If you look up how many words you have to write before you have a novel, the lower threshold goes down to around 50,000 words. That’s sort of an average, genre notwithstanding. But there it is. Write 50,000 words and, poof!, you’ve got a novel.

That may be why NaNoWriMo sets that lofty goal for the month of November, but it’s roughly half the length of what you’ll find on your bookstore shelves.

Introducing: the commuter-length novel.

In this brave new world of e-publishing, novels of this length are very marketable. Look at it this way; you can write one 150,000-word behemoth, or three commuters. Which will yield higher dividends in your virtual book store?

As a writer who struggles with the short story, I find this category intriguing. I sit down to write a nice, marketable 7,500-word short story, and end up with 12,000 words.

Another way to think about it is this: how quickly does the average reader read? How long is the average trip to work, or the average trip on a plane? Try selling your fiction, at whatever length, not by actual length, but by the approximate length of time it would take to read.

It’s just another approach to marketing, catering your message and the way that you present your work to the specific habits of your readership. Talk about customized content!

So whether you self-publish or are considering the professional route, this is a trend to keep an eye on. Here are a few interesting perspectives I found in a quick search. They may lead you in new directions of your own.

Commuter Fiction—Making a Case for Short Kindle e-books?

Ah, conventions. Where writers let their hair down, and occasionally get their nails painted.

They also meet other writers, and readers, and fans. And agents and editors and publishers. And generally really cool people. It’s like a vacation, where you go to school with like-minded people. For a social person with a solitary hobby, it’s like heaven. The two places I get that are my writing group, the Brooklyn Speculative Fiction Writers, and conventions. Of the two, conventions are where you network, and actually meet some of those people whose blogs you’ve been following, podcasts you’ve been listening to and books you’ve been writing.

As I further my presence as a writer, I find conventions more and more essential. I just added a page to my website with a calendar of conventions. So if you want to know where I’ll be, perchance to meet, this is the place to find out.

But in short, I’ll be doing the following cons for sure:

Flame Con, New York’s first LGBTQ comics expo, Saturday, June 13

Readercon, in Burlington, MA, July 9-12

World Fantasy Convention, Sarasota Springs, NY, November 5-8

Plus, I was thinking about adding one of two workshops: either Gen Con Writer’s Symposium or Pikes Peak Writers Conference. Anyone out there have experience with either of these workshops that they’d like to share with me? The only advantage Pikes Peak has is that my family lives there and I wouldn’t have to pay for a hotel room. Other than that, I’m open.

Under what conditions does creativity thrive?

That’s a question that has been asked by most people engaged in a creative activity, particularly if they’ve gone through a slump.

There’s a theory that creativity happens in the blank spaces, when your mind has nothing else to do. When you mind “wanders,” it’s really keeping itself occupied, thinking things over, making things up.

It’s that whole “I get my best ideas in the shower / on the toilet / while I’m doing dishes / while I’m folding the laundry / on my commute” notion.

While I’M doing those things, I’m listening to music or podcasts, or playing mindless games on my phone. Recent research says I should have been doing nothing at all. I should have been allowing myself to be bored.

I’ve had a sneaking suspicion this was the case. Where do ideas fit in to a life crammed to the breaking point with stimulus, with things to occupy every waking second?

So when NPR’s New Tech City program reported that they were starting a series called “Bored and Brilliant,” my ears perked up.

The first step is to download an iPhone app called Moment, which tells you how often and for how long you access your iPhone (35 minutes so far today). If you sign up on the app, you can participate in New Tech City’s experiment, and they’ll see your phone data.

The series officially begins February 2. I’ll report on my progress here, but I’d love if any of my readers would join me. Who’s in? Check out the promo and comment if you’re interested. Heck, comment anyway!

I dislike the term “writers block.” I think it’s an overused generalization that can cover up a lot of underlying causes. It can be a fear-based procrastination attempt, a hint at a fear of failure (or even success) lurking beneath the surface. It can be a clue that someone isn’t cut out to be a writer, that they lack the fundamental urge to tell stories. But more often than not, I believe it’s a sign that you’re not taking proper care of yourself.

The times I don’t feel like writing or feel as though the idea well has gone dry can be traced back to a number of physical causes:

• I haven’t gotten enough sleep. This one probably accounts for 80% of the time I struggle to be creative.
• I’m feeling emotionally run down. Usually this is because I haven’t gotten enough sleep.
• The well isn’t dry, it’s just low. I’ve been pushing myself too hard, and I need to recharge, whether that means visiting a museum or read non-fiction to soak up ideas, or…

I need to exercise. That’s a big one. When life derails all my attempts at fitness, as it did in the last quarter of last year, my creative output falters, and with it the confidence I have in my creativity. It can take a while to get back on track. Time, and a few runs, and a few sessions of yoga, and several trips to the gym.

I’ll still be going to museums, and sampling new experiences, reading outside my usual genres (check out the excellent Selected Shorts episode celebrating Hunter S. Thompson), journaling, and other activities that feed my creative side, but mostly, I’ll be taking care of the body that fuels the brain that tells the stories. It’s not just good for you, it’s good for creativity, too.

Here’s a sampling of a few articles that make the same point:

How Physical Health Supercharges Creativity

Healthy Body, Healthy Mind: How Physical Health Impacts Creativity

A Creative Life is a Healthy Life

I’m not big on resolutions. It’s not that I don’t think they’re valuable. I’m just more of a year-round goal-oriented guy.

Last year, one of my goals was to do NaNoWriMo and write a novel. That didn’t go so well. In fact, it turned out I was way more interested in my outline than I was in the novel that I started to write from it. So that will get a big ol’ revision. Later.

This month, I address one of my biggest writerly flaws…fear of editing. Or just avoidance of editing. It’s not my favorite part of the process. The problem with loving writing more than editing is that I write things that never get edited. Which means I get very few things finished.

So I’m dedicating January to editing. I’ve got a finished first draft story that needs a thorough edit before I can submit it to my writing group. I’ve got an embarrassing number of stories that have been critiqued by my writing group but I have done nothing with those notes. And I have a novel that I’ve been submitting for critique that, as a result, now needs massive edits.

Though I’m not so resolution oriented, I’m still inspired by the new year to try new things. This month – science fiction! I’m very much a fantasy writer, but I’ve been feeling the urge to really try to write something purely technological. No magic. No super heroes. No ghosts, or any other supernatural elements, for that matter. Just a human story influenced by the technology that surrounds and infuses human lives.

Several years ago I took a stab at this National Novel Writing Month thingy that everyone who’s anyone who’s a writer or who wants to be a writer may or may not be talking about.

The challenge, for those of you who are unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo (as it’s called), is to set all propriety and internal criticism aside and pour 50,000 words onto paper or into the word digesting device of your choice. Those words should be part of a novel, that you cannot start writing before midnight on Oct. 31st. You can do all the pre-planning you want.

Now, I’ve never been much of an outliner. I’ve been what is called a “pantser,” (writing by the seat of my pants, which gets me strange looks on the subway), but this year, I have 24-page outline for my new novel (see this blog entry) that contains an overview, characters, locations, a 3,000+ year timeline, and a scene-by-scene breakdown of the whole story. It’s a daring departure from “uh, I wonder what should happen next.”

I’d like to see how it affects my ability to crank out words on a daily basis. In 2009, when I last attempted this mad dash toward literary meltdown, I wrote the first 23,000 words of “Warden of Dragons,” the young adult book I finished writing a few months ago. It was worthwhile just to try, though I should have known it was foolish to try to write a novel AND prepare to perform in a holiday show with my singing group, Uptown Express.

This year, I have no such barrier. Though I am still reeling from the recent passing of my mother from an extended bout of first lung cancer, then brain cancer. The excitement that would normally come from starting a new project is muted as I process this new world in which I no longer have a mother. But the memories I have of her are good ones, and perhaps something of that will find its way into my new book.

I’ll try to post here, at least briefly, as I flounder my way through NaNoWriMo, so stay tuned. Any words of encouragement and support you have will be greatly appreciated!

Goal accomplished! One story, published, at professional rates. The first of three I will need to publish in order to qualify to join the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Or I can join right away if I get a book published by a qualifying publisher.

But meanwhile, go! Read! Enjoy!

Level up! How many experience points for professional publication? Surely I’m a Level 2 writer by now. Maybe Level 3!

Today is the first of many milestones I have yet to achieve. Two more stories to join SFWA. Then, joining SFWA. Getting an agent. Then getting a book published. Getting a contract for multiple books from a major publisher. Getting a new tattoo to commemorate any of the above. Etc. Etc. Etc.

It’s a lifetime of achievements I look forward to making. But meanwhile, I will relish today.

And annoy the crap out of anyone who will listen.