you just get a bit rusty!!! (you should see the artwork I've submitted for the zine. and the writing. rusty...very...verrry.) So don't let that ever stop you from trying! If it's a dream you have, then keep nurturing it.

[JustPlainKitty]

I think I'm beyond rusty. I think the bolts are frozen and I don't have an impact wrench to break them free. heheh Though I have poked at them with a pencil on my silly WoW blog but the writing isn't nearly as good as what I used to do. It makes me sad.

[Erica]

well get back into the groove of things. It's been years since I picked up a pen to draw. As for writing....well, it's one of those things I do in my spare time but don't treat it as seriously as I should.

[JustPlainKitty]

I was just getting back into a good swing with my art when I had to upgrade my computer and the new one with Vista (Boo! Hisss!) decided it didn't want to play nice with my Wacom anymore. It still works *mostly* but one of the most important steps is messed up because the loss of the driver mucks up with how it interacts with my paintbrush in Flash.

/sigh.