The Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

IWSG Day, November 1, 2017, NOVEMBER, The Month of NaNo










Hello Everyone,

It is the first Wednesday of the month, and IWSG Time. 

IWSG is a writer support group created and led by Alex Cavanaugh. It is a big help to many of us who do not mind sharing our insecurities, our successes or giving encouragement and help to others. 

So, if you are interested and would like to join, the link below will lead you directly to us:


My report:

Submissions – None – (I am busy revising and will start submitting again in December or January 2018.


Outstanding Submissions


Three poems to the Lascaux Review – Still Outstanding





November, The Month of NaNo


Lying in my stack of books to write on my Evernote program are five novels that I have yet to finish. Three of them stem out of NaNo (National Novel Write More) an event I have been participating in for the last seven years. This year, I have not signed up for the very reason that it is time to take those manuscripts out of the stack and get them to the finish line. After I finished the debut, I plan to dive into one of them again.

For me, participating in NaNo comes down to me asking myself why am I writing? Am I writing to publish or writing just to be writing? Since almost everything I do is attached to my vision; I do my best to develop clear goals that are going to keep me moving forward. We tend to forget, or at least I do, that the journey is not infinite. It will end one day. Keeping this in mind, I want to move these books out of the dormant status and see them published, and that is not my being morbid.

There are people I need to touch with what I write, and I cannot do that as long as my books are sitting in a stack on my computer in my Evernote program or Scrivener.  Besides that, I find it a waste of my time to write just to be writing with no goal in sight. Not that that is wrong. This is not a judgment call on anyone but me.

For this year and maybe the next three years, I am not consciously planning to participate in NaNo. I am making it dependent on how fast the books I have already written take to get on the bookshelves of online vendors, bookstores, and libraries.

Have a lovely month of November and to those of you who are participating in NaNo, the best of luck to you.

Walk carefully through November and stay safe.











Shalom aleichem,
Pat G 

33 comments:

  1. The take this month to do some polishing! Someone is waiting to read what you wrote.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are so focused. I admire that. Aleikhem shalom

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'll be finishing up a project and polishing this month too. I like to have goals as well. It helps my focus. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Have fun diving back into those manuscripts!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good luck with NaNo. We can do this. Thanks for telling me about that broken link. Here is the fixed link if you need it still to vote for Lee's book.
    https://www.tckpublishing.com/readers-choice-voting

    Yeah I am ready to get some stuff published too not just free on my blog to read. Again best of luck, HUGS

    Juneta @ Writer's Gambit

    ReplyDelete
  6. I agree with Alex. I know your words have had and will continue to make an impact. In their time, those waiting stories will grace the laps of eager readers.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sounds like you have the right idea to take NaNo time to do some polishing this year instead of writing. I know there are real gems among those manuscripts! Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  8. As Alex mentioned, someone is waiting to read what you wrote... ME!! I'm delighted that you are going to start polishing the stories you wrote so that they can be published. You have such a wonderful drive. I'm applauding you! You are a winner!

    ReplyDelete
  9. "For me, participating in NaNo comes down to me asking myself why am I writing? Am I writing to publish or writing just to be writing?" Yes! (jumps up and down in her seat like an overeager second-grader) That's it exactly. I'm 55, and know that my years left on this plane of existence are not limitless. Time to publish or get off the pot. I'll be back in the query trenches with my mystery novel in January, and if I don't have success by the end of June, I'll self-pub that one. As you say, these novels aren't touching anyone if they exist only in my office. Best of luck with your publishing journey.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Polishing is just as important as writing that first draft. Get those projects edited and in the best shape possible!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm taking the month to rewrite too :-) Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Keep up the good work, Pat. I hope you are well and that you keep smiling throughout the winter months. Take care.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I like your questions. I often ask myself that and what I find interesting is that my answer varies. Sometimes I am writing just to write, and I rather like that I do. "This is for me," I say and let fly with whatever I want.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I think you are spot-on. Tackle those drafts, and make them into books. Though for me, I need to kind of alternate, draft one, edit one...
    —Rebecca
    My IWSG Post

    ReplyDelete
  15. I totally understand, Pat. Do what works for you. It is frustrating to not finish anything but to continue writing ad nauseam.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great plan: to finish what you started. I need to do that too, as I also feel my mortality nipping at my heels.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Yes, Pat, you have a gift to share with readers. Don't let that gift lie dormant in your unpublished pages. Great vision.
    JQ Rose

    ReplyDelete
  18. I have to be in the right head space and the write story space to do NaNo. I too have several MSs languishing on the computer needing that final polish. But they need some time to marinate so I'm diving into NaNo again :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. I like your idea. I'm not and have never done NaNo but I like to cheer people onward.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I'm trying to do Nano, but I'm not going to lie; I may give up. :) Here's what I wrote in reply to your comment on my blog about Litsy: Yea! You joined! I looked for you, but didn't know what name to search under, so you'll have to let me know what your handle is so I can shout you out on the app. I'm not sure about the picture. I don't think it needs to be a specific size, but it may need to be relatively small. I'll leave a comment on your blog in case you don't read this.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I'm with you. I have enough unfinished works lying around, why should I start a new one? Good luck with polishing up that big debut!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Have fun polishing your manuscripts, Pat!
    Happy November!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Consider all the writing you've done as practice. Definitely not a waste of time. Now that you have a focus, whip those manuscripts into shape and get them out there. We all want to read them. Best wishes and good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  24. I have a few dusty manuscripts I could try to clean up. I never thought to use NaNo to revise. Good thinking!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'm using NaNo this year to polish for a submission in December. You're right, can't let them stack there forever.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and offering your words of encouragement. I'm so sorry for not responding sooner, life got in the way.
    I think it's good that you are taking time to work on stories you started in past years. I think there is a time and place to write just for the sake of writing, but it's more important to know when that time has passed. I wish you all the best and can't wait to read what you've written.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I hope you manage to get your stories to the finish line!

    (Sorry for the late visit.)

    ReplyDelete
  28. That works too. =) I'm just bowing out of everything right now, but hey, we have to do what works best for us, right? Here's hoping you make some epic progress in the publishing vein this month!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Sorry so late--been very sick again--still. I agree with you about writing which is why I don't do the NaNo. I have book I need to reach others and change their lives. If Nano taught me how to write fast, I would worry about the quality and spend the same time rewriting and editing as I am on the book I'm doing now. Love You!!

    ReplyDelete
  30. I suppose writing just for the sake of writing can be perceived to have some merit. That's kind of how I look at blogging, although it is nice to have somebody reading and commenting on things I have to say. Writing for other productive outcomes would be nice too and if it involved payment then I think that could be exceptionally good.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

    ReplyDelete
  31. I completed my first NaNoWriMo challenge this year, something that no doubt God wanted me to do. I have the first half of a great novel, and I intend to finish. After the holidays I will once again choose a month, hopefully January to be diligent and write what He tells me to each day and complete the task. I needed the diligence badly. It has come not just as answered prayer to write a story, but it saved me from depression too. I know I must limit myself to one project at a time and follow the instructions He gave me. I hope you pick a month and work as hard finishing as you did beginning, I must. I love you, Patty! You can do this. He says you can!

    ReplyDelete

Your comment is waiting approval. Thank you for dropping by. Shalom, Pat Garcia