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.

Everybody's a Critic - And You Can Be One Too!

My writing production this weekend primarily consisted of one literary magazine review for Becky Tuch's excellent website, The Review Review. In this review, and in previous reviews like this one, I dare to declaim to established authors about their publications (publications in magazines, let me say, that I would kidnap the editor's small children to be published in) things such as "... ultimately lacking in lasting meaning" and "...it could have been so much more." (I said some nice things, too, but nice doesn't make the headlines.)

What, other than my usual self-destructive impulses, gives me the right to say such things?

Well, because I read those writers' stories and thought about them. And then I thought about why I thought about them the way I did.

We don't all enjoy all of the stories that are published every year. This was brought home particularly well to me in the salon Ron MacLean hosted at Grub Street about the Best American Short Stories: 2009 anthology. Before each week's discussion we individually rated the night's stories as "Loved It, Hated It, or Indifferent." I don't recall a single story that didn't have at least one check mark in both the Loved It and Hated It categories. Then we spent the rest of each salon having the participants articulate Why or Why Not they felt the way they did, and reacting to each other's opinions.

The best gift you can give a fellow writer, in a workshop or in a review, is constructive criticism. But do realize that no matter how insightful you are, it's only your one opinion, and other readers may beg to differ. Note the importance of the word "constructive" there -- what I find most helpful is the explication of what is, and what isn't, working, in the story. Don't just say, "that's great" -- what was great about it? Give an example. Worse, don't say "it didn't work for me." (A.K.A. "I thought it sucked.") Tell them specifically what didn't work for you, and why, and how that element could have worked for you.

Otherwise you're just being a dick.

Which means if I really only said the story was "... ultimately lacking in lasting meaning," I'd just be being a dick.

What I actually said was: "The wandering point of view of this story gives the reader a fascinating and believable long-lens view of the gym, but makes it difficult to focus on what is happening on the floor and in the locker rooms beyond the external events – events rich in aberrant behavior, but ultimately lacking in lasting meaning." I hope that helps explain why the story in question didn't one hundred percent work for me.

It's easier to do this with someone else's work than your own, but once you get in the habit, it helps you to bring it home when you need it.

So go forth and be a critic -- but only to help.

My Story Sucks, and Here's Why

Today I gave up on "Goth Lolita." For now, at least, I'm done with it -- another false start added to the compost heap, hopefully one day to fertilize something better. After coming to that conclusion, I spent the rest of tonight's writing revising a short-short that started as a class exercise. That's the story I'll be taking to my writing group this weekend.

If I wasn't blogging about my writing - both successes and, more frequently, failures - I'd probably say to myself something like, "that sucks," or the slightly more explanatory "when the story bores the author, it's time to move on to something else" and, well, move on to something else. But for the audience at home, let's take a closer look, shall we?

Here's a list of questions that might shine a light into the darkness of your own suckage, and how I answered them about my story.

Does the opening sentence suck?

"Trent Delver was playing blackjack to kill time between shows when a dark-haired older woman in an elaborately old-fashioned black velvet and lace outfit, and a younger, similarly dressed woman with lipstick-red hair sat down at the table."

Not the suckiest first line I've written, but not great either. Awkward construction, passive voice, a noteable lack of emotion or tension, okay, it sucks. At least it introduces all the main characters, gives us a place, and hints at Trent's job.

What actually happens in the story (story fragment, in this case)?

Trent Delver, the POV character, meets Mimi/Amelia and her mother, Jennifer, at a blackjack table in Vegas. All wear bizarre clothes, described extensively - Trent because he's a piano player / singer between sets, the women because Mimi has a J-pop band and they like Japanese Loligoth fashion. Trent invites them to his performance, they invite him to their video shoot. At the performance Mimi warns Trent that her mother will try and seduce him in order to help Mimi's career. At the video shoot in the Valley of Fire, its hot and weird and Jennifer directs. That night Mimi is the one who tries to seduce Trent. (To Be Continued - Not.)

What do you see on the surface story that sucks here?

Trent's name (I know it's actually just his stage name, but it still sucks - it's a bad porn star's name). Jennifer's name (boring). Too much time spent on clothes, no explanation for the facination with Japan of these American women. Sounds like a bad male fantasy (oooo, they're both trying to seduce him!).

Should the story start where it starts?

Eh, probably not. The blackjack table is a red herring; gambling isn't important to this story. Better to start at Trent's show.

What does the POV character want, and what is opposing him?

This question stopped me cold. Trent doesn't want anything in the story. Mimi and Jennifer both want something from him but he's not opposing either one of them. That SO sucks. Which leads me to...

Is this the right POV character?

Probably not. Either Mimi or her mother would be better choices. They both want something in the worst way, and both are opposed by someone (each other).

Man, this story... sucks. I better stop while I'm behind.

Note to self: Write Less Sucky.

Thanks for Reading,

Stephen