It wouldn't be NaNo if I weren't scrambling to finish my outline.

Yup, only 4 days and I'm still not finished. Chalk it up to real life distractions, wavering on my project choice, and a little procrastination.

But I'll be okay. Considering the first time I did NaNo, I had only completed half of my outline and I still managed to "win", I know I'll pull it out somehow. Being somewhat behind trumps the excitement I feel for Sunday. It's like New Year's Day for book geeks, so full of promise. It really does take a completely different mindset than your average writing. Let's hope I can get out of my own way and just let the words flow.

Being fueled by Halloween candy will surely help…

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year? Add me as a friend! And Toronto NaNo'ers on Twitter – tweet you later!

As you can see from my posts and tweets, NaNo is taking up all my time. My constantly talking about outlining is probably only interesting to me – but it is part of the process. I originally wanted to post my actual tasks each day (see the Day One outlining post); but since I'm outlining all my stories at once, it's kind of impossible to stick to that schedule. And thus, no regimented accomplishments to report.

Either way, I did manage to quell my self-doubt about the project. I'm digging my heels in and am currently laying out the plot of each piece. Right now, I'm getting into the motivations of the characters. Sure, sometimes things just happen because the antagonist is nuts – but there has to be a reason for his nuttiness, and that's what I'm trying to weave into the story.

So even though I feel that I'm behind where I should be, I know that by the time I'm finished with all the planning, I'll have a little packet of info for each story and when it comes time to write, I can sit down at my desk every morning, open up my formatted outline and just get down to business.

In other news, Only Our Dust was rejected again. I honestly figured it would be (I submitted it to one of Duotrope's 25 Most Challenging Fiction Markets), so I wasn't too upset about it. Now the task is to find a new market to sub it to. Problem is – most are closed to subs right now.

Still haven't managed to fit #fridayflash into my weekly schedule, either. I do have a cool idea for it – I just need to squeeze it in there somewhere. Since I'm not doing any writing right now, I'm starting to feel that itch, which is both a good & bad thing – with the bad being that creeping grumpiness that comes when I'm not writing…my fellow writers know what I mean.

Still soldiering on with my NaNo WIP. I am continually swinging on a pendulum between enthused (about some of my ideas) and horrified (that the rest won't come together in time and I will end up blowing things out of proportion and ditching my ideas a week before NaNo starts, forcing me to either scramble to come up with a new idea or bow out altogether). No wonder we writers are a little crazy…
    
As a few good friends reminded me, however, I've been writing for a long time, and I shall continue to write still.          

So…the good news. Even though I'm a bit behind where I should be in terms of outlining, I'll be able to tweak the FD30D method to suit both my own style & my needs; i.e. some of the tasks can be condensed or sidetracked altogether, since I'm doing shorts and not a novel this time around.          

With that being said, I've got 5 or 6 solid ideas. Of course, it's those shaky ones that I seem to be focusing on. Typical pessimist's downfall, I tell you. And here, I thought I was an optimist.

WIP Updates:

WIP #1: NaNo – outlining continues. Hoping to nail down my final ideas by the end of the week, while still working on the actual piecing together of my master plan for each story
    
WIP #2: Only Our Dust has been sent back out to Submission Land. I'll keep you posted…

If you’re a writer participating in WIP Wednesday, post a link to your blog in the comments!

Fellow WIP Wednesday participants:

• Mercedes Yardley – WIP Wednesday: Big Man Ben
• Cate Gardner – WIP Wednesday: Rejecting Headless ABBA Dragons 
• Jennifer Tatroe – WIP Wednesday: Novel Barbie
• Aaron Polson – WIP Wednesday: Scraps
• Jamie Eyberg – One Down

"I wanna say all those things that would be better unsaid…"

- Trent Reznor

So, while it may not be cool or even smart to admit this – I'm scared!

Maybe the reason I've been dragging my heels on my NaNo project is that I'm afraid that writing so many shorts all at once will deplete my short story reserve and come November, I'll be all out of ideas.

Does anyone else have that fear? Wondering if the ideas will just stop coming one day? It's nice to have a notebook with scraps of ideas that one can "fall back on". For the longest time, my ideas have been lining up, patiently (for the most part) waiting for me to finish whichever WIP I happen to be devoting my time to for their chance to shine. But I guess I'm a little scared that this NaNo project could be the end.

Kind of like the Millennium…I won't know until December 1st whether there will be any fallout or not.

—

Trouble commenting? You can always send comments via this handy-dandy form! I love feedback and talking writing!

Words Written - Today: 0 | October: 0 | 2009: 17,079

Welcome to Week 2 of my series spotlighting independent publishers, presses, magazines and writers. While the name 'small press' suggests something tiny, mini or even wee, it won't take you long to see that there is an abundance of talent just waiting to be discovered. That's where I come in. I'm here to help. Let me help you discover something (or someone) new, or remind you of an old favourite…

Blood Routes – If you don't feel you've got the time to devote to an honest to goodness paperback, you can still get a healthy serving of the dark & twisted. The online serial Blood Routes is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the talents of Barry Napier. With a slew of recent publishing credits in the works, and his new comic Birdwatching from Mars also in the pipelines, Mr. Napier is going places – fast! Check out Barry's blog for updates & a sneak peak of some of the book art.

Bucket 'O' Guts – New on the scene, B'O'G recently put out a wonderful little chapbook, The Sour Aftertaste of Olive Lemon by Miss Cate Gardner. Don't let the dancing apples fool you – Cate knows how to wield her weird little pen with exquisite artistry. And she does so with dazzling results. See Cate blog at The Poisoned Apple. Don't forget to check out the Featured Gizzard at Bucket 'O' Guts for free monthly-ish fiction.

Got an independent press, emerging writer or indie publication you love? Share it in the comments!