Category: Words Out

Recap of Recent Fiction Writer Action

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So much has been happening lately, after a long stretch without any breakthroughs since May 2011. It’s a bit hard to keep track of all my latest news! To recap:

“The Need to Desire” has been accepted by Phantasmagorium and should appear fairly soon as a weekly featured story on their web site. I’ll post a direct link when it’s available.

“High Desert, Starless Sky” has been accepted by Sirens Call Publications for their post-apocalypse themed anthology Carnage: After the End.

“May Dawn Redeem What Night Destroys” has been accepted by Jordan Krall for the Current 93 tribute anthology Mighty In Sorrow, to be published by Copeland Valley Press.

And for those who missed it, “Remodel With Swan Parts” was published in Electric Spec last year – direct link here.

In addition to the above, I have fifteen or so other stories out in submission, including a few in various stages of “final review” or short-list consideration. Maybe I’ll be adding to this list soon.

Guess I’m going to need to set up a bibliography page to keep it all straight!

Story Acceptance: May Dawn Redeem What Night Destroys

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I seem to be on a pretty good roll lately. Just received word my story “May Dawn Redeem What Night Destroys” has been accepted for inclusion in MIGHTY IN SORROW, a fiction anthology tribute to the amazing band Current 93.

This is very exciting! I love the band, and had all kinds of fun creating something to fit the theme. Can’t wait to appear in the same pages as some great experimental & weird fiction writers. My thanks to editor Jordan Krall.

The Times, They Are A-Changing

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I think the most important and useful advice any writer can follow is “Just keep writing.” I’ve followed that, have dedicated more and more time to it, and I think it’s made a big difference for me.

Another thing that’s harder to condense into a pithy advice one-liner, though, is the idea that you shouldn’t just keep working without thinking about what you’re doing. Probably the most important development I’ve made in my writing last year didn’t arise from just pushing ahead with constant practice, but from stopping what I was doing, reassessing what was working and what wasn’t, and taking the difficult step of resolving to make significant changes.

I changed my subject matter, I changed my style, and I changed my work’s emotional tone.

I shelved about half the stories I had considered “finished.” Some of them I reworked heavily (frustrating at first, since I had already put in tons of work “finishing” them before), others remain on the shelf. I started some brand new work. In some ways I became a beginner again. I set myself back, the way a golfer who changes his swing to correct for some fundamental flaw actually becomes a worse golfer for a while before he gets better.

After all this reinvention, I “felt” my work getting a lot stronger earlier this year. The responses I’ve been getting from editors have changed. Not only do I have two recent acceptances. There are more personal rejections, more rewrite requests. This past week or so marks the first time since I’ve been writing and submitting that I’ve received more pieces of good news than bad news. Some of the good news is of the “can’t pass along yet” variety, other bits may still not pan out into what I hope for. The thing is, it feels like it’s starting to click. I’m starting to see a future for myself in which I’m able to consistently write the kind of thing that’s compelling and interesting to tough-minded editors, and doesn’t just impress friends who read it with a heavy dose of benefit of the doubt.

Second Story Acceptance In a Month

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Wouldn’t it be great if I had more of these good news blog posts and fewer of those “woe, it is so hard!” ones? Well, I’m trying.

Just received another story acceptance. This isn’t the one I mentioned about a month back – still don’t know quite when that’s going to happen, though I’m told it’s definite. This new one’s definite too, contract signed and everything. My story is “High Desert, Starless Sky” and it’s been placed in an anthology called Carnage: After the End with a post-apocalyptic or dying Earth theme. It’s from a small press called Sirens Call Publications, and the page is here, though it’s not so much a promotional page for the book as an information page about submissions, which have closed. I’ll post more information when I have it.

This acceptance was especially nice as it came out of nowhere. It’s funny, all the short-listed and “recommended to our editor” stories have ended up rejected, and the three acceptances I’ve received have come with no hint, no advance notice of the possibility.

2011 Submissions

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I keep a log of the short stories I submit, including where and when, and any response I receive. I’m almost ready to close the door on 2011, but I still have one submission pending from August.

Not that I’m irritated or impatient. At the time I submitted, I knew the market was one that responded slowly. It’s a nifty little magazine, one I enjoy reading, so they can take as long as they want!

Just received a rejection for another story hanging out there since November 2011. I updated my records, looked at all the submissions and rejections, and realized I’m down to just this one open matter before I close that 2011 door.

A Writer’s Progress, By the Numbers

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I’m always interested to read what other writers have to say about their processes, their submissions, all the mechanics of that struggle to get the work out into the world. It’s been a while since I’ve posted an update like that. This kind of thing is intended both as a record of my progress, for my own future reference, and for the perspective of anyone else who may be interested, possibly others engaged in similar efforts.

It’s been almost a year since my first story was published. May 31, 2011, Electric Spec published Remodel With Swan Parts. From my vantage point a year later, that story seems very different from what I write now, though it still “sounds” a bit like me. I’d like to think my voice has evolved, strengthened. It’s Science Fiction, which I don’t really write any more, but has the weird edge present in my current work.

At the time that story was accepted, I had made something like 90 submissions, though most of that number was submissions of stories I’ve since stuck in a drawer. I’m certainly writing better stuff now, and I’m somewhere near my 190th submission. Even having pulled back a number of stories I’d considered finished, I have more completed work out there, so the subs are racking up more quickly now. I made 13 submissions last month, April. I have to say I thought the second acceptance would come more easily and quickly than the first. You know, submit 90 times and get a story accepted, and maybe you hope the second acceptance comes after 40-60 more subs, and after that maybe you sell one out of every 20-30 you send out. Hasn’t worked out that way. I’ve tallied more rejections since that acceptance than I had before it.

There’s no doubt I’ve made progress, though. As mentioned in previous blog posts, a greater number of my submissions earn personal rejections, or make “final cut” or “short list” status before rejection. I’m writing better stuff, coming up with first drafts that are closer to a working story, and managing to finish most pieces with 4-5 drafts instead of the 10 or 12 or 15 it used to take. I feel more confident, more sure of what’s required to make a good story.

Also I’ve become better at partitioning off the different parts or aspects of me as a writer, so they don’t trip over each other. I think the “writer,” “editor” and “submitter” functions are separate, use different parts of the brain, and at times even have competing goals. “Writer” wants to crank out fancy-sounding words, and preserve all the wonderfully crafted bits, and send them out into the world so everyone will have a chance to love them. “Editor” needs to be ruthless about removing what’s unneeded, which often means cutting the most florid and precious bits of prose. “Editor” also has to be tough about going over a story repeatedly until it’s as good as it can be. “Submitter” needs to be a robot, without emotional attachment to the stories themselves. He just sends them out, and when rejections happen as they so often do at this stage, send them out again without allowing the writer’s hurt feelings or the editor’s need to continually revise get in the way.

Currently I have 16 stories in submission. I have another 4-5 stories I previously considered “finished” but which have been withdrawn, so I suppose I could claim to have about 20 completed short stories. I have another 10 or so, in various stages of completion, which are “stuck” for one reason or another. Some of these have been through many drafts and just haven’t found the right tone or balance or voice. Some have been written through to the end, maybe revised or tweaked a little, but allowed to languish because they’re lacking in some important way. A few more are nearly finished and just need to be gone over a few more times.

One thing that’s changed recently is that instead of just dreaming up lots of story ideas and working on whatever seems most compelling to me, for the past few months I’ve been focused on crafting one story at a time for themed anthologies. I find the combination of the given theme (which forces me to narrow down, zoom in, and eliminate endless possibilities) and the deadline (which forces me to get to work and proceed toward a goal like a professional would) has been useful. Since this change, I’ve come up with three of my favorite pieces. These are in my opinion not only strong, compelling work, but the types of things I might not have come up with absent the impetus of the anthologies for which I crafted them. As a result I’ve exercised some muscles I might’ve previously left dormant for a while, and gone in some cool new directions suggestive of other future possibilities.

I’ve also experimented with flash pieces, or short stories on the shorter side, say 600 or 800 or up to 1,300 words. That’s another new approach that lets me try new voices, new techniques, and experiment a bit more freely.

The way things are headed now, I’ve been completing and submitting about one new story every 3-4 weeks. I feel much more in control of my craft, more certain of the artistic direction I’m pursuing, and in the process of defining technical and thematic aspects of the work in a way that makes me feel more definite about what I’m doing. True, I expected I’d have racked up another publication credit or two by now, but my submissions are becoming better received, I’m putting out more accomplished work all the time, and there’s no doubt in my mind I’m headed in the right direction. I think it’s just a matter of continuing to do pretty much exactly what I’ve been doing this past few months, continuing to put in the the time writing and editing and submitting, reading and reviewing books, making contacts, learning about markets, and getting myself out there. I feel surprisingly self-assured considering the lack of outward success I have to show thus far. When I look back on this post in a year or two, maybe I’ll laugh at my obliviously naive perspective. Maybe I’ll wish I could tell my past self, “Just keep on moving. Hang in there, and the path forward will be clearer soon.”

Updated State of the Writer

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Most of my recent posts to this blog have been book reviews. I’ve been reading a lot lately, and it’s fun to write a review of what I’ve read, and even more fun to receive feedback from some of my favorite authors who have seen and appreciated my reviews.

I didn’t intend to drift away from more frequent posts about my own writing, not because I perceive there to be a large number of people anxious to know more about the author of a bunch of stories they haven’t read, but because it’s useful for me. This is a way of keeping track of my progress and forces me to think about my own situation and status as a writer from the outside. It’s a way of forcing a bit of (at least slightly) objective self-evaluation.

So, let’s see. It’s been about 10 months since my first fiction publication, “Remodel With Swan Parts” which appeared in Electric Spec. The kind of thing I’ve been writing this past year or so is quite a bit different from that, but unfortunately I haven’t had anything else published yet so I don’t have any visible-to-the-public examples to show in order to give an idea of what I’m up to.

On top of changing, as far as genre or “feel,” what I write in the past year or so, I’ve also changed focus in a couple of other ways.

First, I’m challenging myself to write shorter pieces, somewhere between flash fiction and very short stories, at least once a month. I find it’s fun to start something and finish it fairly quickly. A new creation of 600-1500 words allows me to experiment a bit with different voices, styles, point of view. I’ve come up with a few interesting pieces like this recently, and so far reaction to these pieces has been positive. This is something I plan to continue, at least for now. I’d actually rather focus on writing longer, rather than shorter, but I have to face the fact that I’m still in the mode of learning, trying to improve and to break through. It’s more important for me to get stronger, to create a broader diversity of stories, and to create shorter pieces which might be more acceptable to a larger number of editors and venues than the longer stuff I might rather do. 

Second, I’ve been writing for submission to themed anthologies lately, rather than just writing for myself and then sending to any and all periodicals that fit what I’ve created. I find it stimulates me to move in different directions, to try thinks I might not otherwise have done. I took a first stab at “writing to order” when an editor I know gave me an opportunity to create something for such an anthology, and enjoyed the experience so much I’ve since written and submitted to a second such venue (story already rejected and resubmitted elsewhere) and I’m currently working on a third. This shift is not just about a desire to launch myself toward a different kind of publishing venue, but also challenging myself to create to order, within certain limits or parameters. It’s good practice for if my work ever ends up in some kind of demand, and it’s also good inspiration. I can cerainly say that the two completed stories along these lines would never have been written if not for the impetus provided by the theme.

Still working, still submitting. Still going through occasional periods of thinking it’s just so tough to break through and get my work a chance to be notice. Hanging in there, though. Perisisting.

Now Then, Where Was I?

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Not a lot of blog posting lately, though (as usual when I go silent on here) that doesn’t mean life came to a complete halt. So what have I been up to?

Since before Thanksgiving I’ve been sick off and on. Mostly on. I rarely get sick, so this was pretty frustrating. Every little hint of recovery was followed by another setback. Ended up going to the doctor twice, and trying four different prescriptions and a shopping basket full of over-the-counter meds. Mostly better now, but I’m definitely not going to rush back to full activity. Still taking it easy as far as exercise, and making sure to sleep every night.

Been writing pretty steadily. For every early morning session I’ve missed (making sure to get enough sleep), I’ve managed to add an evening session (skipping my workout), and continued my most important Sunday writing marathons. I spent much of the last month or so crafting something to order for a themed, invitation-only anthology. Now, getting an invitation doesn’t mean your story definitely gets accepted, and I know there are plenty of other really strong writers who were also invited to submit. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed on that one. The good news is that I was able to create one of my best stories ever, and learned a lot from the process, both writing “to order” and following specific notes and suggestions from the editor.

Aside from that, I have at least two stories “short listed” in submission. Being short listed can mean just about anything, from “Your story is among six from which we’ll choose five to publish,” to “Our slush readers forwarded us 25 stories this month, from which we’ll choose three.” In other words, sometimes being short listed means your odds are really high, and other times it means they’re better than they were when you first submitted, but still not a sure thing. I’ve been short listed many times before and ended up rejected (or seen the magazine fold before they published any of the stories they were choosing from), so I’m hopeful, but not getting carried away. The best news is that this seems to be happening more and more often. A much higher percentage of my stories is making is past the slush pile and into the hands of the top editors.

It’s also fun to check out Duotrope’s listings for the markets where you’ve submitted, and see where they are in terms of dealing with their slush pile. If a magazine has had a story of mine for 30 days, and you can see on Duotrope that the same magazine is rejecting a bunch of stories they’ve only had for 10 or 15 or 20 days, then you can guess that they’ve seen your story (since they generally read things oldest to newest) and that this is roughly equivalent to making it past the slush reader. Some magazines never tell you “our slush readers are recommending your story to the top editor” or “you’ve been shortlisted,” but you can sort of figure it out by reading the tea leaves on Duotrope. If you’re a writer submitting stories to open markets, and you’re not checking out Duotrope.com, you really should be.

Last writing news is that I’m trying to put together another story for a different themed anthology, but this one’s open, not invitation. It’ll be tough to get something done on time (the deadline’s not too far off) but I’m still working on it.

Other than that, I’ve been reading an awful lot, but two of my recent books have been over 1,000 pages each so a lot of pages read doesn’t translate to a lot of books read. I’ll start posting reviews again soon. I’m really looking forward to taking on a few 200-300 pages books!

Typing and Writing

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I write differently with pen and paper than I do with a computer. Maybe because I write more slowly than I type, or maybe because the visual feedback is different, or the tactile experience. Whatever the reason, there’s a clear difference in my output.

Even more pronounced than this, though, is the difference between how I edit using a pen, compared to how I edit on the computer. It’s almost as if a different part of my brain engages.

Lately I’m trying to get a handle on how to take advantage of these variances for different effects. Recently I work with pen and paper more and more. I still love Scrivener, and consider it my most important tool, but I’m shifting my stories in and out of Scrivener. To my mind it’s similar to an artist stepping back from a painting to get a look at it from too far away to actually work on it. When I’ve come to some kind of better understanding about the what’s different about my writing or editing processes when I write by hand rather than when I type on a computer, I’ll post about it again.

I’ve seen other writers who say they always do first drafts by hand and then type them in, or they always re-type every new draft from a new, scratch document (rather than editing into an existing document). I’m going to go back and forth for a while and think about hos the process is affecting what I’m doing.

How I Really Feel About Rejection and Persistence

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Yesterday’s post was just a bit of fun, mostly inspired by the number of markets I’ve seen close up and the number of editors I’ve seen quit editing at the very moment one of my stories was under consideration or even on the short list. It’s been quite a year.

I’m really grateful to have seen my fiction published for the first time (thanks again, Electric Spec). I’ve signed up for “writing intensives” and workshops. I’ve joined and quit three different online critique groups. I even hired an editor to give me one-on-one critique. I’ve started getting up earlier and earlier every weekday morning to give myself more time to write.

This last thing, making more time to write, doing it more consistently and very nearly every day, has had a greater effect on what I’m doing than any of the rest of it. I think critique groups and workshops can be useful, but I’ve become skeptical of them. They’re most useful at drumming into the beginner’s mind a lot of “thou shalt not” rules, which can be great for the beginner so clueless he or she really has no idea where to start. The closer your writing gets to being publishable, though, the less useful such groups really are. If you want to make that transition from competent fiction-writing technician to confident literary artist, it’s probably more useful to shrug off the “thou shalt not” list. Push yourself to color outside the lines a little.

Yes, getting published is hard. It’s absurdly hard, really. There are few endeavors I’ve encountered in life that require such hard work for such uncertain feedback and such distant rewards. If you set a goal of running a marathon, or becoming a great copier salesman or learning to cook desserts, you’re likely to find easier ways to measure your success and fewer frustrations between commencement of diligent work and the achievement of your goals, than if you set the goal of getting your stories out there into the world. This is a goal more like aspiring to become an astronaut, or an Olympic decathlete, or an actor in motion pictures.

Far, far more applicants than available positions.

But once your heart and mind are fixed, even knowing the difficult odds, you just keep pushing forward. Another rejection doesn’t make you think “Maybe I’m not cut out for this.” You just file it away, and you don’t stop. You do what you have to do.