It's just crazy to think about how fast a year can fly by.
I'm sitting here at my computer on New Year's Eve waiting for the ball to drop in New York City (they do that every year to remind me that the New Year is only an hour away) and thinking about everything that came out of this year. So many good things happened to me this year; the most important of them was becoming a dad for the second time.
There were some failures, sure, but overall 2013 was a hell of a year.
I wrote a few posts around this time last year stressing the importance of keeping written goals. It's still good advice. Pick the top 5-10 things you need to get done in the following year and write them down. Keep them specific. Don't just write "I'll lose weight." Instead, write "I'll lose 25 pounds." Then write a fairly detailed plan on what you'll do to get it done. In that plan, set smaller goals with deadlines that will build to your larger goal. ("I'll lose 2 pounds in January by walking 2 miles a day 4 days a week," or whatever.) Pick something that works for you.
Something else you should do tomorrow while you're waiting for the hangover to pass is pull out your goal book and write down you top ten achievements for 2013. You might have to struggle to come up with ten, but once you've done it, you'll feel pretty good about the previous year and get a quick boost of confidence to hit the New Year running.
Also look over your goals from the previous year and if there were any that you didn't achieve, write a quick note of why you didn't make it. And that doesn't mean I'm giving you permission to make excuses. Making excuses (or worse, assigning blame) won't help you or anyone else. Look at why you failed to meet a specific goal and learn from the failure.
So to close things out, I want to say that I really wish everyone reading this all the success in the world. Have a great New Year and don't waste a minute of it.
December 31, 2013
December 28, 2013
Until the End: An Anthology of Love V's the Apocalypse
My short story "Via di Porta Angelica" is available today in this anthology published by Horrified Press.
Until the End is currently available from lulu.com here: http://www.lulu.com/shop/horrified-press/until-the-end/paperback/product-21345493.html
Until the End is currently available from lulu.com here: http://www.lulu.com/shop/horrified-press/until-the-end/paperback/product-21345493.html
December 19, 2013
Goals and Progress Report
Yikes, it's been almost a month since my last post. No excuses; just sometimes life gets busy, right?
So 2013 is coming to a close pretty soon and I thought I'd like to close out the year where I started it and that is by writing about goals.
I can never stress enough the importance of setting goals and writing them down. Goals aren't dreams; they're the path to the dream. When you write down a goal, whether a yearly, monthly, or even daily one, you'll be able to do a better job staying focused on it and holding yourself accountable.
That doesn't make it easier to achieve, but it does raise your chances.
I wanted to briefly touch on the goals I didn't reach for the year though. I set some pretty steep writing goals this year and didn't hit them very well.
Now, to be fair, when I came up with these goals our second child was still on the way so I hadn't yet experienced what it was like having two young kids. Free time? Yeah right.
Anyhow, here's my progress report for the year.
1. Finish and submit one new short story each month. I started out pretty well, but in the end only got five new stories polished up enough to send off to potential publishers, although I'm almost ready with number six, so we'll call this one 6/12, 50%.
2. Write 2-3 blog posts each week. Counting publication announcement and short posts, I had 79 posts for the year. Let's round that up to 80 and assume that the goal was 130 (2.5 x 52). That makes 80/130, 62%.
3. Submit an agent query for my novel every week. I stuck with this one faithfully for 30 weeks before giving in and deciding to take a break and rewrite my query and synopsis, as well as do yet another revision. 30/52, 58%.
4. "Win" NaNoWriMo again. I didn't even try. With the baby and the toddler, not to mention my wife going back to work, there was no way I could put my family through this. Maybe next year...
So there you have it. I set some goals, tried my best, and didn't hit the mark. But that's okay. This was still my most successful year yet writing with nine short stories acceptances, a ton of short list rejections, and even some feedback in a couple of agent query rejections.
I've got some big goals set for the next year and I'll get into those in some future posts. Thanks for reading and I'll be back soon (hopefully.)
So 2013 is coming to a close pretty soon and I thought I'd like to close out the year where I started it and that is by writing about goals.
I can never stress enough the importance of setting goals and writing them down. Goals aren't dreams; they're the path to the dream. When you write down a goal, whether a yearly, monthly, or even daily one, you'll be able to do a better job staying focused on it and holding yourself accountable.
That doesn't make it easier to achieve, but it does raise your chances.
I wanted to briefly touch on the goals I didn't reach for the year though. I set some pretty steep writing goals this year and didn't hit them very well.
Now, to be fair, when I came up with these goals our second child was still on the way so I hadn't yet experienced what it was like having two young kids. Free time? Yeah right.
Anyhow, here's my progress report for the year.
1. Finish and submit one new short story each month. I started out pretty well, but in the end only got five new stories polished up enough to send off to potential publishers, although I'm almost ready with number six, so we'll call this one 6/12, 50%.
2. Write 2-3 blog posts each week. Counting publication announcement and short posts, I had 79 posts for the year. Let's round that up to 80 and assume that the goal was 130 (2.5 x 52). That makes 80/130, 62%.
3. Submit an agent query for my novel every week. I stuck with this one faithfully for 30 weeks before giving in and deciding to take a break and rewrite my query and synopsis, as well as do yet another revision. 30/52, 58%.
4. "Win" NaNoWriMo again. I didn't even try. With the baby and the toddler, not to mention my wife going back to work, there was no way I could put my family through this. Maybe next year...
So there you have it. I set some goals, tried my best, and didn't hit the mark. But that's okay. This was still my most successful year yet writing with nine short stories acceptances, a ton of short list rejections, and even some feedback in a couple of agent query rejections.
I've got some big goals set for the next year and I'll get into those in some future posts. Thanks for reading and I'll be back soon (hopefully.)
November 22, 2013
Five Links Friday 11/22/13
Back to share another five links that caught my attention over the last seven days.
1. From The Masquerade Crew, here is some Marketing Advice for Beginning Authors.
2. Your Writing Coach has some good advice for Instilling Intimacy into your Writing.
3. Music is definitely important to me (as my inclusion in Dark Side of the Moon: A Song Stories Anthology
might tell you) and what I listen to when I write greatly affects the result. Diana Maria talks about how music helps here with writer's block over at BackwoodsAuthor.com
4. Toby Neal takes a look at something all writers have been through in her latest post, Rejection, Straight Up, No Ice
5. And finally, here are the Top Ten Tips on “Leadership & Role Models” by Lakiba Pittman just because I'm into that type of thing.
See you soon, an as always have a great weekend.
1. From The Masquerade Crew, here is some Marketing Advice for Beginning Authors.
2. Your Writing Coach has some good advice for Instilling Intimacy into your Writing.
3. Music is definitely important to me (as my inclusion in Dark Side of the Moon: A Song Stories Anthology
might tell you) and what I listen to when I write greatly affects the result. Diana Maria talks about how music helps here with writer's block over at BackwoodsAuthor.com4. Toby Neal takes a look at something all writers have been through in her latest post, Rejection, Straight Up, No Ice
5. And finally, here are the Top Ten Tips on “Leadership & Role Models” by Lakiba Pittman just because I'm into that type of thing.
See you soon, an as always have a great weekend.
November 19, 2013
A fresh look at writing goals and NaNoWriMo
November is nearly two-thirds of the way through and I’m sure most writers at my level are currently pushing through their daily word counts trying to keep up with NaNoWriMo right now. Not me, though. For the second time in a row, I skipped it.
I started out the year expecting to hit NaNoWriMo hard this year and finish a 50,000 word first draft of another novel, but I just decided it can wait a year. I could go on and on about how busy life is right now (and it really is with a new baby and a two-year-old at home) but that’s not why I opted out. This year I just decided it wasn’t something I needed to do in order to reach my writing goals.
NaNoWriMo is an awesome way to finish a novel (or at least a good 50,000 word chunk of one.) It just isn’t necessary to do it every year. Just like with anything else, when you’re trying to make progress in writing, you’ve got to prioritize. My top writing priorities right now are to get a few more short stories published and then find a literary agent.
After getting around twenty-five agent rejections, I decided to put querying on hold momentarily and work on another revision of the first novel and then revamp my query letter and synopsis, incorporating some of the helpful feedback from the rejection letters. I also decided that since ten is a nice round number, I want to wait until I’ve published ten short stories. (I’m pretty close; with ten acceptances, but they don’t count until they actually hit the printing press.)
So to reiterate my goals for the remainder of this year and most of next year, I’ll keep working on short stories until ten have been published. After that, I’ll work on the revision of my first novel, as well as the synopsis and query letter. When I’m happy with that, I’ll start cleaning up the second novel as I wait for agent responses.
After both novels are in the process of finding an agent, it will be time to start working on the third.
And that should be right around November 2014.
I started out the year expecting to hit NaNoWriMo hard this year and finish a 50,000 word first draft of another novel, but I just decided it can wait a year. I could go on and on about how busy life is right now (and it really is with a new baby and a two-year-old at home) but that’s not why I opted out. This year I just decided it wasn’t something I needed to do in order to reach my writing goals.
NaNoWriMo is an awesome way to finish a novel (or at least a good 50,000 word chunk of one.) It just isn’t necessary to do it every year. Just like with anything else, when you’re trying to make progress in writing, you’ve got to prioritize. My top writing priorities right now are to get a few more short stories published and then find a literary agent.
After getting around twenty-five agent rejections, I decided to put querying on hold momentarily and work on another revision of the first novel and then revamp my query letter and synopsis, incorporating some of the helpful feedback from the rejection letters. I also decided that since ten is a nice round number, I want to wait until I’ve published ten short stories. (I’m pretty close; with ten acceptances, but they don’t count until they actually hit the printing press.)
So to reiterate my goals for the remainder of this year and most of next year, I’ll keep working on short stories until ten have been published. After that, I’ll work on the revision of my first novel, as well as the synopsis and query letter. When I’m happy with that, I’ll start cleaning up the second novel as I wait for agent responses.
After both novels are in the process of finding an agent, it will be time to start working on the third.
And that should be right around November 2014.
November 15, 2013
Five Links Friday 11/15/13
Okay, I'm back with five links I read during the week that are worth sharing. Give 'em a look.
1. From Brian Tracy's blog (a place you should visit at least once a week) here are 3 Key Leadership Styles That Create Personal Success. Remember, you don't need to be in management to lead.
2. On a similar topic, here are 7 Costs of Blame from John G. Miller's excellent blog.
3. Moving on to writing, here are some Inside Stories About Memorable Books from twenty prominent editors via Publisher's Weekly.
4. Here is a short, but informative post from Brian Klems at Writer's Digest answering the question: How Long Should Novel Chapters Be?
5. And here are 6 Self-Publishing Missteps You Should Avoid if you're looking into self-publishing, care of Terry Tyler guest posting at Molly Greene's site.
And that is all. See ya soon.
1. From Brian Tracy's blog (a place you should visit at least once a week) here are 3 Key Leadership Styles That Create Personal Success. Remember, you don't need to be in management to lead.
2. On a similar topic, here are 7 Costs of Blame from John G. Miller's excellent blog.
3. Moving on to writing, here are some Inside Stories About Memorable Books from twenty prominent editors via Publisher's Weekly.
4. Here is a short, but informative post from Brian Klems at Writer's Digest answering the question: How Long Should Novel Chapters Be?
5. And here are 6 Self-Publishing Missteps You Should Avoid if you're looking into self-publishing, care of Terry Tyler guest posting at Molly Greene's site.
And that is all. See ya soon.
November 11, 2013
Dark Side of the Moon: A Song Stories Anthology
My short story "Apollo 20" is available today in Dark Side of the Moon": A Song Stories Anthology, published by Song Story Press.
Take a walk on the Dark Side and leave your sanity behind. Tales of madness and twisted brilliance abound in this collection of stories inspired songs both classic and new.
Take a walk on the Dark Side and leave your sanity behind. Tales of madness and twisted brilliance abound in this collection of stories inspired songs both classic and new.
November 8, 2013
Five Links Friday 11/8/13
Taking a break from a busy November to bring back Five Links Friday...
1. From NaNoWriMo's Pep Talks, Malinda Lo takes a good look at the myths surrounding inspiration in writing.
2. Here's an article from Writer's Digest outlining 4 Reasons You Need A Business Plan For Your Book
3. And with that in mind, here's a great and detailed post (with numbers!) from Rachel Thompson telling you How Much Indie Authors Can Realistically Make
4. Here's a post from John G. Miller looking at personal accountability, which is something we all could improve on in one way or another: Personal Accountability: Fixing Me
5. And finally, here's an article from the New York Times that will make you think about what you really want to do with your life: I Want to Be a Millennial When I Retire
So there's your weekend reading. Enjoy.
1. From NaNoWriMo's Pep Talks, Malinda Lo takes a good look at the myths surrounding inspiration in writing.
2. Here's an article from Writer's Digest outlining 4 Reasons You Need A Business Plan For Your Book
3. And with that in mind, here's a great and detailed post (with numbers!) from Rachel Thompson telling you How Much Indie Authors Can Realistically Make
4. Here's a post from John G. Miller looking at personal accountability, which is something we all could improve on in one way or another: Personal Accountability: Fixing Me
5. And finally, here's an article from the New York Times that will make you think about what you really want to do with your life: I Want to Be a Millennial When I Retire
So there's your weekend reading. Enjoy.
October 4, 2013
Five Links Friday 10/4/13
If there's one thing anyone knows about me, it's that I love Halloween and I love just love the month of October in general. The weather, the horror movies, even the college football (although I usually stop paying attention to that after Nebraska loses their first game of the season.)
So to celebrate the great month, I'm going to post five links to websites where you can read free horror stories.
1. Nightmare Magazine is an online horror and dark fantasy magazine. In Nightmare’s pages, you will find all kinds of horror fiction, from zombie stories and haunted house tales, to visceral psychological horror.
2. The Horror Zine is a monthly e-zine that produces new issues the first of every month and anthology books that contain the creations of contributors.
3. Black Treacle is a free magazine of Horror, Dark Fantasy, and Speculative fiction. Published on a bimonthly schedule, each issue includes 4-5 pieces of original short fiction.
4. Circus of the Damned "A small publishing firm for people in hell." 'Nuff said.
5. Dark Fire Fiction is a webzine for horror readers and writers, with new stories published on a rolling basis.
And there you have it. Check out some of the great material on these free sites. Enjoy the month, and no matter what you do, don't tell Bo Pelini about the "fair weather" attitude I alluded to above...
So to celebrate the great month, I'm going to post five links to websites where you can read free horror stories.
1. Nightmare Magazine is an online horror and dark fantasy magazine. In Nightmare’s pages, you will find all kinds of horror fiction, from zombie stories and haunted house tales, to visceral psychological horror.
2. The Horror Zine is a monthly e-zine that produces new issues the first of every month and anthology books that contain the creations of contributors.
3. Black Treacle is a free magazine of Horror, Dark Fantasy, and Speculative fiction. Published on a bimonthly schedule, each issue includes 4-5 pieces of original short fiction.
4. Circus of the Damned "A small publishing firm for people in hell." 'Nuff said.
5. Dark Fire Fiction is a webzine for horror readers and writers, with new stories published on a rolling basis.
And there you have it. Check out some of the great material on these free sites. Enjoy the month, and no matter what you do, don't tell Bo Pelini about the "fair weather" attitude I alluded to above...
September 27, 2013
Five Links Friday 9/27/13
Back for another Five Links Friday.
I'm going with a theme this week. All five links are to articles or resources to help new writers recognize writing scams and frauds.
1. Writer Beware is a great resource sponsored by the SFWA keeping up-to-date info on writing scams and schemes.
2. Writer Beware Blogs! is a sort of supplemental blog for the Writer Beware site. Their tag: "Shining a bright light into the dark corners of the shadow-world of literary scams, schemes, and pitfalls." It's a must-read for any new writer.
3. From Anne R. Allen's Blog, here are Seven Deadly Writing Scams to look out for.
4. Alexandria Ingham gives us 3 Ways People Fall For Freelance Writing Scams.
5. And here is another from Anne R. Allen, showing us How to Spot A Bogus Literary Agent.
So this should be all you need to know as a new writer when it comes to protecting your work and avoiding the some of the scum out there that may be trying to rip you off.
I'm going with a theme this week. All five links are to articles or resources to help new writers recognize writing scams and frauds.
1. Writer Beware is a great resource sponsored by the SFWA keeping up-to-date info on writing scams and schemes.
2. Writer Beware Blogs! is a sort of supplemental blog for the Writer Beware site. Their tag: "Shining a bright light into the dark corners of the shadow-world of literary scams, schemes, and pitfalls." It's a must-read for any new writer.
3. From Anne R. Allen's Blog, here are Seven Deadly Writing Scams to look out for.
4. Alexandria Ingham gives us 3 Ways People Fall For Freelance Writing Scams.
5. And here is another from Anne R. Allen, showing us How to Spot A Bogus Literary Agent.
So this should be all you need to know as a new writer when it comes to protecting your work and avoiding the some of the scum out there that may be trying to rip you off.
September 20, 2013
Five Links Friday 9/20/13
Okay, we're back with five links for the weekend.
1. Chuck Sambuchino has a great article about the proper way to start your novel, aptly titled How to Start Your Novel.
2. Key Keppler has nice article on characterization over at Writer's Fun Zone: Give Your Characters Tough Goals
3. Here's an interview with author Destiny Blaine giving a lot of tips for aspiring writers. Definitely check this one out.
4. I don't talk a lot about non-fiction writing here, but I thought this article about business content writing was pretty useful: 5 Characteristics of a Great Content Writer
5. And finally, I might have posted this before, but I like to recommend watching it periodically. It's not related to writing, but it is related to success. It's a video from Dave Ramsey that everyone should watch: Drive Free, Retire Rich
And that's all for now. See ya soon!
1. Chuck Sambuchino has a great article about the proper way to start your novel, aptly titled How to Start Your Novel.
2. Key Keppler has nice article on characterization over at Writer's Fun Zone: Give Your Characters Tough Goals
3. Here's an interview with author Destiny Blaine giving a lot of tips for aspiring writers. Definitely check this one out.
4. I don't talk a lot about non-fiction writing here, but I thought this article about business content writing was pretty useful: 5 Characteristics of a Great Content Writer
5. And finally, I might have posted this before, but I like to recommend watching it periodically. It's not related to writing, but it is related to success. It's a video from Dave Ramsey that everyone should watch: Drive Free, Retire Rich
And that's all for now. See ya soon!
September 19, 2013
Quickie Book Review: The Talisman
The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub.
Twelve-year-old Jack Sawyer needs to travel across the United States to retrieve a magical talisman that can save his dying mom. To speed up his trip, he travels back-and-forth to an alternative parallel universe (called The Territories) where he can move a little quicker from point A to point B. And he meets lots of bad guys along the way, both in the US and in the Territories.
The Good: It's Stephen King, so you know it won't be boring. The novel has a great plot with tons of suspense and surprises, as well as a handful of interesting characters. The Territories are sort of like a medieval fantasy land with a mixture of peasants, gargoyles, nuclear radiation, and werewolves. A very cool place, if you ask me.
The Bad: It's Stephen King, so you know it will be boring. (See what I did there.) My biggest complaint is that this book is just way too long. I'm not against a long book, either. The Stand and Atlas Shrugged are two of my favorites. It's just that in the case of The Talisman, way too many pages are filled with unnecessary detail after unnecessary detail after unnecessary flashback. This book is also way too slow. There were so many times, especially in the first two-hundred pages, where I found myself shouting "Something Happen, already!"
Closing: I originally read this book when I was a freshman in high school, so naturally, I remembered nothing about it. I did remember that I loved it back then and since King & Straub recently wrote a sequel to it (Black House) I figured I'd read it again so that when I finally got around to reading Black House, I'd have some sort of clue as to what was going on. So would I recommend reading it? Probably not. Like I said earlier, it is a great story, but it's just so slow that unless you're a Stephen King completist or want to read it because you're planning to read Black House you could probably live without The Talisman. This book would be a prime candidate for a rerelease like The Stand, only instead of "Complete and uncut," they could make it "The Talisman: Cut." Take out about 300 pages and this novel would be gold.
Twelve-year-old Jack Sawyer needs to travel across the United States to retrieve a magical talisman that can save his dying mom. To speed up his trip, he travels back-and-forth to an alternative parallel universe (called The Territories) where he can move a little quicker from point A to point B. And he meets lots of bad guys along the way, both in the US and in the Territories.
The Good: It's Stephen King, so you know it won't be boring. The novel has a great plot with tons of suspense and surprises, as well as a handful of interesting characters. The Territories are sort of like a medieval fantasy land with a mixture of peasants, gargoyles, nuclear radiation, and werewolves. A very cool place, if you ask me.
The Bad: It's Stephen King, so you know it will be boring. (See what I did there.) My biggest complaint is that this book is just way too long. I'm not against a long book, either. The Stand and Atlas Shrugged are two of my favorites. It's just that in the case of The Talisman, way too many pages are filled with unnecessary detail after unnecessary detail after unnecessary flashback. This book is also way too slow. There were so many times, especially in the first two-hundred pages, where I found myself shouting "Something Happen, already!"
Closing: I originally read this book when I was a freshman in high school, so naturally, I remembered nothing about it. I did remember that I loved it back then and since King & Straub recently wrote a sequel to it (Black House) I figured I'd read it again so that when I finally got around to reading Black House, I'd have some sort of clue as to what was going on. So would I recommend reading it? Probably not. Like I said earlier, it is a great story, but it's just so slow that unless you're a Stephen King completist or want to read it because you're planning to read Black House you could probably live without The Talisman. This book would be a prime candidate for a rerelease like The Stand, only instead of "Complete and uncut," they could make it "The Talisman: Cut." Take out about 300 pages and this novel would be gold.
September 13, 2013
A personal note
Hi there. I just wanted to chime in with some bad news my family have recently received.
My nephew, who will be turning seven very soon, has been diagnosed with cancer and has begun treatment for his long road to recovery.
The emotions that come in with news like this are so surreal. It's one of those things that you hear about, but never really think about because it doesn't seem like it's something that can happen to anyone you care about. Kids don't get cancer in real life, right? Wrong. They do far more often than anyone likes to think about.
So I'd like to ask any of my followers out there for a couple of things. First off, if you're a believer please pray for my nephew, his parents, and his wonderful brother. Keep in mind my wife and my two-year-old as well as this is a difficult time for them too.
I'd also like to mention that there are so many good charities out there supporting kids with cancer, and they can use any spare dollars sent their way. Please consider.
And on a final note, try to remember to never take life for granted. Treat every day as a gift and stay positive with all you do.
My nephew, who will be turning seven very soon, has been diagnosed with cancer and has begun treatment for his long road to recovery.
The emotions that come in with news like this are so surreal. It's one of those things that you hear about, but never really think about because it doesn't seem like it's something that can happen to anyone you care about. Kids don't get cancer in real life, right? Wrong. They do far more often than anyone likes to think about.
So I'd like to ask any of my followers out there for a couple of things. First off, if you're a believer please pray for my nephew, his parents, and his wonderful brother. Keep in mind my wife and my two-year-old as well as this is a difficult time for them too.
I'd also like to mention that there are so many good charities out there supporting kids with cancer, and they can use any spare dollars sent their way. Please consider.
And on a final note, try to remember to never take life for granted. Treat every day as a gift and stay positive with all you do.
Five Links Friday the 13th.
I haven't posted in a while, but I'll say more about that in my next post. For now, here are five links for Friday the 13.
1. 12 Lessons Learned from 12 years of writing There is some good advice here. "Especially this one: In reality writer’s block isn’t a disease. It’s a romantic way of saying I’m lazy."
2. Are You Making These Six Deadly Writing Mistakes? Sadly, sometimes the answer is "yes".
3. Literary agent Rachel Kent shares some of the details on how publishing houses market your novel in here article here: More on Marketig
4. Horror in YA Lit is a Staple Not a Tread For some reason, I've never even considered trying some YA horror. That gives me a lot to think about. Give it a read.
5. And finally, since it is Friday the 13th, it would be a great idea to head on over to Amazon.com and check out the newly released Friday the 13th: The Complete Collection
box set.
And that's all for now. See ya soon!
1. 12 Lessons Learned from 12 years of writing There is some good advice here. "Especially this one: In reality writer’s block isn’t a disease. It’s a romantic way of saying I’m lazy."
2. Are You Making These Six Deadly Writing Mistakes? Sadly, sometimes the answer is "yes".
3. Literary agent Rachel Kent shares some of the details on how publishing houses market your novel in here article here: More on Marketig
4. Horror in YA Lit is a Staple Not a Tread For some reason, I've never even considered trying some YA horror. That gives me a lot to think about. Give it a read.
5. And finally, since it is Friday the 13th, it would be a great idea to head on over to Amazon.com and check out the newly released Friday the 13th: The Complete Collection
box set.And that's all for now. See ya soon!
August 30, 2013
Five Links Friday 8/30/13
Hey, the good news is that most of us have a three-day weekend coming. The better news is that I'm back with five new writing links!
1. Here's an older post from Utterances of an Overcrowded Mind showing how to Become a Successful Writer in 2,000 Hours
2. Is procrastination killing your writing? Then you best check out this post from Charlie Nitric's blog.
3. Learning to deal with feedback is something all writers must do. This post will help: How to deal with critiques and editorial feedback
4. 4 Big Pitfalls in Story Openings by K.M. Weiland. Yeah, we've all done at least one of these at one point or another.
5. And finally, check out Digital Age Authors & The Ugly Truth About “The Good Old Days” of Publishing from Kristen Lamb's blog.
And that's it. Have a great weekend. Watch some college football and stay out of the heat.
1. Here's an older post from Utterances of an Overcrowded Mind showing how to Become a Successful Writer in 2,000 Hours
2. Is procrastination killing your writing? Then you best check out this post from Charlie Nitric's blog.
3. Learning to deal with feedback is something all writers must do. This post will help: How to deal with critiques and editorial feedback
4. 4 Big Pitfalls in Story Openings by K.M. Weiland. Yeah, we've all done at least one of these at one point or another.
5. And finally, check out Digital Age Authors & The Ugly Truth About “The Good Old Days” of Publishing from Kristen Lamb's blog.
And that's it. Have a great weekend. Watch some college football and stay out of the heat.
August 24, 2013
Happy late birthday to the blog!
Wow, I just realized I've already been posting here for over a year.
It was something I decided to do shortly after spending a weekend at a writing conference and the first post was August 1, 2012.
All in all, it's been a pretty good year for me in both writing and in real life, so I just want to take a moment to say thanks to my reader(s) for visiting this blog in the last twelve plus months.
If even one word I wrote here in the last year helped make you a better writer or inspire you to find more success in whatever it is you do, then I feel like I've accomplished what I set out to do.
I hope you stick around for another year and I'll continue posting my successes and failures in writing and share anything I happen to learn along the way
It was something I decided to do shortly after spending a weekend at a writing conference and the first post was August 1, 2012.
All in all, it's been a pretty good year for me in both writing and in real life, so I just want to take a moment to say thanks to my reader(s) for visiting this blog in the last twelve plus months.
If even one word I wrote here in the last year helped make you a better writer or inspire you to find more success in whatever it is you do, then I feel like I've accomplished what I set out to do.
I hope you stick around for another year and I'll continue posting my successes and failures in writing and share anything I happen to learn along the way
August 23, 2013
Five Links Friday 8/23/13
I'm back for another Five Links Friday.
1. If you're working on a new novel and having some trouble, you might want to read 25 Things You Should Know About Writing a Novel at terribleminds.com. Great advice there.
2. And if productivity or time constraints are holding you back, then read 7 Hacks That Will Get You Writing Faster at livehacked.com.
3. On Twitter? You should be. Here are 7 Reasons Every Writer Needs to be on Twitter from Kristen Lamb's blog.
4. Last week, Gothic City Press opened up a new section of their site called Gas Lamp, which publishes a weekly flash fiction story. It's a great idea; give it a look. And while we're on the topic of Gothic City Press, you should probably check out their latest anthology, Clerics, Charlatans, and Cultists
available now at Amazon.com. (I never claimed to be above a cheap plug, har har)
5. And finally, if you're into cryptozoology (and, really, who isn't?) then you should check out Cryptid Girl
by my friend JR Mallette.
It's always kind of fun sharing these links. I'll try to get back on track to doing this every week.
1. If you're working on a new novel and having some trouble, you might want to read 25 Things You Should Know About Writing a Novel at terribleminds.com. Great advice there.
2. And if productivity or time constraints are holding you back, then read 7 Hacks That Will Get You Writing Faster at livehacked.com.
3. On Twitter? You should be. Here are 7 Reasons Every Writer Needs to be on Twitter from Kristen Lamb's blog.
4. Last week, Gothic City Press opened up a new section of their site called Gas Lamp, which publishes a weekly flash fiction story. It's a great idea; give it a look. And while we're on the topic of Gothic City Press, you should probably check out their latest anthology, Clerics, Charlatans, and Cultists
available now at Amazon.com. (I never claimed to be above a cheap plug, har har)
5. And finally, if you're into cryptozoology (and, really, who isn't?) then you should check out Cryptid Girl
by my friend JR Mallette.It's always kind of fun sharing these links. I'll try to get back on track to doing this every week.
August 15, 2013
Update on writing and life
I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd just chime in with an update on writing and life in general.
Things are as busy as one can expect with a newborn, but I've really been making the effort to keep writing as much as possible. (Note: I should mention that it helps to have such a supportive wife.)
I did learn something new in the last month and that is that the key to productivity in busy times is prioritization. There's only so much you can do in a day, so you have to pick the most important thing and let everything else wait for a while.
Since we don't have a lot of free time, I had to rethink my goals and priorities for the next few months. One thing was for sure though: Outside of family and work responsibilities, writing would remain a top priority for me, even if it meant giving up TV all together and (temporarily) cutting my workouts down to 2 or 3 days per week.
With a more limited schedule, I had to modify my writing goals a bit to adapt. I decided that since I wasn't having a tremendous amount of luck finding representation for the novel it might be a good time to step away from it for a little while and then work on another revision of the novel, the synopsis and the query letter.
On the other side of the writing world, I have been finding much more success with the short stories. I just received my fifth acceptance letter of the year so far, bringing my number of published or soon-to-be-published short stories dangerously close to ten. With that, I decided to focus on finishing and submitting short stories until I reach a minimum goal of both ten published and ten pending. After that, I'll go back to working on the novels, but until then, the queries can wait and if I miss an occasional blog post I won't beat myself up over it either.
In other site-related news, I have some other plans for this blog running around in my head that I might be trying in the next year. We'll see how that goes and I'll do an update about it sometime in the future.
So until next time, I just want to say that no matter how busy you are, don't let it keep you from chasing your goals.
If I can do it, rest assured that you can too.
Things are as busy as one can expect with a newborn, but I've really been making the effort to keep writing as much as possible. (Note: I should mention that it helps to have such a supportive wife.)
I did learn something new in the last month and that is that the key to productivity in busy times is prioritization. There's only so much you can do in a day, so you have to pick the most important thing and let everything else wait for a while.
Since we don't have a lot of free time, I had to rethink my goals and priorities for the next few months. One thing was for sure though: Outside of family and work responsibilities, writing would remain a top priority for me, even if it meant giving up TV all together and (temporarily) cutting my workouts down to 2 or 3 days per week.
With a more limited schedule, I had to modify my writing goals a bit to adapt. I decided that since I wasn't having a tremendous amount of luck finding representation for the novel it might be a good time to step away from it for a little while and then work on another revision of the novel, the synopsis and the query letter.
On the other side of the writing world, I have been finding much more success with the short stories. I just received my fifth acceptance letter of the year so far, bringing my number of published or soon-to-be-published short stories dangerously close to ten. With that, I decided to focus on finishing and submitting short stories until I reach a minimum goal of both ten published and ten pending. After that, I'll go back to working on the novels, but until then, the queries can wait and if I miss an occasional blog post I won't beat myself up over it either.
In other site-related news, I have some other plans for this blog running around in my head that I might be trying in the next year. We'll see how that goes and I'll do an update about it sometime in the future.
So until next time, I just want to say that no matter how busy you are, don't let it keep you from chasing your goals.
If I can do it, rest assured that you can too.
August 9, 2013
Clerics, Charlatans, and Cultists
My short story "Tunnel of Darkness" is available today in the anthology Clerics, Charlatans, and Cultists, published by Gothic City Press.
From the dark recesses of churches, forested sanctuaries, and
unremarkable storefronts come a wide of assortment of characters looking
to recruit you into their particular doctrines. From a deific duck, to
a poison swilling monk, and down to a cult of pestilence, the variety
of stories found in "Clerics, Charlatans, and Cultists" makes this a
compelling anthology to have on your bookshelf – digital or print.
Gothic City Press delves into the darker side of faith with a collection of short stories from authors in the United States, Ireland, United Kingdom, and Australia.
Gothic City Press delves into the darker side of faith with a collection of short stories from authors in the United States, Ireland, United Kingdom, and Australia.
August 2, 2013
Five Links Friday 8/2/13
Well here I am still trying to catch up with life. I did manage to make a lot of progress in the writing world in the last few weeks, but more on that later. For now, here are five articles I read this week.
1. If you're a new writer, there's plenty of good advice out there. There's also plenty of bad advice. Here are the 4 Worst Pieces Of Advice For Young Writers from polymic.com
2. Having trouble with infodumps? Aren't we all. J.E. Tankersley has an article about it here: Let’s talk about dumping…
3. And opening sentences? Stephen King shares some of his thoughts in this article in The Atlantic: Why Stephen King Spends 'Months and Even Years' Writing Opening Sentences
4. Here's an article from Charlie Jane Anders looking at the 7 Deadly Sins of Worldbuilding.
5. And finally, for those of us searching for an agent, check out this post by Chuck Sambuchino at thewritelife.com: What Does a Literary Agent Want to See When They Google You?
And that's all. Hope you enjoy; have a great weekend. And wish me luck with my editing :)
1. If you're a new writer, there's plenty of good advice out there. There's also plenty of bad advice. Here are the 4 Worst Pieces Of Advice For Young Writers from polymic.com
2. Having trouble with infodumps? Aren't we all. J.E. Tankersley has an article about it here: Let’s talk about dumping…
3. And opening sentences? Stephen King shares some of his thoughts in this article in The Atlantic: Why Stephen King Spends 'Months and Even Years' Writing Opening Sentences
4. Here's an article from Charlie Jane Anders looking at the 7 Deadly Sins of Worldbuilding.
5. And finally, for those of us searching for an agent, check out this post by Chuck Sambuchino at thewritelife.com: What Does a Literary Agent Want to See When They Google You?
And that's all. Hope you enjoy; have a great weekend. And wish me luck with my editing :)
July 19, 2013
Five Links Friday 6/19/13
It's been a busy week as I went back to work and left the wife to fend for herself with the kids.
I missed out on a regular blog posting and have fallen a bit behind on the short story I'm working on, but there's never a better time than the present to get things back on track.
So with that said, here are five cool writing links for the weekend.
1. Need a quick idea for a thousand-word flash story? Try this Plot Scenario Generator at Archetypewriting.com.
2. Liz Bureman at TheWriterPractice.com has a post looking at 5 Types of Anti-Heroes.
3. Here are some Unusual Tips to Become a Better Writer from Sandra Miller at Backwoodsauthor.com.
4. From Dailywritingtips.com, here are 5 Tips on How to Run a Writing Group.
5. And finally, if you're into sweet and awesome things (and who isn't?) the Kindle edition of Sandman #1
is available for FREE at Amazon.com right now. Sure beats the hundred bucks I paid for the print edition in the early 90's.
I missed out on a regular blog posting and have fallen a bit behind on the short story I'm working on, but there's never a better time than the present to get things back on track.
So with that said, here are five cool writing links for the weekend.
1. Need a quick idea for a thousand-word flash story? Try this Plot Scenario Generator at Archetypewriting.com.
2. Liz Bureman at TheWriterPractice.com has a post looking at 5 Types of Anti-Heroes.
3. Here are some Unusual Tips to Become a Better Writer from Sandra Miller at Backwoodsauthor.com.
4. From Dailywritingtips.com, here are 5 Tips on How to Run a Writing Group.
5. And finally, if you're into sweet and awesome things (and who isn't?) the Kindle edition of Sandman #1
is available for FREE at Amazon.com right now. Sure beats the hundred bucks I paid for the print edition in the early 90's.
July 12, 2013
Five Links Friday 6/12/13
I'm back from a short break, but to give a quick update, I'm a proud dad again and everyone is doing well. Life is good :)
Here are five links for the week:
1. Ten Time Management Tips That Work. If there is one thing I'll need to be able to do in the next few months, it's manage time more productively. This article from Entrepreneur.com gives some good advice on how to do just that.
2. Ten Simple Tricks to Perk Up Your Writing by Steve Alcorn at Writer's Fun Zone. This article may be a few months old, but has a lot of good (if basic) info.
3. Query Tips from Sara Negovetich. Who better to get agent query tips from than a literary agent? Sara Nego is one and her blog has some good advice for anyone out there writing queries.
4. Overcoming writerly self-doubt. Here's a post from Ksenia Anske's blog. I don't really buy into that whole "self-doubt" thing, but she makes some good points in this post.
5. Are you tough enough? Take this quiz from Success Magazine and see if you have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.
Good stuff all around. I should be back on a semi-regular posting schedule again, so check back when you can.
Here are five links for the week:
1. Ten Time Management Tips That Work. If there is one thing I'll need to be able to do in the next few months, it's manage time more productively. This article from Entrepreneur.com gives some good advice on how to do just that.
2. Ten Simple Tricks to Perk Up Your Writing by Steve Alcorn at Writer's Fun Zone. This article may be a few months old, but has a lot of good (if basic) info.
3. Query Tips from Sara Negovetich. Who better to get agent query tips from than a literary agent? Sara Nego is one and her blog has some good advice for anyone out there writing queries.
4. Overcoming writerly self-doubt. Here's a post from Ksenia Anske's blog. I don't really buy into that whole "self-doubt" thing, but she makes some good points in this post.
5. Are you tough enough? Take this quiz from Success Magazine and see if you have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.
Good stuff all around. I should be back on a semi-regular posting schedule again, so check back when you can.
June 28, 2013
Five Links Friday 6/28/13
Here's 5 great links. Have a great weekend.
1. 9 Things Every Writer Needs To Do Every Day. Scott Ginsberg has some advice for writers at openzine.com. Can't say I disagree with any of them.
2. Building The Protagonist. More good advice from Writer's Fun Zone.
3. The Death of Self-Publishing. Here's a satiric look at the "death" of self-publishing from the Validation Publishing blog
4. 8 Books From The Last Decade That Made Me Excited About Sci-Fi. Jo Walton at Tor.com looks at some of the best SF over the last decade.
5. And finally, since I'm (literally) hours away from becoming a dad for the second time, here's a look at what it means to be a dad from Zen Habits: A Secret to Dad Greatness
So that's it. If I'm not posting much in the next few weeks, you can rest assured that its because I'm spending time with our brand-new baby girl.
1. 9 Things Every Writer Needs To Do Every Day. Scott Ginsberg has some advice for writers at openzine.com. Can't say I disagree with any of them.
2. Building The Protagonist. More good advice from Writer's Fun Zone.
3. The Death of Self-Publishing. Here's a satiric look at the "death" of self-publishing from the Validation Publishing blog
4. 8 Books From The Last Decade That Made Me Excited About Sci-Fi. Jo Walton at Tor.com looks at some of the best SF over the last decade.
5. And finally, since I'm (literally) hours away from becoming a dad for the second time, here's a look at what it means to be a dad from Zen Habits: A Secret to Dad Greatness
So that's it. If I'm not posting much in the next few weeks, you can rest assured that its because I'm spending time with our brand-new baby girl.
June 27, 2013
June 21, 2013
Five Links Friday 6/21/13
Almost didn't make it, but here are five good writing-related links to read over the weekend.
1. "Dining with the Devil" by Arthur Davis published online in the Spring 2013 issues of Allegory. This is a fun short story that lives up to its title.
2. 10 Hidden Gifts of Rejection Letters. Here's a great guest column at Writer's Digest looking at what you can gain from rejection letters.
3. Amazon Publishing Has First Million-Copy Hit; Will Authors, Agents Take Notice? Jeremy Greenfield at Forbes.com takes a look at Amazon Publishing.
4. Are we writing too much to be reading? Laxmi Hariharan talks about all the time people spend (waste?) recording their every move on social media sites.
5. 5 Social Media Rules Every Entrepreneur Should Know. And to close things up, here's how to properly use those social media sites.
1. "Dining with the Devil" by Arthur Davis published online in the Spring 2013 issues of Allegory. This is a fun short story that lives up to its title.
2. 10 Hidden Gifts of Rejection Letters. Here's a great guest column at Writer's Digest looking at what you can gain from rejection letters.
3. Amazon Publishing Has First Million-Copy Hit; Will Authors, Agents Take Notice? Jeremy Greenfield at Forbes.com takes a look at Amazon Publishing.
4. Are we writing too much to be reading? Laxmi Hariharan talks about all the time people spend (waste?) recording their every move on social media sites.
5. 5 Social Media Rules Every Entrepreneur Should Know. And to close things up, here's how to properly use those social media sites.
June 14, 2013
Five Links Friday 6/14/13
Here's five great links to get you through the weekend.
1. "A Day of Such Good Cheer" by Kim Farleigh. This is a quick, fun read from The Story Shack to brighten up your Friday afternoon.
2. 10 Things Your Opening Chapter Should Do: A Check-List for Self-Editing. When writing a novel, and especially when querying an agent, you've got to make sure your first chapter counts. Here's how, from Anne R. Allen's Blog
3. Ten Successful Tips For Independent Authors. from Richard Stephenson's blog. If you're considering self-publishing, then this article is a must-read.
4. 5 Reasons Why Your Blog Can’t Keep Readers. Ooh. I think we all have blogs and we all have trouble getting people to stick around. Rainy Kaye tells us why in this post.
5. Get Rich With: the “ChaCHING!” Instinct. If you're into personal finance, you should probably check out Mr. Money Mustache. In this post, he talks about the biggest "secret" tool people use to get rich: Delayed Gratification.
1. "A Day of Such Good Cheer" by Kim Farleigh. This is a quick, fun read from The Story Shack to brighten up your Friday afternoon.
2. 10 Things Your Opening Chapter Should Do: A Check-List for Self-Editing. When writing a novel, and especially when querying an agent, you've got to make sure your first chapter counts. Here's how, from Anne R. Allen's Blog
3. Ten Successful Tips For Independent Authors. from Richard Stephenson's blog. If you're considering self-publishing, then this article is a must-read.
4. 5 Reasons Why Your Blog Can’t Keep Readers. Ooh. I think we all have blogs and we all have trouble getting people to stick around. Rainy Kaye tells us why in this post.
5. Get Rich With: the “ChaCHING!” Instinct. If you're into personal finance, you should probably check out Mr. Money Mustache. In this post, he talks about the biggest "secret" tool people use to get rich: Delayed Gratification.
June 7, 2013
Five Links Friday 6/7/13
I'm going to try something new here. Every Friday I'll post five links to online short stories and blog posts I read during the week about writing and success.
So without further adieu, here's the debut of Five Links Friday.
1. "Nuclear Family" by Alex Shvartsman. Here's a great piece of flash fiction published online in Kasma Science Fiction Magazine. If you're not familiar with flash, this story is a perfect example of how to do it correctly.
2. "Uncle Bones" by Damien Broderick. This was published in an issue of Asimov's Science Fiction a few years ago. I just read it this week, but it was a fun story. You can read the first few pages online and purchase the back-issue if you like what you see.
3. Printed Books Rule Like Never Before from Ksenia Anske's blog. A good post looking at why print books will survive in world of electronic publishing.
4. Writers: Making a Living Off of Kindle? by Jeff Rivera at mediabistro.com. This post is a couple of years old, but worth a look.
5.How I Finally Faced My Weight & Debt Problems by Leo Babauta at Zen Habits. Here's a good look at overcoming obstacles and just cleaning up your life.
So without further adieu, here's the debut of Five Links Friday.
1. "Nuclear Family" by Alex Shvartsman. Here's a great piece of flash fiction published online in Kasma Science Fiction Magazine. If you're not familiar with flash, this story is a perfect example of how to do it correctly.
2. "Uncle Bones" by Damien Broderick. This was published in an issue of Asimov's Science Fiction a few years ago. I just read it this week, but it was a fun story. You can read the first few pages online and purchase the back-issue if you like what you see.
3. Printed Books Rule Like Never Before from Ksenia Anske's blog. A good post looking at why print books will survive in world of electronic publishing.
4. Writers: Making a Living Off of Kindle? by Jeff Rivera at mediabistro.com. This post is a couple of years old, but worth a look.
5.How I Finally Faced My Weight & Debt Problems by Leo Babauta at Zen Habits. Here's a good look at overcoming obstacles and just cleaning up your life.
May 29, 2013
A Dozen Short Lists: What to do?
So here's a question... Some of my favorite (or best?) short stories haven't yet been published. That's life, I know, and it's also how publishing works. My conundrum, however, is that some of these stories keep getting shortlist rejections, sometimes with feedback, from pro or at least semi-pro publications.
The question (after all that) is that I'm not sure if I should continue submitting to pro-payers and hope that eventually someone will pick it up, or submit to a lower paying, lower circulating publications with higher acceptance rates just to get them off my pending list. (Yes, I know that's making the bold assumption that every token-payer out there is just jumping at the chance to buy my stories.)
Anyhow, if you look at my current publication list, you'll see that I have no problems whatsoever submitting to smaller markets. My only concern comes with the stories that have come close to acceptance in pro-paying markets on several occasions. I kind of feel like if a story is good enough for a bunch of "almosts" at some of the more known markets, I'd hate to give up first rights to a publication with a much smaller audience.
On the other hand, nothing bad can ever come out of selling a short story. Every publication you can add to your author's bio increases your credibility and marketability in one way or another. And regardless of how small the publication is, someone is reading it. If you have a killer story in the magazine or anthology, at least a few people will share it. In a best case scenario, you might even help increase sales and get some name value in the small press world. Who knows?
Anyhow, I didn't really answer my original question here. What I normally do is search duotrope.com for markets that either pay token or higher (or royalties) and then if I think my story fits the publication, I'll send it without worrying about the final pay or circulation numbers.
Maybe in the end that is still the best method. Let me know what you think.
The question (after all that) is that I'm not sure if I should continue submitting to pro-payers and hope that eventually someone will pick it up, or submit to a lower paying, lower circulating publications with higher acceptance rates just to get them off my pending list. (Yes, I know that's making the bold assumption that every token-payer out there is just jumping at the chance to buy my stories.)
Anyhow, if you look at my current publication list, you'll see that I have no problems whatsoever submitting to smaller markets. My only concern comes with the stories that have come close to acceptance in pro-paying markets on several occasions. I kind of feel like if a story is good enough for a bunch of "almosts" at some of the more known markets, I'd hate to give up first rights to a publication with a much smaller audience.
On the other hand, nothing bad can ever come out of selling a short story. Every publication you can add to your author's bio increases your credibility and marketability in one way or another. And regardless of how small the publication is, someone is reading it. If you have a killer story in the magazine or anthology, at least a few people will share it. In a best case scenario, you might even help increase sales and get some name value in the small press world. Who knows?
Anyhow, I didn't really answer my original question here. What I normally do is search duotrope.com for markets that either pay token or higher (or royalties) and then if I think my story fits the publication, I'll send it without worrying about the final pay or circulation numbers.
Maybe in the end that is still the best method. Let me know what you think.
May 15, 2013
"In Memory of the Brightwell Family"
Check out my first attempt at flash fiction, a 475 word story entitled "In Memory of the Brightwell Family", published online at The Story Shack and illustrated by Sue Pownal.
Read online at The Story Shack
Read online at The Story Shack
May 2, 2013
Trying fantasy for the first time
One genre I haven't ever really tried is fantasy. I've written a handful of stories taking place in modern times with fantasy elements ("urban fantasy" as the kids call it) but that's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is full-on Swords and Sorcery, Might and Magic, Dungeons and Dragons variety fantasy.
I found myself in between submissions and not wanting to work on anything I currently had sitting in the "in process" folder, so I hit duotrope and browsed through some anthologies to get an idea of something new to try.
I won't name names, but the one anthology that really caught my eye had this disclaimer: Must be fantasy. It also had another: Minimum 5,000 words.
A typical short story of mine is in the 3,000-4,000 word range, so 5,000 seemed a bit long for me, but I figured I'd give it a try. Why not? Horror was getting boring and the soft sci-fi could only get me so far before I needed to start incorporating a little more sci into the fi, and I haven't been in the mood for that lately.
So as I started working on the story I realized a couple of things. First off, fantasy isn't nearly as difficult or tiresome to write as I assumed it would be. The story I have in my head is working its way onto the virtual paper without any major problems.
There have been a couple of roadblocks though. First off, it's not easy coming up with character names. Every name I find just seems clichéd, forced, phony, or cheesy. I did find a pretty decent fantasy name generator here: http://www.rinkworks.com/namegen/ to help me get through my own lack of creativity, however.
Another problem I've run into is that I find myself taking it for granted that everyone in the world has already read the first six books of the Dragonlance series and that the D&D set of rules are the accepted standard in fantasy writing. I'm assuming they're not, so I already know I need to put some extra effort into the setting.
Anyhow, I'm really enjoying trying something new and my goal for the month of May is to come up with something half-way decent and get it submitted to this anthology.
And to be honest, I'm actually looking forward to it.
I found myself in between submissions and not wanting to work on anything I currently had sitting in the "in process" folder, so I hit duotrope and browsed through some anthologies to get an idea of something new to try.
I won't name names, but the one anthology that really caught my eye had this disclaimer: Must be fantasy. It also had another: Minimum 5,000 words.
A typical short story of mine is in the 3,000-4,000 word range, so 5,000 seemed a bit long for me, but I figured I'd give it a try. Why not? Horror was getting boring and the soft sci-fi could only get me so far before I needed to start incorporating a little more sci into the fi, and I haven't been in the mood for that lately.
So as I started working on the story I realized a couple of things. First off, fantasy isn't nearly as difficult or tiresome to write as I assumed it would be. The story I have in my head is working its way onto the virtual paper without any major problems.
There have been a couple of roadblocks though. First off, it's not easy coming up with character names. Every name I find just seems clichéd, forced, phony, or cheesy. I did find a pretty decent fantasy name generator here: http://www.rinkworks.com/namegen/ to help me get through my own lack of creativity, however.
Another problem I've run into is that I find myself taking it for granted that everyone in the world has already read the first six books of the Dragonlance series and that the D&D set of rules are the accepted standard in fantasy writing. I'm assuming they're not, so I already know I need to put some extra effort into the setting.
Anyhow, I'm really enjoying trying something new and my goal for the month of May is to come up with something half-way decent and get it submitted to this anthology.
And to be honest, I'm actually looking forward to it.
April 29, 2013
Self Report Card
With April coming to a close and the year already a third of the way done, I thought I'd look over my writing goals for the year and see how I've done so far.
I set three main goals for the first four months: One for short stories, one for this blog, and one for queries.
The short story goal was to complete and submit one new story each month. With rewriting, and resubmitting, I ended up falling behind and finishing only two. That sets me at 2/4 or 50%.
My goal for finding a literally agent for my first novel was to send out one query ever weekend. Out of seventeen weekends, I sent out seven queries. 17/17 or 100%. That's a little more like it.
My final goal involved this blog and I set the loose goal of writing a 300-word minimum post twice a week. In seventeen weeks I posted twenty-seven times (counting this one, of course). That makes 27/34 or 79%.
Without weighting the numbers, I give myself a grade C+ with a 76.3% average. For extra credit, I'll claim a handful of short-list rejections, two acceptances in April, and two full requests from the queries. All in all, I'll call it a fairly decent four months.
If you've read my posts in the past, you know that I'm a firm believer in setting written goals and reviewing them on a regular basis to see where you succeeded and where you failed to hit your targets.
I think it's really important to understand what worked and what didn't. Don't just pat yourself on you back and say, "Ain't I great?" if you achieved your goals. Make sure you understand specifically how you did it. Likewise, in your failures don't make excuses or blame any other person or event. Just look at what happened and then adjust.
So even if you've fallen off track with your New Year's "resolutions," now is the time to start fresh and revise your goals. You've still got 2/3 of the year left to achieve everything you've set out to do.
I set three main goals for the first four months: One for short stories, one for this blog, and one for queries.
The short story goal was to complete and submit one new story each month. With rewriting, and resubmitting, I ended up falling behind and finishing only two. That sets me at 2/4 or 50%.
My goal for finding a literally agent for my first novel was to send out one query ever weekend. Out of seventeen weekends, I sent out seven queries. 17/17 or 100%. That's a little more like it.
My final goal involved this blog and I set the loose goal of writing a 300-word minimum post twice a week. In seventeen weeks I posted twenty-seven times (counting this one, of course). That makes 27/34 or 79%.
Without weighting the numbers, I give myself a grade C+ with a 76.3% average. For extra credit, I'll claim a handful of short-list rejections, two acceptances in April, and two full requests from the queries. All in all, I'll call it a fairly decent four months.
If you've read my posts in the past, you know that I'm a firm believer in setting written goals and reviewing them on a regular basis to see where you succeeded and where you failed to hit your targets.
I think it's really important to understand what worked and what didn't. Don't just pat yourself on you back and say, "Ain't I great?" if you achieved your goals. Make sure you understand specifically how you did it. Likewise, in your failures don't make excuses or blame any other person or event. Just look at what happened and then adjust.
So even if you've fallen off track with your New Year's "resolutions," now is the time to start fresh and revise your goals. You've still got 2/3 of the year left to achieve everything you've set out to do.
April 11, 2013
Rejections are awesome!
Actually, they're not awesome at all, but I thought I'd put a positive spin on it just because I'm in a good mood.
While rejections may not be awesome, they are certainly a part of our lives. In everything we do, we need to be able to handle rejection, and writing is no different.
My submission stats for 2013 so far include 12 rejections and 1 acceptance (which I just received tonight, hence the good mood) setting my 2013 acceptance ratio at about 7%. That's way below a C average, but I still try to view rejection letters in a positive way. For one thing, a rejection means I'm trying; that I'm actually doing something to chase my dream. It also means that I created something I felt was good enough to show people. That's a success in itself.
Every time I feel a little down about a rejection, I remind myself how much worse I'd feel at the end of my life if I never tried at all to make it at writing. Remember that old saying: When the time comes, you regret what you didn't do more than what you did.
One thing that new writers need to remember is that every writer in history has gone through rejections. Check out the website One Hundred Famous Rejections to see just how many famous novels and writers have been turned down by someone at one point or another.
So whether it's writing or another dream you have, you can't give up on it just because somebody doesn't accept you on your first try. It can be difficult and sometimes frustrating, but rejections are just a small bump in the road, and if you continue to improve, learn from each rejection, and never give up, you'll get there.
And if you ever feel like quitting, remember why it is you started in the first place. And then keep going.
Recommended reading: Write Your Book. a No-Nonsense Guide to Writing Fiction by De Bethune, (Google Affiliate Ad)
While rejections may not be awesome, they are certainly a part of our lives. In everything we do, we need to be able to handle rejection, and writing is no different.
My submission stats for 2013 so far include 12 rejections and 1 acceptance (which I just received tonight, hence the good mood) setting my 2013 acceptance ratio at about 7%. That's way below a C average, but I still try to view rejection letters in a positive way. For one thing, a rejection means I'm trying; that I'm actually doing something to chase my dream. It also means that I created something I felt was good enough to show people. That's a success in itself.
Every time I feel a little down about a rejection, I remind myself how much worse I'd feel at the end of my life if I never tried at all to make it at writing. Remember that old saying: When the time comes, you regret what you didn't do more than what you did.
One thing that new writers need to remember is that every writer in history has gone through rejections. Check out the website One Hundred Famous Rejections to see just how many famous novels and writers have been turned down by someone at one point or another.
So whether it's writing or another dream you have, you can't give up on it just because somebody doesn't accept you on your first try. It can be difficult and sometimes frustrating, but rejections are just a small bump in the road, and if you continue to improve, learn from each rejection, and never give up, you'll get there.
And if you ever feel like quitting, remember why it is you started in the first place. And then keep going.
Recommended reading: Write Your Book. a No-Nonsense Guide to Writing Fiction by De Bethune, (Google Affiliate Ad)
March 17, 2013
Carry On
If there's one idea I constantly push on this blog, it's that in order to succeed, you need to be able to fail. Even more than that, you need to be able to fail with grace and acceptance and then learn from it. You only truly fail when you give up and allow that failure to prevent you from going on. Or even worse-- allow that failure to define you.
It's good advice that I love to shout from the rooftops.
Only this time, I'm the one who needs to hear it.
I've been on a bit of a slump lately when it comes to writing. I touched on it in a post last month but I figured since it's St. Patrick's Day and all (you have to know me to understand this reference) this would be a good day to elaborate.
Don't worry; I'm not going to spend the rest of this post on a "woe is me" diatribe. No one wants to read that and, quite frankly, I'm not the type of person to write that.
What I'm going to do instead is acknowledge some of the reasons why I'm feeling in a slump (reasons that are under my own control, by the way) and figure out my game plan for fixing them.
I think the biggest reason I've been losing patience with my writing is that, well, I've been impatient with my writing. When it comes to writing fiction, no one is an overnight success. No one. Even writers who haven't received hundreds of rejections before getting there still had to spend years writing, learning, and perfecting what they do. It's been said a thousand times, but writing is a marathon, not a sprint. Now it's time for me to remember that.
I've also been looking at rejections the wrong way. I've got a lot of stories pending or shortlisted that have been out for a long time. These also happen to be the stories that I've put the most work into and they comprise of about half of my pending short stories.
The other half are the ones that I rushed to get out there. While they may not be not bad stories per se, they also may not be as ready as they should be. Because of that, I'm seeing rejections on a more frequent rate. And as much as I say, "Don't let the rejections get to you," I've been letting the rejections get to me. The solution is pretty simple though: slow down and really look at the story. I need to stop looking at revisions as nothing more than proofreading, and really fix what's wrong. In some stories, I'm even aware of the flaws and have just put off fixing them. As a writer, that's unacceptable behavior.
So it's time to get back on track. One definition of resolve is to make a promise to yourself and keep it. Today is as good a day as any to renew that promise.
And for me, that promise is to stay positive, keep writing, keep learning, and keep sharing.
Only this time, I'm the one who needs to hear it.
I've been on a bit of a slump lately when it comes to writing. I touched on it in a post last month but I figured since it's St. Patrick's Day and all (you have to know me to understand this reference) this would be a good day to elaborate.
Don't worry; I'm not going to spend the rest of this post on a "woe is me" diatribe. No one wants to read that and, quite frankly, I'm not the type of person to write that.
What I'm going to do instead is acknowledge some of the reasons why I'm feeling in a slump (reasons that are under my own control, by the way) and figure out my game plan for fixing them.
I think the biggest reason I've been losing patience with my writing is that, well, I've been impatient with my writing. When it comes to writing fiction, no one is an overnight success. No one. Even writers who haven't received hundreds of rejections before getting there still had to spend years writing, learning, and perfecting what they do. It's been said a thousand times, but writing is a marathon, not a sprint. Now it's time for me to remember that.
I've also been looking at rejections the wrong way. I've got a lot of stories pending or shortlisted that have been out for a long time. These also happen to be the stories that I've put the most work into and they comprise of about half of my pending short stories.
The other half are the ones that I rushed to get out there. While they may not be not bad stories per se, they also may not be as ready as they should be. Because of that, I'm seeing rejections on a more frequent rate. And as much as I say, "Don't let the rejections get to you," I've been letting the rejections get to me. The solution is pretty simple though: slow down and really look at the story. I need to stop looking at revisions as nothing more than proofreading, and really fix what's wrong. In some stories, I'm even aware of the flaws and have just put off fixing them. As a writer, that's unacceptable behavior.
So it's time to get back on track. One definition of resolve is to make a promise to yourself and keep it. Today is as good a day as any to renew that promise.
And for me, that promise is to stay positive, keep writing, keep learning, and keep sharing.
March 12, 2013
Tear Down Your Wall
There's a lyric toward the end of Pink Floyd's 1979 album The Wall that has always stuck out to me.
"...the prisoner who now stands before you was caught red-handed showing feelings--showing feelings of an almost human nature; this will not do."
This is from the song The Trial, where the fictional rock star, Pink, is put on a metaphorical trial as the emotional wall he built around himself is torn down: "But, my friend, you have revealed your deepest fear, I sentence you to be exposed before your peers. Tear down the wall!"
The character Pink hides himself behind a wall of depression and drugs to avoid exposing himself and facing things he doesn't want to face, while the real-life song writer, Roger Waters, exposes everything in The Wall, which is essentially his own pseudo-autobiography.
Anyhow, to get to my point, the only way an artist (whether a writer, a painter, or a musician) can truly achieve greatness is by doing exactly what Roger Water did in The Wall: completely expose yourself through your art.
Far too often writers are told by their creative writing professors to "write what we know." That's true to a certain point (I'm much more comfortable adding Catholic tidbits to my fiction than Hindu ones, for example) but it's not what you know that makes your fiction great. It's what you feel. It's what you're willing to find out about yourself--and to reveal out in the open for the entire world to see.
If you're writing horror, you have to face your deepest fears and share them in the most intimate way--by making your reader feel your fears with you. This goes across all genres: In romance, it's your innermost fantasies. In science fiction, your wildest dreams.
So to take this back to The Wall, Pink's refusal to expose himself led to his ultimate destruction as his wall was torn down. In tearing down Pink's wall, however, Roger Waters revealed himself and produced one of the greatest rock albums of all time.
So what story is inside you waiting to be revealed? Tear down your wall and write it.
"...the prisoner who now stands before you was caught red-handed showing feelings--showing feelings of an almost human nature; this will not do."
This is from the song The Trial, where the fictional rock star, Pink, is put on a metaphorical trial as the emotional wall he built around himself is torn down: "But, my friend, you have revealed your deepest fear, I sentence you to be exposed before your peers. Tear down the wall!"
The character Pink hides himself behind a wall of depression and drugs to avoid exposing himself and facing things he doesn't want to face, while the real-life song writer, Roger Waters, exposes everything in The Wall, which is essentially his own pseudo-autobiography.
Anyhow, to get to my point, the only way an artist (whether a writer, a painter, or a musician) can truly achieve greatness is by doing exactly what Roger Water did in The Wall: completely expose yourself through your art.
Far too often writers are told by their creative writing professors to "write what we know." That's true to a certain point (I'm much more comfortable adding Catholic tidbits to my fiction than Hindu ones, for example) but it's not what you know that makes your fiction great. It's what you feel. It's what you're willing to find out about yourself--and to reveal out in the open for the entire world to see.
If you're writing horror, you have to face your deepest fears and share them in the most intimate way--by making your reader feel your fears with you. This goes across all genres: In romance, it's your innermost fantasies. In science fiction, your wildest dreams.
So to take this back to The Wall, Pink's refusal to expose himself led to his ultimate destruction as his wall was torn down. In tearing down Pink's wall, however, Roger Waters revealed himself and produced one of the greatest rock albums of all time.
So what story is inside you waiting to be revealed? Tear down your wall and write it.
February 18, 2013
How Free Are You?
Or maybe a better question is "Are you free at all?"
I think quite a few American would say the answer is "No."
Ask anyone and they'll tell you they're a slave to their job, or their debt, or whatever life situation they find themselves unhappy with. You know, it's the man holding you back, as they say.
And that defeatist notion 100% incorrect.
It's not your job or your debt that you're a slave to; it's yourself.
If you hate your job, there are only two people to blame. 1) The person who accepted the position and 2) The person who chooses to stay there.
If you're up to your ears in debt, it's the same two people: 1) The person who ran up the debt and 2) The person who hasn't paid it off.
Oh wait, all of those are the same person. You.
So I'll use your job as an example, but it's the same for any situation you're in. You are the one enslaving yourself by keeping yourself in a miserable situation. And the only way out is to find out what it is you'd rather be doing--and then quit screwing around and just do it.
Let's say you're in IT, but you'd rather be a personal trainer. So what stops you from getting your PT license and picking jobs on nights and weekends? No don't bother telling me the answer. I already know it: You're too busy for that. After all, how could you possibly find time to work on your real passion when there are so many hours of reality TV to watch? So many hours to spend on the latest Zynga Facebook game. So many weekend mornings that you want to sleep in until noon.
So remember next Monday when you show up to the job you hate that you are not slave to it. You're a slave to the distractions in your life that are keeping you away from chasing your dreams. They are what keep you tied down to the situation you hate being in because you're just too "busy" to take the time to change it.
The only way to true freedom is to figure out a way to spend your life living your dreams--and getting paid for it. Everything else is a distraction.
So put away the distractions and take your first real step toward freedom.
I think quite a few American would say the answer is "No."
Ask anyone and they'll tell you they're a slave to their job, or their debt, or whatever life situation they find themselves unhappy with. You know, it's the man holding you back, as they say.
And that defeatist notion 100% incorrect.
It's not your job or your debt that you're a slave to; it's yourself.
If you hate your job, there are only two people to blame. 1) The person who accepted the position and 2) The person who chooses to stay there.
If you're up to your ears in debt, it's the same two people: 1) The person who ran up the debt and 2) The person who hasn't paid it off.
Oh wait, all of those are the same person. You.
So I'll use your job as an example, but it's the same for any situation you're in. You are the one enslaving yourself by keeping yourself in a miserable situation. And the only way out is to find out what it is you'd rather be doing--and then quit screwing around and just do it.
Let's say you're in IT, but you'd rather be a personal trainer. So what stops you from getting your PT license and picking jobs on nights and weekends? No don't bother telling me the answer. I already know it: You're too busy for that. After all, how could you possibly find time to work on your real passion when there are so many hours of reality TV to watch? So many hours to spend on the latest Zynga Facebook game. So many weekend mornings that you want to sleep in until noon.
So remember next Monday when you show up to the job you hate that you are not slave to it. You're a slave to the distractions in your life that are keeping you away from chasing your dreams. They are what keep you tied down to the situation you hate being in because you're just too "busy" to take the time to change it.
The only way to true freedom is to figure out a way to spend your life living your dreams--and getting paid for it. Everything else is a distraction.
So put away the distractions and take your first real step toward freedom.
February 16, 2013
Quick thoughts from a local author/publisher fair
A library in the area hosted an author/publisher fair this afternoon, so I got in the car and braved downtown traffic to attend the event.
All of the authors I spoke to were local to Nebraska and most were self published (either on their own or through a micro-publisher) or published through local small press publishers.
I took a couple of things away from the event. One is that if you aren't having much luck going the tradition publishing route, there are still plenty of options out there for aspiring writers to get their work seen by others.
I hadn't heard of micro-publishing until today, and while it's not something I'd consider at this point, it is a valid option for a novelist hoping to publish their work in a semi-professional manner. It's not quite vanity press (even though it comes with a hefty fee) and it's not quite self publishing. Micro-publishers charge a fee to set the author up as their own "publishing" company. Pending on what you're willing to pay for, they'll edit, design the packaging and cover, and even market the novel, while the author retains all copyright. One of the reasons I shy away from self publishing is that you need to be your own marketing department. In micro-publishing, you can have them do your marketing. It's very interesting, but like I said, just not for me. I'm still not comfortable with the idea of anyone paying to be published.
The panel offered a former literary agent, a bookstore owner, and a local publisher, among others. I have to say, I didn't really hear anything I haven't heard before. That's definitely not a knock at it though, as there were plenty of people in the audience who were very new to the whole idea of agents, queries, and publishing. There was a lot of information for helping them get started (...down the long path of rejection with the rest of us, lol) and it was great that the library put the panel together.
So after all was said and done, this was a nice way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon meeting some local authors and publishers.
If your local library puts one of these together, you should go out of your way to stop by.
All of the authors I spoke to were local to Nebraska and most were self published (either on their own or through a micro-publisher) or published through local small press publishers.
I took a couple of things away from the event. One is that if you aren't having much luck going the tradition publishing route, there are still plenty of options out there for aspiring writers to get their work seen by others.
I hadn't heard of micro-publishing until today, and while it's not something I'd consider at this point, it is a valid option for a novelist hoping to publish their work in a semi-professional manner. It's not quite vanity press (even though it comes with a hefty fee) and it's not quite self publishing. Micro-publishers charge a fee to set the author up as their own "publishing" company. Pending on what you're willing to pay for, they'll edit, design the packaging and cover, and even market the novel, while the author retains all copyright. One of the reasons I shy away from self publishing is that you need to be your own marketing department. In micro-publishing, you can have them do your marketing. It's very interesting, but like I said, just not for me. I'm still not comfortable with the idea of anyone paying to be published.
The panel offered a former literary agent, a bookstore owner, and a local publisher, among others. I have to say, I didn't really hear anything I haven't heard before. That's definitely not a knock at it though, as there were plenty of people in the audience who were very new to the whole idea of agents, queries, and publishing. There was a lot of information for helping them get started (...down the long path of rejection with the rest of us, lol) and it was great that the library put the panel together.
So after all was said and done, this was a nice way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon meeting some local authors and publishers.
If your local library puts one of these together, you should go out of your way to stop by.
February 13, 2013
Ups and Downs
Allow me to share a quick summary of the contrast of my last two months of writing and submissions.
January successes: A full manuscript request from a fairly major agency. Two short-list notifications from pro-paying publications. Two personal rejections (as opposed to form letter rejections) from other publishers. One new short story completed and submitted, which is a monthly goal I set this year. Nine blog posts, which means I kept up with the posting schedule I created for myself.
February failures: The full manuscript was turned down by the agency. One of the short-listed stories was declined. Three other publishers sent form letters. I’ve been hit with writer’s block and made very little progress on my second short story for the year. And the list of writers advancing to the second round in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award list came out today--they forgot to include my name on it.
So what’s with the whining? you ask.
Nothing. Because I have nothing to whine about it.
With every success and every failure you make, you have a choice. With success, you can say, “Eh, good enough,” and quit pushing forward. With failure, you can say, “Eh, I suck at this,” and quit trying altogether.
Either way, if you quit chasing your dream, it’s because you make the active decision to do so.
I’m not going to look at the first two weeks of this month and decide to give up just because there have been a couple of setbacks. To me, that would be just as absurd as looking at January and deciding I’m on the right track so I can just take a break and let nature take its course.
So what’s next?
Tonight, I take the three form letter rejections, file them away, and then reread and resubmit the three rejected short stories. Now that I’m officially out of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest, I have to resume my quest for finding an agent for the novel. Five queries by the end of the month isn’t a preposterous, unachievable goal. The short story that I’m “stuck” with right now is already 1200 words long. It’s not like I can’t write another 2000-3000 this weekend and finish it up.
I wrote this post hoping to show you that the world doesn’t end if you hit the wall a couple of times. Failing doesn’t kill you. It doesn’t need to crush your spirit either. Giving up does that. And I’m not capable of giving up at this point.
I hope you’re not either.
January successes: A full manuscript request from a fairly major agency. Two short-list notifications from pro-paying publications. Two personal rejections (as opposed to form letter rejections) from other publishers. One new short story completed and submitted, which is a monthly goal I set this year. Nine blog posts, which means I kept up with the posting schedule I created for myself.
February failures: The full manuscript was turned down by the agency. One of the short-listed stories was declined. Three other publishers sent form letters. I’ve been hit with writer’s block and made very little progress on my second short story for the year. And the list of writers advancing to the second round in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award list came out today--they forgot to include my name on it.
So what’s with the whining? you ask.
Nothing. Because I have nothing to whine about it.
With every success and every failure you make, you have a choice. With success, you can say, “Eh, good enough,” and quit pushing forward. With failure, you can say, “Eh, I suck at this,” and quit trying altogether.
Either way, if you quit chasing your dream, it’s because you make the active decision to do so.
I’m not going to look at the first two weeks of this month and decide to give up just because there have been a couple of setbacks. To me, that would be just as absurd as looking at January and deciding I’m on the right track so I can just take a break and let nature take its course.
So what’s next?
Tonight, I take the three form letter rejections, file them away, and then reread and resubmit the three rejected short stories. Now that I’m officially out of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest, I have to resume my quest for finding an agent for the novel. Five queries by the end of the month isn’t a preposterous, unachievable goal. The short story that I’m “stuck” with right now is already 1200 words long. It’s not like I can’t write another 2000-3000 this weekend and finish it up.
I wrote this post hoping to show you that the world doesn’t end if you hit the wall a couple of times. Failing doesn’t kill you. It doesn’t need to crush your spirit either. Giving up does that. And I’m not capable of giving up at this point.
I hope you’re not either.
January 28, 2013
Find Success in Failure
I've been sitting here watching my stack of rejection letters pile up and a couple of thoughts popped into my head. The first was "Geez, how much longer until I just give up?" and the second was "Don't give up, you idiot. You're making progress."
And it's true. I am making progress.
For example, my most recent rejection letter, the one that came today, makes five out of my last ten that came in the form of a personal rejection letter. That means fifty percent weren't form letter rejections, which, too me, shows that I am improving as a writer. A few of the rejections were shortlisted before failing to make the cut as well, meaning the writing is sound, but the story just didn't fit in with the publication in the end. My point here isn't to talk about my own rejection stats, but to show that it's okay to fail if you can find some measureable success in it.
It's also important to learn from your rejections. And I'm not necessarily implying that you need to learn anything about writing fiction from them. Even as adults, we sometimes forget that we can't win at everything and we can't get our way 100% of the time. It's a bitter pill to swallow, but that's life. And in life, there's always going to be a winner and a loser. There will always be situations where you'll have to accept being the latter.
Learning how to handle rejection with grace (and that means reading any feedback with an open mind, not throwing a tantrum, and not shooting off a nasty response to the editor) helps make you a better person. It also helps to remember that there are a hundred reasons your story could have been turned down, but not a single one of those reasons are personal against you.
So even though it sucks getting the "not right for us" emails, staying positive about them is one of the most important things an aspiring writer can do.
In fact, the only time failing makes you a failure is when you respond to it by giving up and quitting.
And it's true. I am making progress.
For example, my most recent rejection letter, the one that came today, makes five out of my last ten that came in the form of a personal rejection letter. That means fifty percent weren't form letter rejections, which, too me, shows that I am improving as a writer. A few of the rejections were shortlisted before failing to make the cut as well, meaning the writing is sound, but the story just didn't fit in with the publication in the end. My point here isn't to talk about my own rejection stats, but to show that it's okay to fail if you can find some measureable success in it.
It's also important to learn from your rejections. And I'm not necessarily implying that you need to learn anything about writing fiction from them. Even as adults, we sometimes forget that we can't win at everything and we can't get our way 100% of the time. It's a bitter pill to swallow, but that's life. And in life, there's always going to be a winner and a loser. There will always be situations where you'll have to accept being the latter.
Learning how to handle rejection with grace (and that means reading any feedback with an open mind, not throwing a tantrum, and not shooting off a nasty response to the editor) helps make you a better person. It also helps to remember that there are a hundred reasons your story could have been turned down, but not a single one of those reasons are personal against you.
So even though it sucks getting the "not right for us" emails, staying positive about them is one of the most important things an aspiring writer can do.
In fact, the only time failing makes you a failure is when you respond to it by giving up and quitting.
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