The weather is starting to change here, fall in Nebraska is always such an interesting time. The leaves are changing, and there is a chill in the air. It gets down into the 30s and 40s at night and during the day it warms up into the 70s and 80s. You can feel the change coming, I bet sometime within the next month we will have the first snow.
I have always loved fall, I hate being hot and once winter arrives it will get too cold to leave the house but for a few months the weather will be perfect. Of course I don't spend much time out in the weather, because fall is my favorite time to write.
I have never been able to figure out why the ideas seem to flow so smoothly around this time of year, but I love it and take advantage of it. Last year I wrote the end of of one novel and an entirely new novel between the months of September and December.
Fall is also a time for looking back, and as I stalked Doutrope's today (I have a story in at a pro paying market that has been waiting for 53 days, and when I click the new link on Doutrope's I see that they are sending out a bunch of 15-25 day rejections, I am hoping this is a good sign) I looked back at my writing career via the online database.
In three months I will have been writing for two years. In that time I have written 45 short stories and 3 novels. I have subbed these stories and novels 239 times and, including reprints, I have had 39 acceptances. I still have 12 stories and all three novels subbed out right now. I have put about 500,000 words to paper. I wonder how many words a day I have been writing on average?
Hmmm... That sounds like a project for next time I am super bored and have a hankerin' to do some math. (More than likely never)
But my point is that I had no idea I had written so many stories or that I had sent them to so many places. I just focus on the current project and forget about the rest. I have heard that you aren't ready to write a really good novel until you have written 1 million words, well it looks like I am half way there.
Hey Alva,
ReplyDeleteI really love fall, too. (Although we Brits call it Autumn ;-P) Good to see you're still plugging away. Can't believe you've managed to count all the stuff you've written. Think I'd drive myself spare if I tried that with my stuff. Good luck with the novels!
Anywho...I've nominated you for a Creative Blogger Award! Yeeha! You might need to pitstop by my blog to see what's happening.
Lotsaluv, Em
This is a great time of year. Maybe my favorite, actually. I like to take the laptop up onto the Parkway (Blue Ridge, that is) and write but the opportunity just doesn't come up too often.
ReplyDeleteOctober '07 I decided to take writing more seriously and have been lucky enough to cross paths with you and a few other great up-and-comings.
Oh, and you've got me way beat on wordcount. Wait up, will ya! :-)
Hi Emma and William, thanks for stopping by. I have to make a confession and say that I didn't count everything I have written. I know the word count of my novels by heart and I just estimated by short story count by counting them all as three thousand words. There are a few longer and a few shorter but most of my stuff falls in right around there.
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