Thursday 3 January 2013

Where to Go Next?



2013 has started well for me with my story 'Dancing Queen', with its lovely illustration, published in the People's Friend and then today another sale to Woman's Weekly.
 
As the new year starts, it is inevitable that my thoughts are turning to what I want to achieve this year with my writing.
 
My options are:  
  • Carry on concentrating on writing short stories for magazines
  • Try a different genre of short story such as historical
  • Try writing a serial for these magazines
  • Try writing a pocket novel
  • Embark on a longer project (novel)
My gut feeling is not to run before I can walk and get another year of writing short stories under my belt to get more of a feel for what type of writing suits me. If I find that I create a character I like so much that I want to extent their journey into something longer, I shall go with it and see where it leads.

What I do know is that two years ago, when I was teaching English in a little private primary school, I had no idea that this was what I would now be doing - and I wouldn't change it for anything.

8 comments:

  1. What a great start to the year for you!

    I started writing my first novel for just the reason you suggest - I wanted to find out more about my character. I think you'll know when you're ready to give it a go because you won't be able to resist making the attempt.

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    1. What excellent advice, Patsy. By the way, I have just finished reading 'Escape to the Country'. two words to sum it up 'shamelessly romantic!'- an excellent example of its genre.

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  2. A very positive beginning, Wendy, well done! I, too, started with short stories (and articles) years ago before feeling the need to move on to include full length. I now love the variety of all the different types of writing. Joining the RNA New Writers Scheme helped me make the transition before that first novel sale.

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  3. What a great start to the new year, congratulations on the story in the People's Friend!

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  4. Thank you, Anne. Happy New Year to you.

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  5. Hi Wendy,
    what a lovely positive way to begin 2013! So upbeat and positive and a great idea to have clear writing goals - I'm a great believer in having goals, even when I don't stick to them ;O) Congratulations, too, for getting more stories out there! Brilliant! So exciting! And now I am going to embarrass myself by asking you what a "pocket novel" is - is it a novella?

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    1. Hi Marianne
      Thank you for your lovely comments. Please don't feel embarrassed about the pocket novel question - I didn't know what they were before last year. I have decided that rather than answer you here I shall answer it in my next post in case anyone else comes across my blog and wants to know.

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