Crossroad



I've arrived at a crossroad...



Finishing my novel is way outside my comfort zone; I'm avoiding working on it like my life is being threatened! I haven't given up - I think about the story and characters a lot, know where I want the plot and structure to go, and have a 5,000 word outline I'm quite happy with.

I might be overwhelmed because I'm not sure if I can maintain the voice for 60,000+ words. Maybe it's because I'm struggling to find more than two hours in a row every week to sit down and actually work on it. Maybe it's because I still don't know what changes to make while drafting the chapters I've already written, and probably introduce more errors than I fix. Or maybe it's because I'd like more experience writing and editing longer short stories (3,500-5,000 words?), which is a real challenge for me at the moment - I can barely control 2,500 of my own words...

My new plan for 2012 is to:

- Submit my 'finished' short stories to various competitions and lit mags. Workshop/draft/re-write any that come back and re-submit them until they get published

Ah, there is the road to success!



- Edit the stories I've been resting/avoiding, and submit those for publication, too

- Write a few new stories, which I haven't done for a while

- Continue writing articles and reviews for SEED, Platform and other student magazines and blogs

- Post on my blog a little more frequently

- Work on my general writing and editing skills

- Add a few chapters to my novel

- Continue helping at Vic Uni's events and proofread their publications; and, towards the end of the year,

- Produce a collection of my successful and favourite stories, which I'll submit to various publishers. If the collection doesn't get picked up, I'll publish a small print run myself and sell it through a few different places - it worked for Mathew Reilly's first novel!

Hopefully, this will give me the skills I need to work as an editor/proofreader, or establish my own critiquing/proofreading/copy-editing/printing business. I can then study Novel 2 in 2013 and, hopefully, finish the first draft of my novel by early 2014.

I keep reminding myself that at the start of last year I didn't know the first thing about nouns and pronouns, let alone parallel construction, phrases, coordination, subordination, et.al (not that I now know everything about the overly complex language that is 'basic' English). I've come a long way, but have an even longer way to go...

So, yes, I'm trying to stay focused and motivated, and am keeping the big picture in mind: becoming a successful editor and novelist, while trying to be a good father and husband :)

Emanuel

Assesing my career options as a writer

The time has come to choose my subjects for next year (2012). This had raised a lot of questions, the most important being:

Q: Do I want my writing carer to focus on fiction, non-fiction, editing or production?

A: All of the above!

If only I had time to do them all ... Well I do, in the long run. But which two subjects should I do next year?

I'm thinking Novel 2 and Industry Overview 1 are musts. A possible third subject is the hard one. It's come down to a choice between Non-fiction 1 and Editing 2.

Hmm...

Editing 2 focuses on producing publications and working as an editor, and is compulsory. But I can do it next year...
In Non-fiction 1 I'll learn to write non-fiction (duh!). Specifically, reviews, interviews, feature pieces and maybe memoirs and a little journalism.

Editing 2 will refine my editing skills and show how a publication is put together - something I really want to see.

Whereas, Non-fiction 1 will be a great opportunity to see if I enjoy writing factual pieces as much as I like writing fiction and can handle the deadlines.

Editing 2 might be the edge I need to sell my novel and the experience I need to put together a book of short stories by local writers.

Non-fiction 1 will give me more experience as a writer, rather than an editor, and should help me to present my ideas in a logical sequence of thoughts. It might lead to a freelance career in reviewing books, games and other stuff, which I can do when I need a break from my novel...

But which will get me into a paid position quicker?

Which will I use in the long term?

And, can I handle studying four subjects next year? :)

It's VCE all over again...

Help me Obi-wan Kenobi; you're my only hope!

*Ghostly voice* ‘Trust in the force, Luke… err… Emanuel.’

I’d love to hear from current, and previous, PWE students, and welcome comments from experienced writers.

Thanks for reading,

Emanuel