This blog is my open journal, mostly focusing on my writing journey. I have lots of posts about things I’ve learned as a writer that helped me with craft. These are my favorite posts, because putting that information out there has a tiny chance of reaching the right person and helping them with their journey. I want to leave the world better than I found it, and I want other writers to benefit from my experiences.
Not all of my posts are about writing, though, and that’s okay. These deviations are generally about my views and experiences, and all of these odd topics contribute to my writing as subject material. Common themes in my stories center on politics, religion, spirituality, and above all else, love. My odd posts here are reflections of all the oddities inside me, which may or may not shine through in my stories.
Almost every October, I dedicate myself to writing a blog post a day, and I usually come up with a plan at the beginning of the month because coming up with a topic on the fly every day is surprisingly difficult. Every time I’ve succeeded at Blog-tober, I’ve succeeded at NaNoWriMo. So if I want to write 50,000 words in November, I generally have to plan for October.
This year, I’ve been doing Blog-tober on hard mode, and 10 days into this exercise, I’m feeling it. Hence, I’m writing this very metatextual post, which are my least read blog posts. No one wants to read a blog post that’s talking about the blog itself. That’s okay, though! People only read the posts I promote, and I’m not promoting all of my posts this month since many of them are low effort, self-indulgent exercises.
Since I’m a third of the way through October, and I still have a desire (if not the energy) to complete NaNoWriMo this year, I should make a plan for the rest of this month. While I’m at it, I should figure out what novel I’m going to start in November, as well as figure out everything else I need to do this month in order to achieve my goals.
First, here are the topics I’m going to use starting from the 11th and going through to the 31st:
- 11 — Star Wars in 2021
- 12 — Culture Frozen by Technology
- 13 — The Next SciFi Wave
- 14 — Valheim
- 15 — Social Media
- 16 — Cell Phones – Less is More
- 17 — Am I a Technophobe?
- 18 — Othering
- 19 — Missed My 30 Year Reunion
- 20 — Something about Goals
- 21 — Finding the Energy to Pursue Tasks
- 22 — Being a Lazy Eater (Revisited)
- 23 — Body Dysmorphia and Aging
- 24 — De-escalation
- 25 — Themes
- 26 — < I’ll think of something >
- 27 — < I’ll think of something >
- 28 — < I’ll think of something >
- 29 — < I’ll think of something >
- 30 — Outlining for NaNo 2021
- 31 — Being THAT House on Halloween
This looks like a good plan, and some of the posts are sure to be spicy. It’s difficult coming up with topics, especially when this blog has been running as long as it has. There’s only so many things I feel like I can intelligently talk about, and I hate to repeat myself.
For the 4 days I haven’t figured out yet, I’m sure something will come to mind between now and then. There may be a current event I’ll want to talk about.
Now that I’ve figured out Blog-tober… do I have any idea what I’m going to do for NaNoWriMo?
Not exactly. There’s a fantasy story I tried in 2011, and I’m still very interested in writing that story. It’s high on my list of potential stories. On the other hand, I’ve been itching to write an actual cyberpunk story, and not something with cyberpunk elements. Also, it might be in my best interest to write a humorous SciFi story. I’ll continue to think about these possibilities, then make a hard decision on the 30th.
Before November arrives, there is something else I must do before I start the next novel. I have a Synthetic Dreams problem, in that I can’t stop thinking of that story, and it’s interfering with my ability to draft something new. Before November arrives, I need to finish the next revision on that novel so that I can feel comfortable sharing it with people.
There’s also the Magic Typewriter short story I started that I’d like to finish, but I’m not sure that’s in the cards. It’s a good story, but I’m not feeling particularly passionate about it right now. Once I get a little deeper in, I’ll feel better. At the moment, it just feels like work.
In December, I’ll rest. If I’m feeling energetic, I’ll keep writing, but that’s not usually what December feels like when I’ve had a successful NaNoWriMo in November. I’m not planning on writing anything in particular in December, but I’m sure I’ll work on something just to maintain my sanity.
Also, I have plans on going to WorldCon in December. That will have some kind of impact on my writing. Usually after attending a con, I feel extra motivated. Maybe after WorldCon, I’ll finish whatever project I started in November.
That’s the plan for 2021! Tomorrow, I’m going to talk about Star Wars again. I’m looking forward to it, because talking about Star Wars on the Internet never goes wrong.