Wednesday, November 2, 2022

IWSG - Saying Nope to NaNo & October News

It's November! My birthday month! But first it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group.


Created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, the IWSG provides a place where writers can air their insecurities and both get and give support to fellow writers. Anyone can join. Simply click on Alex's name and put your blog on the linky list.

This month's co-hosts are Diedre Knight, Douglas Thomas Greening, Nick Wilford, and Diane Burton.

The optional question: November is National Novel Writing Month. Have you ever participated? If not, why?

I've never fully participated. While running local events for a writer's group, I had several unpleasant experiences with whatever the "official" local folks are who run things under the guise of the overarching group. Ever since then, I've had zero interest in being a part of anything they have to do. 

However, I've long done my own version where I set my own rules, especially as I'm primarily a short story author. It started as ShaNoShoStoWriEdSubMo (Shannon's Novel and Short Story Writing, Editing, and Submitting Month). I set my own realistic goals for what I needed to achieve to further my own specific career. This month I'm in a class and I also have novel editing to work on, plus I'll be attending the 20 Books to 50k writing conference in Vegas, so I likely won't be setting any ShaNo goals, but I encourage others to use the energy of NaNo to set their own goals if they don't want to or can't participate in the bigger group. That gathered energy of writers can promote a lot of progress and provide support.

I have some news before I jump in with my October submission stats. October is always a busy month for me (gee, I wonder why), but the below are some things you can enjoy for free!


I had a story come out on Halloween in a special double issue, and it's free to read! You can check out "A Few of His Favorites" at Indecent Magazine.

I was also a guest on two podcasts, both of which went live in the last week:


The Bookshelf Odyssey is an author podcast. You can listen to my conversation with Art at Buzzsprout or search your favorite podcast platform. The video version can be viewed on YouTube.


Paranormal: The New Normal is a paranormal podcast (clearly, haha), so I talked about some experiences from my life. I did previously post the video of this, but it is now out on podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple.


I also did a reading of one of my unpublished stories, "The Pitter Patter of Little Feet" for Stories Live! The theme was: The future is dark. You can view it on YouTube. (If you're interested in reading on one of the monthly episodes, let me know on here and I'll connect you with Amy Armstrong, who puts these together and hosts them.

Okay, time for my submission stats for October. I do this each month with my IWSG post in order to keep myself accountable. 

2 acceptances

1 request to send a new story

1 publication release

7 rejections

11 submissions

20 stories currently on submission

8 stories in limbo until I have time to sit down, research, and submit

Are you submitting? Any submission news? What are your insecurities? Are you participating in NaNoWriMo?

May you find your Muse.


19 comments:

Liza said...

I agree that it's best to set your own goals. For some folks, a month works. For me, well, I'd probably freeze in horror at the very beginning. Sounds like you have had some good successes this month!

Natalie Aguirre said...

That's great that you use NaNo to set your own goals. Congrats on your story being published and the two acceptances in October.

Leigh Caron said...

ShaNoShoStoWriEdSubMo - very clever. and wow about all your submission stats.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Shame the local group are such sourpusses about it. Just do your own thing on your own schedule.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

If your own version works, stick with it.

Jemi Fraser said...

My insecurities are myriad - imposter syndrome hits me hard!
I love NaNo - it works really well for my bouncy brain :)
Have fun at 20books!!!!

Bish Denham said...

I've done NaNo a couple of times, but just didn't really seem to work for me. I like your version, I my do something like that for myself.

Miffie Seideman said...

I love the ShaNo idea! I'm not participating either, and setting my own goals for the month. I may start nicknaming the month ShanNo after this! lol. Good luck with your projects!

emaginette said...

October was busy for you. Looks like you've got the submission gig down to a fine art. :-)

Anna from elements of emaginette

Loni Townsend said...

That was a busy October. Dang, sucks that the local officials ruined NaNo for you. But it sounds like you've got your own system working well!

cleemckenzie said...

It seems you have had a busy month with publications and podcast interviews! Good for you. I'll check out the YouTube video of that podcast.

Douglas Thomas Greening said...

I really like the idea of setting a monthly set of goals, not just A goal. Mind you, it would be nice if I was able to hit the one goal I already do have for myself at least once before I get too ambitious.

Thanks for sharing.

Rebecca M. Douglass said...

Congrats on the acceptances, and maybe more so on how many stories you have on submission! I'm proud of myself for having sent just one out in October (it's already back with a rejection).

I enjoy tapping the energy of NaNo, and since I like to draft my novels in a spurt anyway, it kind of works for me. In years when I haven't been ready to do a novel and I've tried to tap in for other projects, it's been harder.

Damyanti Biswas said...

I've been slammed with work lately, NaNo doesn't seem possible for me for a while, until the storm clears out :(

Olga Godim said...

Setting my own goals sounds more reasonable to me than the mandatory 50K in one month for NaNo. That is too much pressure.
Congrats on your acceptances and recent publications.

Victoria Marie Lees said...

First, Happy Birthday, Shannon! All best to you, my dear!

Bravo on all your accomplishments here. Way to go! You truly are an inspiration to me. And I love your version of NaNo. Great idea. I don't do NaNo either. All the luck with your forthcoming commitments and adventures. Have a beautiful weekend!

diedre Knight said...

It's (or was) your birthday? Hope it was wonderful! Enjoyed your podcasts.
I admire your tenacity. Not sure I could keep up the pace, but you make it all look so easy ;-)
Enjoy the season!

Yvonne Ventresca said...

Happy Birthday!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Liza, I think it's most important to do what works for us.

Natalie, thank you!

Leigh, thank you!

L. Diane, it seems to be part of the system in this city, because even with changes to the group, they've been problematic. It's unfortunate.

Alex, it does!

Jemi, I hope you have a great NaNo month!

Bish, good luck with whatever you choose!

Miffie, you can call it MiNo!

Anna, sometimes I do and sometimes it hands me my behind.

Loni, hopefully they're better now, but they were problematic for a decade, so I have no interest in finding out if they're better. :x

Lee, thank you for checking that out!

Douglas, good luck with your goals! I really like SMART goals for figuring things out, but I also found breaking major goals down into smaller ones makes them more doable.

Rebecca, awesome that you got a story out on submission! The rejection just means it's time to submit it elsewhere. It will find a home.

Damyanti, I hope things calm down for you some. I understand the feeling, for sure.

Olga, I think it's better to set doable goals and make them matter to you personally.

Victoria, thank you so much!

diedre, I definitely struggle sometimes. Thank you! (My birthday is Nov 20!)

Yvonne, thank you!