Checking In

Checking the Submissions Log (I use an Excel spreadsheet, although I also recommend Duotrope's free submission tracker for registered users), I count exactly 29 submissions of five different stories sent out so far in August, with four rejections received already. Three of those were form rejections while one, from Necessary Fiction, came with short, but positive and helpful, comments. Soon I can sit back and wait for the rest of the rejections to come home. No, I'm not being negative, just realistic. Not to mention setting myself up to be oh-so-pleasantly surprised.

I also started a new story this evening. I'm looking forward to taking some new writing to my writer's group, as we start up again after a summer hiatus. Yes, I dare say it, brand spankin' new writing. Well, at least a new paragraph. That's what I've so far.

Still, me like.

Thanks for reading,

Stephen

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The submission mission continues apace, and I now have five different pieces out to twenty journals since August first. So how's it going with the new writing? Well, I'd have to honestly say it's not going. At all. I mean, I understand you actually have to start before you can go anywhere.

Thankfully, it's almost September. Fall is my favorite time of the year, and the back-to-school vibes always recharge my creative batteries. Not to mention that my writing group, the Bay State Scribblers, will be back to meeting more frequently, William Gibson is going to be at the Coolidge Corner Theater September 22, and I've signed up for three more Grub Street workshops.

Those courses include one full semester course, 10 Weeks, 10 Stories (yet again), this time with an instructor I haven't had before, Adrian Van Young, and two one-nighters, Writing as Performance with Amanda Keil and Creating Complex Characters with Lisa Borders.

One whiff of New England fall air, or one more Staples Back to School ad, and I'll be ready to go. I hope.

Thanks for Reading,

Stephen

Dominance of Submissions

The one-or-more submissions a day for the month of August experiment continues, with 15 new submissions, minus two rejections, out there. (In addition to a one-day turnaround from Catalonia Review, I've also heard from the twice-as-slow to respond, i.e. two-day turnaround, elimae.)

Most journals that have an electronic submission manager, particularly ones associated with university writing programs, seem to have acquired the exact same software, probably something open source (i.e. free). Note to self -- idea for a conspiracy / sci-fi / metafiction story. Hackers take down the entire literary journal publishing industry by infilitrating the submission manager software and instituting closed reading periods. The lives of the great majority of citizens are unaffected.

The problem now is that my writing has languished. Other than the fine-tuning edits of the three pieces I'm actively submitting I haven't created much, if anything, new this month. Apparently it's a different part of my brain that's engaged when I evaluate potential markets, fill out forms and write cover letters, and make new entries in my submission log, than the part that actually creates material to send out.

Hmmm. Or maybe I'm using the submission process as yet another excuse, albeit a nobler one, not to write. Damn, my internal censor is sneaky.

Thanks for reading,

Stephen

Submitting Through the Blog, I Mean Dog, Days of Summer

August -- the dog days of summer are upon us as Sirius once again approaches the sun. Siriusly. Those days when a frozen mudslide or a tall glass of sangria on the back porch sounds like a better option for many a writer than pounding your head against the keyboard for an hour or two. Well, if you don't feel like sweating out something completely new, consider this: many journals closed for 'the summer' actually open their reading periods in August, and might be looking for something cool and refreshing in their own in-boxes.

This month I'm going to try and fill my rejection-depleted submission log back up with plenty of active, pending, possibly even (oh, to hope), accepted submissions.

I started with three stories that had recently been rejected, and gave them a critical once-over. Two survived relatively unscathed (there's always a word, or a sentence, or a paragraph or two, that can be improved), and those are now both out to a couple of journals each, with more simultaneous submissions of them to go out as the month progresses. The third needs significant work on the beginning, but I hope will be going out later in the month as well.

At least one submission a day is my goal; 31 new outstanding entries in the log for the month. Hmm, that last bit means that for at least one day in August I'm going to have to send out at least two stories. You see, Catalonia Review rejected my story in one (count it, that's o-n-e, one) day, with the ever-helpful polite rejection note ("Thank you for sharing your thoughts and for letting us consider this work, but we will pass this time.") Not a record -- I've had a piece rejected on the same day that I sent it out -- but still pretty damn quick.

I'll survive. In the heat of summer I thrive.

Now how are we fixed for stamps?

Thanks for reading,

Stephen

The Crazy Train of Distraction

Distraction. High on the writer's Enemies List, this force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded, in the words of Obi-Wan. I guess those weren't the droids I was looking for.

Case in point:

You've started writing a new story about a teenager whose father believes that winning is everything in life, and if the son isn't winning, then the father is losing. The story opens with the teenager practicing for the seventh-grade talent show where he'll be playing electric guitar, a piece his father recommended he learn. So you ask yourself, what song is he going to play?

And so begins the hour-long distraction, powered by the internet. Top 100 Guitar Solos, videos, what was published when, oooo listen to this one, first came out in the early 80s, that's it... and before you know it, your writing time is up. With only 50 words to show for it. When you (and by you, I mean I) could have continued with the story, and saved the music details for another time.

Tomorrow night I'm going to use the laptop, and turn off the wireless router.

Tonight -- well, maybe just a little more quality time with Ozzy.

Thanks for reading,

Stephen.

P.S. That review I mentioned in the last post is up now, at The Review Review. Check it out.