Sunday, February 07, 2010

RiNoWriMo a Bust

Bad bad weekend for productivity. Weekends are very difficult to use for writing. Distractions, tasks, and more distractions abound. So, not surprisingly, I have totally fallen off the RiNoWriMo wagon. I'm now hopelessly behind.

So, how to go forward? Actually, it isn't as bad as it seems. Although I haven't put any new words down since I finished the short story for the Aether Age anthology, I have been thinking about a lot of writing-related activity. Much of that is on the reinvention side.

I've been formulating a plan to digitally self-publish all my previously-released short fiction and sell from my own web site in the Michael A. Stackpole model. Following the meeting I had with him on friday, I've been pondering this a lot.

The main barrier is the construction of my online store with Zen Cart. My web host does have an automatic install for both the cart and the database. I've installed it twice before, then my install stayed fallow. So, the big thing now is to reinstall (old installs have been deleted) and then figure out how to get it running. I suspect that mainly involves butt-in-chair time, which will happen soon.

Prior to that, however, I need to create some professional-looking product. Appearance here is of utmost importance, including cover art for even the shortest of stories. I plan to handle pretty much all of that photographically because I have the tools and ability to handle that method, where I have less drawing or painting ability than a chipmunk stoned on catnip.

Also a priority is getting the edits done for the Aether Age story. I expect that will be finished tomorrow, then on to creating the prototype digital story for the online store. Plus, I need to complete that novel I started during NaNoWriMo. Lots and lots to do.

So, consider RiNoWriMo a bust for me, at least by the numbers. However, it jump-started my working on the writing career. Since that was the original intention, I can hardly call it a failure.

News on progress will continue.

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