… I sat down last night and compiled a list of all the fiction I’ve written, started, or for which I have ideas developed enough to at least begin writing.  I tend to be something of a pantser, so I don’t always know everything that’s going to happen when I type the first sentence, but  usually I have some idea of what the ending will be or the general direction the story will take.

Anyway, I’m trying to get some stuff out there this year, and I’m not going to rely solely on anthologies and magazines (print and electronic) to do that.  I don’t have control over editors and what they choose.  Some stuff I’m going to make available myself through my own publishing outfit.

It was a little surprising.  I didn’t include anything that had been published or, with one exception, sold but not published.  The exception was sold to an anthology that never saw print half a decade ago.  I also didn’t include anything that is currently under submission.  The list was strictly work that hasn’t been seen beyond beta readers.  Most is stuff that hasn’t gone out into the world.

I came up with a list of just over 50 titles, ranging from novel length to novella to novelette to short story.  There was even one poem.  The genres included horror, sword and sorcery, humorous fantasy, sword and planet, hard science science fiction, time travel, and crime/noir.  There’s even something that could turn out to be a YA fantasy novel.  A lot of these are barely started, and others need a bit of work.  A few though only need some tweaking.  The stories in this category tend to be longer than what an unknown newbie can expect to place in a major short fiction market but aren’t quite book length.  Eleven stories are in a particular sword and sorcery series, but there are three or four more series represented.

Anyway, why did I do this and why am I making it public?  First, to help me get focused on writing by forcing myself to see what needs to be finished.  In other words, I’m trying to get my act together.  And as for telling anyone who has read this far, I’m looking for some positive peer pressure to get off my butt and stop being a lazy bum.

So anyway, that’s where I’m at on the writing front.  I’m not going to limit myself to just the works on the list.  If I get a great idea, or if I see a market I want to try to hit, I’m going to do it.  But this will (I hope) help me get some momentum and get stuff out the door.