July Accomplishments

As I mentioned yesterday, July was a pretty wild ride, at least for my writing. Here’s a rundown of what I accomplished.

• Drafted 39 poems
• Sent out my chapbook manuscript
• Submitted 10 poems (and admittedly did not send out work the last week of July, but will make up for it with a double submission this week)
• Finished a short story
• Began making mindful writing (specifically small stones) as a part of my daily work. As you might remember, I did the River of Stones challenge in January. Well, the practice lapsed through the rest of the winter and spring. But this month, the desire to have moments of quiet observation and reflection became very strong, so I returned.
• Finished the rough draft of Cutting Teeth. It’s just over 43,000 words, making it a novella rather than a novel. But, as I mentioned in an email to a friend, I’m okay with that. I feel at home with short poems rather than epics, with short stories over long ones, and with novellas rather than novels. I like condensed forms. I like creating works that can be absorbed and digested in the span of a rainy afternoon. Plus, the most recent issue of Poets & Writers noted that the novella is on the rise thanks to epublishing. I don’t plan to touch the draft for several more months because there are some other books I want to write as well, but I look forward to revisiting it soon.
• Attended the Body Bliss poetry workshop at Gemini Ink. It was taught by the amazing Celeste Guzman Mendoza and combined yoga, creative movement, reading and writing. I wrote two poems that made me very happy, and realized that I have to start reading Erica Jong. (I meant to blog about this more extensively, but drafting Cutting Teeth really ate into my time and energy.)

I’ve made some slight adjustments to the writing plan I set up at the beginning of June, if only because the original arrangement would not allow me to actually draft a book during NaNoWriMo, and it doesn’t feel right to have a November go by without giving it a shot. So my intentions for the rest of the year are as follows:

• Poetry every day
• August: do all research, plotting, and planning for my yet-untitled historical horror novel(la)
• Also in August: apply for the USPiM Merida Fellowship Award
• September: write first draft of historical horror novel(la)
• October: do all research, plotting, and planning for my yet-untitled fantasy novel(la)
• November: write first draft of fantasy novel(la)
• December: revisions to Cutting Teeth