Writing goals for June.

[Matnov]

So here we go again.

For me it is all about exercising the discipline to both write and read everyday. Been neglecting both and I need to get myself back on track.

Oh, and I also need to find a clever foreign word/expression that conveys the misery of a 'summer cold'. Any suggestions gratefully received.

 

[Marc Joan]

Schlyvengast

 

[Matnov]

Schlyvengast

Sounds perfect. Which language? Did a quick search but it did not come back with anything.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

I am continuing on the self-promotion trail by entering writing competitions. Trying to discern what sort of short stories, flash fiction and poetry the organisers favour, by looking at previous years' winning and shortlisted entries feels like being an amateur psychologist.

One competition I've written a new short story for is the V S Pritchett Memorial Prize.

Royal Society of Literature » V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize

To help my effort, I read several interviews with Pritchett and a collection of his short stories, before penning my own 4,000-word story. One immediate problem I faced, was that my story is set in 2017. Pritchett died in 1997, before computers and mobile phones were commonly used and his earlier stories are full of constrained gentility and embarrassment over sexual matters.

My tale hinges on the use of smartphones and includes fertility clinics, sperm counts and artificial insemination!

Oh well, if it doesn't work for this competition, it'll serve for others.

 

[Marc Joan]

Sounds perfect. Which language? Did a quick search but it did not come back with anything.

Sorry, I just made it up. Think I'm having an [un]funny turn today. Also, I've just had a summer cold, and 'schlyvengast' was the sound it made when I sneezed.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Rheum d' ete , or are we looking at making one up?

 

[Robinne Weiss]

In Panama, a cold is a gripe (pronounced greepay). I always thought that was perfect, just for the multi-lingual pun.

 

[Carol Rose]

Finish and submit the next book in my Tortured Love series. Those are longer, so I don't expect to have it finished before the end of the month or close to it. I've stopped and started this one about five times now, but finally believe I'm on the right track.

 

[KG Christopher]

I want to write a short story, but I dont know what to write, probably looking for a 4k word count, any suggestions? Change of genre might be good for me. I shall try and put it in the Mush for comment.

 

[Sea-shore]

So here we go again.

For me it is all about exercising the discipline to both write and read everyday. Been neglecting both and I need to get myself back on track.

Oh, and I also need to find a clever foreign word/expression that conveys the misery of a 'summer cold'. Any suggestions gratefully received.

My summer cold is called Hay fever.

 

[Matnov]

Rheum d' ete , or are we looking at making one up?

Gotta be kosher! But this is a start. Thanks. Something Slavic might be better though or German. Need it to convey a characters pretentiousness.

 

[Patricia D]

Three goals:
1. Read and write every day except when I have a house guest (being realistic here)
2. Have ten short stories - four more than now - submitted somewhere. As soon as one is turned down or fails to win, consider revisions and submit somewhere else.
3. Avoid schlyvengast

 

[AliG]

Although schlyvengast must be an excuse for pj's and whisky, so I'm actively seeking it.

 

[AliG]

Book title? Desperately Seeking Schlyvengast...

 

[Patricia D]

I thought we had a thread for sharing happy news, but I can't find it, and since this is about June writing goals, it seems as good a place as any. I have to write one more short story for the submission rotation because Mystery Tribune has published Family Man, in their on-line magazine. Check it out at Family Man By Patricia Dusenbury

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Congratulations, Patricia!

 

[Robinne Weiss]

And nice story, too!

 

[Paul Whybrow]

I thought we had a thread for sharing happy news, but I can't find it, and since this is about June writing goals, it seems as good a place as any. I have to write one more short story for the submission rotation because Mystery Tribune has published Family Man, in their on-line magazine. Check it out at Family Man By Patricia Dusenbury

Brilliant story! Pared down suggestiveness of an underlying malice works well. Sometimes, evil shows on a person's face, but the mildest-looking have committed great atrocities. As I finished reading your story, I thought of one of Leonard Cohen's poems:

http://apoemaday.tumblr.com/post/46510952657/all-there-is-to-know-about-adolf-eichmann
All There Is To Know About Adolf Eichmann

EYES:……………………………………Medium
HAIR:……………………………………Medium
WEIGHT:………………………………Medium
HEIGHT:………………………………Medium
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES…None
NUMBER OF FINGERS:………..Ten
NUMBER OF TOES………………Ten
INTELLIGENCE…………………….Medium

What did you expect?

Talons?

Oversize incisors?

Green saliva?

Madness?

 

[David Newrick]

It is re-drafting for me. Along with the horrible realisation yesterday that the flow of the plot has been swamped by my love of characterisation. So I spent all yesterday afternoon getting the MS into Scrivener so I can reorganise the chapters, then begin the extremely long process of re-writing it to get the events/characters/details in the correct places. Writing is hard work!

 

[David Newrick]

Oh! And I just hope that I don't get Schlyvengast!

 

[Marc Joan]

Sooner or later, everyone gets Schlyvengast. Everyone.

 

[moonsage]

Gotta be kosher! But this is a start. Thanks. Something Slavic might be better though or German. Need it to convey a characters pretentiousness.

Well, you can go with "prehlada" [pre:hla:da:]- it means the cold in number of Slavic languages.
Also, "nazeb" [nah-ze:b]

Not sure if either sound pretentious enough, though

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Working on the sequel to The Dragon Slayer's Son this month. Hoping to get the first draft of that mostly nutted out. Trying a new marketing avenue this month, too. And getting a finished MS to beta readers. Lots on the go.

 

[Matnov]

A mixed month.

On the writing side, then top notch. Finished the Zombie tosh, written two short stories (one probably more a novella, the other short-short) and made a start on a new novel. Written every day and exceeded my word target on each of those by a healthy margin (although I do not start out with a high bench mark).

Struggling with the reading though. Need to become more disciplined in how I approach that.

Also need to perhaps start working on previous projects. Plenty of first drafts all sitting there in the bottom drawer of my hard drive, gathering metaphorical dust, and I need to face up to the real hard graft of shaping them into something that comes close to approaching respectable.

But still happy with how it is all panning out at the moment. Really enjoying my writing and for me that is what it is all about.