This week, Facebook reminded me that exactly one year ago, I received the cover art for my chapbook. It lent to a positive start to my day, but also made me think about how little I’ve written and published since.

It’s not that I’ve completely stopped writing or submitting my writing to places, though my submission count for August is currently at zero. There are many reasons for this, which I’ve covered in recent posts: a new home, a new job, preparing for a major event, and now organizing several small events.

Another reason is that I would like my next book to be full-length, rather than a chapbook. To that end, I have three books in varying stages: a poetry collection, a novel, and a non-fiction book. I’m equally excited to work on all of them, but they each have their unique challenges. For the poetry collection, I am worried about cohesiveness and organization; for the novel, I need more to bridge the gaps between acts and to make my protagonist more likable than she currently is; for the non-fiction book, I need to engage in much more research and fact-checking.

My primary writing goal for August is to pick just one of these to focus on, and to maybe use NaNoWriMo (which is coming up so soon!) as impetus to get it done. It’s been a few years since I finished NaNo, though last year I got surprisingly close to 50,000 words…on the novel that needs a more likable protagonist. 🙂

Will I be able to organize my thoughts? Will I be able to focus on just one writing project until completion? I’m not sure, but if I can, I’ll share how I managed!

• Current drink: water
• Current book: The Fine Art of Copyediting by Elsie Myers Stainton
• Current e-book: Grimm, Grit, and Gasoline edited by Rhonda Parrish
• Current music: love-sadKiD – “Something More” w/ Paper Latte (prod. Frith)