Poll Wrap-Up and Dissecting the Short Story Preview

Last week, I ran a poll to see what features people might enjoy me adding to my blog over time. There weren't any runaway favorites. The most votes went to Flash Fiction entries (50%) with Contests, "Posts Highlighting Upcoming Contests and/or New Markets", and "Bringing an eBook To Market, Start to Finish" each getting 37%. (People could vote for more than one choice.) The only choice to get no interest at all was more frequent link roundups.

As I mentioned in the post introducing the poll, I'm mostly looking at working some new types of content in once December rolls around. The rest of October is going to be pretty busy with prepping for NaNoWriMo and then, of course, November is NaNoWriMo itself. I suspect the first thing I'll do once December rolls around is look at doing a periodic Flash Fiction posting, possibly on the Fridays alternate to the Dissecting the Short Story Fridays.

Speaking of Dissecting the Short Story Fridays... This week is one of them! This week's story comes from the December, 2011 issue of Analog Science Fiction. It is Susan Forest's "Turning it Off." If you have a copy of this magazine and want to read up on the story before Friday's posting, now's your chance!

Thanks again for the feedback both via the poll and comments on the post introducing the poll. See you all Friday!

Writing Can Be Frustrating, But Don't Let It Get You Down!

This has not been the easiest of months for me so far writing-wise. After a fantastic August and September in terms of productivity I've only had a so-so first third of October. I've managed to keep up with my daily writing for my Seinfeld Chain and my blog schedule but that's been about it. To top it off, I've also not been terribly pleased with the quality of some of what I've written. In short, there have been some days lately when thinking about writing has made me feel sort of like this...

Photo courtesy ralaenin

But I know I'm not going to get anywhere by wallowing in my frustration. So, what can be done to work through this and get back to a place of greater satisfaction?

Sunday Links: October 9, 2011 Edition

We're now down to just over three weeks until NaNoWriMo starts. The NaNo site is supposed to be re-launching with an updated version tomorrow (October 10th). So once that is live, it should be worth popping over to check out the changes if you're participating this year.

I'd be interested to know what sort of prep work any of my readers who are planning to do NaNo are doing. I know that some people do absolutely no prep at all and other people have detailed outlines, character descriptions, etc. in advance. 

Now for this week's links!

#FridayReads - October 7th, 2011 Edition

On the Fridays when I'm not dissecting short stories, I will be talking about what I'm currently reading or have recently read. I usually have three-to-five books that I'm reading at any given time, so I expect there should be a lot of different books over time that I'm able to let people know my thoughts about. These aren't going to be full-fledged reviews, but I hope that it's enough to give you an idea of what I thought about a book and whether you might like it or not.

I finished one of the three books I was reading in my last #FridayReads post. That was The Postmortal by Drew Magary. This one surprised me a bit, I had expected it to be less serious than it ended up being. I'd already noted that a couple weeks ago when I was only about 25% of the way through the book, but it got progressively darker throughout. I think it's fair to say that Magary paints pretty much a "worst case scenario" for what could happen after a cure for aging. At the same time, it's hard to really refute his general thesis that this could very easily be the worst thing to happen to humanity.

I'm also still reading Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi. That one continues to be amusing, though I'm not sure exactly where it's going to end up going. I didn't think to talk about the cover last time. I love the cover to the paperback copy I have (it's the same that shows at the Amazon link above). It's got this late-50s/early-60s feel to it that which, even though the story isn't set during that time period, doesn't feel out of character with the story itself.

More (including my two new reads for these two weeks) past the jump...

Suggestions, Please?

I started this blog just about two months ago, mostly on a whim. I had just leapt back into writing with both feet and was constantly thinking about writing. Writing about that "thinking about writing" seemed like a natural thing to do.

I've been thrilled with the response. There have been over 400 comments left on the blog since I started, nearly 100 people are following it through Google Connect, and four of the posts have had over 100 views. On the one hand, that may not seem like a lot but I know that it takes a long time for a blog to build a following and this seems like a very good start for two months in.

Thinking about the future of the blog, I know that in November I'll be writing some about my experience with NaNoWriMo. I also currently plan to stick with the four posts per week schedule I've been on recently. I plan to continue the bi-weekly "Dissecting the Short Story" posts. What I'd like to know is what my readers would be interested in seeing more of and/or added to the rotation.

So, I've put up my blog's first-ever poll. It should appear at the right side of your screen (if you're using the Blogger/Blogspot interface) and it will be open (if I've done this correctly) through 12:01 AM (I think Pacific time) on 10/11. I would be very pleased if you'd provide your feedback on what you'd like to see more of on my blog. If you select "Other" it would be helpful if you left a comment below to clarify.

Thanks for a great two months! I've enjoyed reading your comments and getting to know you. And I hope that we continue the conversation into 2012 and beyond.

Eight Time Management Tips for Writers

Writing takes time. There's just no two ways around that. And most writers will have other activities and priorities vying for their time. It's a common complaint that someone wants to be a writer but can't find the time. There may be some cases where this is simply a excuse. Where there's the desire to say that a person wants to be a writer without putting any skin in the game. That's not what I'm looking to discuss here. That sort of thinking can come from a variety of sources but needs a totally different set of tools than the problem where someone is 100% genuine in their desire to find time to write but is struggling with putting that desire into practice.

With that in mind, here are eight tools that can be used to help writers manage their time:

Sunday Links: October 2nd, 2011 Edition

As promised last Sunday, this week's links post comes with a bright shiny new month attached to it. Welcome, October!

Earlier this weekend I went to my first Tae Kwon Do tournament in over twenty years. I wish I could say that I had achieved better results, but I can honestly say that it was a good learning experience. Like writing, martial arts training isn't something that most people can just pick up and excel at without hard work and a number of failures along the way. So, just like I am working to not let writing rejections get me down, I intend to not get overly disappointed about the less-than-I-hoped-for performance I turned in and work to do better next time!

Voting for the 2nd challenge in Rachael Harrie's Platform-Building Writers' Campaign remains open through the 11:59 EDT on Monday 10/3 Friday October 14th. (The 10/3 deadline is for entering the contest, not voting. Thanks to @I_Am_LadyJai for setting me straight on this.) The judging for this challenge is strictly based on popular vote. So, if you read mine ("My Name is Imago Montoya...") and enjoyed it, I'd truly appreciate you voting for it by clicking here and "liking" entry #42.

And now, the links!