Here we are in the beginning of Preptober, within one month of NaNo kickoff. September just flew by, and now it’s time to put some real thought into my NaNo project.
I’ve already decided to go rebel again this year, and work on short stories instead of a traditional novel. I’ve signed up for my project at NaNo headquarters. I’m actually more prepared this year than most.
Writing short stories sounds like an easy task. They are, after all, short. However, while it is true that a good bit of inspiration and some free time can allow a prolific writer to punch out a story like it’s nothing, they still require a vision, a good ending, and editing.
Besides, I’m not just writing a short story, I’m writing an entire collection. But what does a collection consist of?
I need to answer some questions before I can tackle this project:
What is my theme? Do I even need a theme?
What genre(s) will I be writing in?
How many stories should I write?
How long should they be?
Will they be a true collection or just several individual pieces?
Today I did some research on short stories, lengths, and prices. I’ve already decided to sell the stories individually. Basic pricing on Amazon shows that individual short stories are selling for anywhere from $.99 to $2.99 and ranging in length from 1,000–23,000 words.
In order to reach my goal of 50,000 words in the month of November, I’ll need to write some variation of the following:
50 stories at 1,000 words each
25 stories at 2,000 words each
10 stories at 5,000 words each
5 stories at 10,000 words each
2 stories at 25,000 words each
*Note: there are numerous options that require more math, but I’m keeping things light today.
I’d like to sell them for about $1 apiece, so that means shorter stories. The idea of writing 50 stories in 30 days is a little stressful. I think I’ll shoot for the second option of 25. That’s an average of 6 stories a week, or about a story a day.
Ok, that seems like a lot. But plans should be flexible. I might hit a streak of inspiration that leads to a 5,000 word story in week one. I am very open to this possibility.
Since I’m answering these questions in reverse order, we’re on to genre choices. I like to try my hand at various genres, so there isn’t much of a restriction here. In fact, I think the more varied the stories, the better. Being a pantser by nature, I think I’ll write the stories first and let the genres sort themselves out.
I’ve decided I don’t really need a theme. And so, we’re to the end of the first stage of planning. Now that I know the basics of what I want to write, I can start putting thought into the actual content.
This is where it gets fun. Happy writing, everyone!