Breathe - Insecure Writers Support Group for November 2013 #IWSG

This is my eighth monthly Insecure Writer's Support Group post. The IWSG is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the IWSG is: 

"to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!" 

This is my post for Insecure Writer's Support Group for November 2013. The topic I chose for this one 

is "breathe."

With the work I am doing writing my novel for NaNoWriMo, idea-generating for PiBoIdMo, writing for Write 

Write Non-Fiction in November and putting both the Jingle Bells anthology (almost done) and the SuperHERo 

Tales anthology together (not as done as Jingle Bells but also close), I feel like I haven't had time to just 

breathe, to relax and take a moment not to worry about how many projects I have completed today.

Now that the Jingle Bells anthology is almost finished and the SuperHERo Tales anthology is also close to being

done, I feel as though I am so close to being able to sit and take a breath. Yes, I still have a lot to do. And I still 

have NaNoWriMo and PiBoIdMo and Write Non-Fiction in November to complete, but the anthologies have a 

more urgent deadline if I want the authors to be able to buy print copies in time for Christmas, and once 

November is over, I will have The Talisman Chronicles to put together for all of those creative kids who wrote 

stories for it.

So right now, although I am still a little bit stressing about completing the anthologies, because the end is in 

sight, I can take a moment to rest. I can sit and breathe in the fresh air, blanking my mind of worries - just 

for a moment.

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#NaNoWriMo, #PiBoIdMo & the #JBAP and #CAFSC anthologies

November is a very busy month for me this year. I am putting together two anthologies, “SuperHERo Tales: A Collection of Female Superhero Stories and “Jingle Bells: Tales of Holiday Spirit From Around the World.” The plan is to have them available before December 1^st so that the authors and others can buy the books in print format in time for Christmas gift-giving.  Proceeds from SuperHERo Tales will be going to support the charity Because I Am A Girl, and proceeds from Jingle Bells will go towards the Chapter Book Challenge (ChaBooCha).

Here’s a sneak peak of the covers for both of the anthologies:

"SuperHERo Tales: A Collection of Female Superhero Stories"
cover art by Julia Lela Stilchen

"Jingle Bells: Tales of Holiday Spirit From Around the World"
cover art by Rebecca Fyfe

While putting together the Kindle and print versions of the anthologies, I am also participating in NaNoWriMo. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words of the first draft of your novel in 30 days, from November 1^st through November 30^th. I have participated in NaNoWriMo four times now, succeeding in reaching my 50,000 word goal every time. Two years ago, I wrote over 75,000 words during National Novel Writing Month and last year I wrote over 100,000 words during the challenge. This year, I will try and attempt to reach at least the minimum 50,000 words, because I have too many other things going on this month at the same time.

One of those other things that I have going on this month is that I am also participating in PiBoIdMo. Picture Book Idea Month is a challenge to write an idea down for a new picture book every day in the month of November. It’s a great way for me to take a break from my NaNoWriMo writing and working on the anthologies.

I’m also making sure to write posts for at least some of my blogs every week during the month.

I’m also doing some research this month on two of my non-fiction books, and I plan on writing the first chapter of each one by November 30^th, which will add at least another 2,000 words to the 50,000 I already need to write.  There’s a small part of me that would love to reach 100,000 words on my novel again this month like I did last year, but last year I didn’t have the anthologies ot put together so I am not going to add any more pressure to my workload right now. Maybe if I finish with the anthologies before the end of the month, as I am hoping to, then I will be able to focus even more time on my NaNoWriMo novel writing.

So in a nutshell, this is my to-do list for November:

1. Finish putting together the Jingle Bells anthology
2. Finish putting together the SuperHERo Tales anthology.
3. Write 50,000+ words of my novel
4. Research and write the first chapter of my Skinny Dreaming book and my other non-fiction book
5. Write down a new picture book idea every day
6. Post at least once a week on more than one of my blogs

It's a busy schedule, especially when taking into consideration school runs, cooking meals, daily exercise sessions, taking care of my children and walking the dog along with everything else from my day to day life. But I am capable of doing this, and I am looking forward to the challenge of it all.


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