So, it’s finally December. NaNoWriMo is over and I managed to complete the challenge with 50,011 words (according to the official word-counter, though Neo Office thinks I have a couple hundred more than that). I’m still not really DONE with my novel, but I’ve got the word count, and now I can concentrate on writing quality rather than quantity. It’s always nice to see how many words you can physically pump out when you’re not self-censoring and questioning your own abilities.
I rather like writing actual coherent stories, though, rather than crazily disjointed scenes that may or may not add up to something bigger.
My goal for December, therefore, is to write a short story a day. It doesn’t have to be 1,667 words long, but it should be a self-contained piece that fits into the overall theme I started in my novel. At that rate, I figure I will have a much higher quality “novel” to work with, and then I can get started on the editing process in January.
Maybe by next year’s Expozine I’ll even have a real live book to hawk!
Speaking of Expozine, I went on Sunday and mostly found that instead of interesting works I was eager to read, there were lots of things (and people) that I wanted to avoid. Too much hipster, not enough soul. Also, it was hot as hell in there, so I didn’t want to stay long anyway. It’s always a bit of a gong show, as I really really really want to support indie artists, but usually end up feeling pretty underwhelmed by the stuff on display. Or else I’m just too broke-ass to afford to buy the promising stuff (like this year, when I don’t even have rent money and am living on my credit card til I get paid, YIKES!).
I feel bad dissing Expozine, as I know it’s supposed to be a forum for the underground artists and people who aren’t supported by the boring mainstream, but… dude, if you’re gonna call it ExpoZINE, then for fuck’s sakes make the damn thing be about ZINES! I’m sick of wading through arts and crafts bullshit, especially when they have nothing to do with reading material whatsoever. Case in point: the woman who was selling stuffed fish. Not only did these ugly things barely resemble fish, but she was there last year hawking this crap with the world’s most annoying “fishmonger” shouts of “Get your fresh fish!” and whatnot. What did this have to do with zines? Absolutely nothing!
Seriously, people like that should be banned from Expozine. It’s one thing to sell buttons and t-shirts that are spin-off products to support your zine, but to blatantly sell something that has absolutely no connection with printed matter at a zine fair is bullshit. The organizers should be hard-asses about this and keep people who don’t have a “lit” vibe out. They have plenty of other arts and crafts fairs they can turn to; keep the zine fairs for zine lovers!
That’s my rant for the day. Viva indie publishing!
The palpable insecurities that waft through the venue are what make Expozine disappointing for me. Well, that and the inability to moooooove through the crowd.
And the being ignored by vendors who are busy chatting with their friends.
And the despair I feel for so many people claiming to be artists and yet they have the crappiest, most unappealing displays on their table. Piling all of the stuff they’ve ever made onto the table they appear to be sharing with 3 or 4 of their best buddies…..it’s just….sad.
But I still got some cool stuff in the 15 minutes I could stand being there before needing to claw my way out.
I didn’t want to say it, but you’re absolutely right about the insecurities and the vendors ignoring you. Of course, sometimes I was the cause of the vendors ignoring people (sorry Larissa!), as they were chatting with me instead of hawking their shit. Oh, Expozine, why can’t you just kick more ass instead of making us all want to flee the hipster parade?