The Plan… to Plan

Written June 2, 2009

Guess it’s finally time to write about the writing conference I attended the second week of May. It was the Colorado Christian Writers’ Conference and amazing. I was exhausted and overwhelmed much of the time, but at the same time was affirmed in my craft, knowledge and call. Although this affirmation does not mean I suddenly know for certain I am “destined” to be a full time writer, it does mean I won’t be letting this dream go without a fight.

And what does this fight look like? It means attacking my “Isaiah” story and stripping it back down and tossing the ending (or moving the ending up since it’s not really strong enough to be a great climactic ending). It means cutting ¼ of what I wrote for that story and reorganizing the rest. It means, for this one WIP, I have a minimum of seven more months until it’s submission worthy and who knows how long beyond that until it’s publishable (if ever, though I’m pretty attached to this story so I don’t think it will ever fade into the background).

This fight also means learning something new – the dreaded short story. If the publishing world was hard before, it is now nearly impossible without a platform and some writing credentials. This means I have a lot to do such as figuring out how to get more people to read my blog (not sure how I’ll do that yet). Also, the magazine world is a bit easier to get into, though the pay is minimal if anything. Magazines prefer short stories. I don’t know how to write a short story. :p

So in the midst of redoing my “Isaiah” book, which has returned to its original title Hand of Freedom, I must start figuring out how to write short stories. Oh, and I haven’t left my “Talia” project yet, either. I guess I’m going to have to figure out this balance between projects pretty quick now or it’ll be ten more years before I get a book out. Of course, if I can figure out the balance and the short stories, this will also mean I’m getting more written and the messages in my heart are getting to people wrapped beautifully (I hope) in deep characters, exciting plot, and emotional relevance.

Now to figure this out…