All My Projects

Confession: I have just enough fashion sense to know when I look like crap, but not enough to effectively do anything about it.

Reading:

• "Pa's Darling" by Louis Auchincloss

Writing:

• Untitled Dark Fantasy Project

Revising:

• "Cora and the Sea"

Future Projects:

• Dairhenien's Library - Development
  
• Floorcraft - First rewrite of 1-5, first draft of 6-8
• Ferian Fetlock - Next chapter, "Ferian Fetlock Catches a Cold," followed by "Ferian Fetlock Takes a Wife."
  
• July 26th 24-hour Short Story
• "Motley" - Expansion
• "Fireworks and Earthworks" - 5% into first draft
  
• Untitled School Mistress Story

Unpublished Stories/Status

• "The Revenant" - 2nd Draft, Unsubmitted
  
• "The Frost Fugling" - 2nd Draft, Unsubmitted
  
• "Leaves and Sunsets" - 2nd Draft, Unsubmitted
  
• "Motley" - 2nd Draft, Unsubmitted
  
• "Black Pudding" - 2nd Draft, Unsubmitted
  
• "A Happy Ending" - 1st Draft, Unsubmitted
  
• "Illuminated" - 3rd Draft, Unsubmitted
  
• "Pictures of the Old Port" - 5th Draft, Unsubmitted
  
• "What Price Stamps" - 3rd Draft, Unsubmitted
• "Ferian Fetlock Cures a Horse" - 2nd Draft, Unsubmitted
• "A Cup of Coffee" / "Morning Tea" - 2nd Draft, Unsubmitted
  

I think this is a good exercise to do, and perhaps I'll keep it going. Above I have listed all of my projects, current and ongoing. I think I need to start getting that "Future Projects" list shorter by actually completing drafts of some of those, and need to change a bunch of those "Unsubmitted" tags to "Submitted."

I think I'd like to keep this list going every day, although I'll need to find a way to copy and paste instead of retyping it every time. I might also change the "Writing" and "Revising" categories into "Currently Working On," since in practice I usually work on either the revision or the composition at any given time. If I happen to be working on both, I'll put both under the same heading.

Regardless, this gives me a good way to measure my progress, and to remind myself of exactly what I have waiting for me, especially during those times that I sit down to write and can't think of what to work on.

I was thinking this past weekend about how much finishing some old projects will help me clear my plate, and I think that's true. There's nothing like a game plan to get you going. In fact, as time goes on, I think I'm going to start ordering this list so that I always know what I want to work on next.

I just reread the list, and I think my first step is clear. I need to finish the "Cora and the Sea" revision this week, since the reading is coming up soon, and I want to get some feedback on the new version before I read it aloud in front of a group. Also, I've got that new 24-hour short story to do this Saturday, and it has to be done Saturday afternoon. (Which reminds me... I need to make sure I actually get some sleep Friday night....)

After that, the best thing will be for me to get some of those stories moved over to the "submitted" column. There are a few, like "Black Pudding" and "What Price Stamps?" that are in good enough shape to send out as-is. Maybe "Pictures of the Old Port" too. I can submit "Morning Tea" today. Why not at lunch? All I need to do is to finish the cover letter, then I'll have one more story out.

The next step will be research. I made a promise not to send "Illuminated" out just anywhere, and that means researching a good place for it. The length is a factor that makes that more difficult, though. For a new author, the longer the story, the more difficult it is to sell. I wonder if it would be in my best interests to sit on it for a while, do a revision in a couple of months once I get a bit more objectivity, and try to shop it out again then? Either way, I need to explore a few more markets and see what stories I have that would suit each one. That's going to be the single biggest step in getting the "finished" stories submitted.

Of course, as you can see, I don't have a "finished" category for anything. Until a story is actually published, it's not finished. It's almost like each story is always growing and changing, and each submission is like taking a picture of it at that moment in time. If it gets accepted, then there just must be something about that snapshot that works. (Of course, that doesn't mean I can't keep tinkering, does it?) It's like the story is all grown up and has moved away from home.

Hmmm... perhaps the metaphor is apt. I'd like to send a few more stories off to college, and turn their rooms into a rec room. They're welcome to visit, and I'll be happy to do their laundry, but it's time they got their own place.

Publication Status:

• Submitted: 2
• Accepted: 1
• Rejected: 1
• Pending: 0