Happy Wednesday, squiders! I continue to procrastinate writing my query letter so here we are. (Hopefully today, though. Fingers crossed. Of course, I could be doing that instead of this BUT ANYWAY)
(I did submit a novella to a publication, though, which is new for me, so fingers crossed on that.)
Here’s November’s WriYe prompt, by the way: What’s on your writing bucket list? Which one is the most achievable?
Hm. I did do a series of posts, oh, two years ago I want to say? About stories I’d like to write in the future. Hold on.
Dual Timelines
Interlocking Lives
Nakama
Fantasy that’s really Scifi
(It was three years ago.)
I kind of feel like this prompt is more about like, the process of writing instead of story ideas. Like, more of a bucket list like: finish a draft, publish a story, etc, etc, et al. BUT ANYWAY.
I don’t know that I really have a bucket list. Obviously I have goals but “bucket list” implies more…finality? I don’t know.
Or maybe more generality? Like, a bucket list item could be “have a short story published” but a goal is “publish this short story in particular.”
I hope I’m making sense.
From a bucket list standpoint, I’ve done a lot of general things. I’ve sold short stories, published novels, taught classes, and been on panels at conventions. I’ve checked a lot of the “I’m an author” boxes. And the ones I haven’t, things like “become a bestseller” or “have a movie optioned” depend on other people. I’ve talked before about how frustrating it can be to have goals that rely on other people, and how you lose control because you can’t control what other people do. So while I would like those things, certainly, I still don’t think I would put them on any sort of bucket list for those reasons.
If we go back to those posts from above, I would say the Fantasy that’s really Scifi is the most attainable (and, as I mention in that post, City of Hope and Ruin fulfills it in some ways). I’d like to work on a science fiction series soon, which could lead into the Nakama one. The interlocking lives and dual timelines are still probably outside my reach, but I bet I could do them if I really tried.
But we’ve got to finish what we’re working on first. The freaking submission materials for Book 1. And then the revision on my scifi horror (and I need to get on that too so I can get it to my critique group in December and probably run it through the critique marathon in January). And then maybe something new?
We’ll have to see where we are.
What’s on your bucket list, squiders?
