Tag: short stories

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 30 the one with more invisible characters

Week 30! I almost thought I wouldn’t make my write 1 this week. Yesterday, I had two invisible characters, a mystery on my hands, and no idea how the story might end. None. Zero. But I kept writing, since I could see what happened just a sentence or two ahead of where I was in the story. That, and I kept muttering, “The end is in the beginning.”

And what do you know? It was. Considering that I started this story with no idea that the end would be there, I’m pretty pleased with that. Also, if you’re keeping score at home, this would be my third story of the year that involves invisible characters. I have no idea what’s up with that.

I also took the day off from the blogging challenge yesterday. I did write 3,000 words of a 5,000 word story. So. There’s that. Plus, I proofed another that I hope to send out today.

Writing:

  • Pulling Threads ~5,000 words
  • Blog post challenge

Submissions:

  • The Short Sweet Life of My Invisible Prom Date

Rejections:

  • None (!) but looking at my submission tracker, I’m due for a deluge any day now.

Acceptances:

  • None.

Ten day challenge day 7: tools of the trade

10 Day Write Blog Challenge button200

Today’s prompt:

Post a techie-type blog previewing the software or technical tools you use for writing – don’t forget about your organisation approach, backups of your files, and reference tools etc. If you have lots, choose one tool you can’t live without, and profile that. Don’t forget links, and screenshots.

The more I write, the more I find the whiz-bang techno tools less useful. While they might be helpful for some writers, to me they always have that whiff of “magic bullet/secret handshake” about them (not that you can smell either of those things). What I mean is this: It’s that promise that if only you use this software/method/whatever, then–and only then–will you achieve your publishing dreams.

But the more I write, the more I find I simply need this:

Paper and pen–cat optional, but highly recommended.

That would be paper and pen, word processor when I can’t keep up with my thoughts. That being said, I am not averse to technology when it comes to writing and submitting. Tools I use:

Dropbox

Love, love Dropbox. File backup, file access, file sharing.

Duotrope

I know a great many writers were upset when Duotrope went to a pay-model (you know, in order to stay in business, pay their staff, minor things like that). I decided that it provides more than enough services to be worth the subscription fee.

Text-to-speech

I don’t have a link to this one since this is something you’ll need to play around with, and what you end up choosing (if you do) depends on the OS/software/technology you have. But! I highly recommend some sort of text-to-speech program, either on an e-reader, your PC, or both.

This is how I proof stories and queries and such that I send out. True, you won’t hear the difference between there and their, but did you leave the “l” out of public? You’ll hear that. Worth the price right there.

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 29 the one with the milestone

Week 29! This week saw a milestone in my Write 1/Sub 1 journey. I submitted my fiftieth story for the year. That’s right. 5 – 0. 50 submissions (if not 50 stories) since January first.

My daughter was at camp this week, which means the yearly tradition of the story I write about the alien who lives in her bedroom when she’s away. This year it was Xelenia: Alien Spy Girl, who battled the Blocknarians–because I’m all kinds of creative when writing these off-the-cuff camp stories.

Still, I must do a somewhat convincing job of it, since my daughter still isn’t sure if Xelenia does live in her room while she’s away or if I write these for, as she put it, “my entertainment.”

Writing:

  • Cracks in the Sky ~2,500 words
  • Xelenia: Alien Spy Girl (camp story)
  • Pitching a Fit (blog challenge post)

Submissions:

  • The Girl with the Piccolo

Rejections:

  • None (!)

Acceptances:

  • None, but a short YA story of mine has been short-listed, so I’m pleased (and a little hopeful).

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 28 the one with the birthday and amusement park

Week 28! It was my birthday this week, also, the big trip to the local amusement park with my daughter’s Girl Scout troop (I’m one of their leaders). It’s what they wanted to do with their cookie money this year. I hazard to say that a good time was had by all–yes, even me.

We got to the park right when it opened, did all the long-line rides in the morning (when there were no lines) and the water park in the afternoon. The hardest part was the shopping at the end (each girl had some money to buy a souvenir). Oh, the deliberation that went into that!

Writing wise, it was a quiet week. Wrote a story, submitted a story, and that was it.

Writing:

  • Odd Jobs ~2,500 words

Submissions:

  • Just a Matter of Time

Rejections:

  • None (!) I had to double check, but no rejections this week.

Acceptances:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 27 the one with the midweek holiday

Week 27! This was a weird week, what with the Thursday holiday (I worked on Friday). I worked on some more prompts from the  The Southeast Review’s 30-Day Writer’s Regimen. The result: a maybe flash fiction piece and the start on something possibly longer. We’ll see how that shakes out this week.

Writing:

  • The Girl with the Piccolo ~1,000 words

Submissions:

  • Alliance

Rejections:

  • Just a Matter of Time ~ Another nice rejection and I’ll send this one out again in the coming week.

Acceptances:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 25 and 26 the one with the power outage

Week 26! Last week, we spent four days without power and I was grateful that I:

1) Sent out my sub 1 early in the week.
2) Was working longhand on a story and could simply keep writing.

I’m still behind on prompts from The Southeast Review’s 30-Day Writer’s Regimen. But it’s not like they’ll go all soggy in the summer humidity or anything. I’m guessing on my word count, which turns out to be pretty accurate once I know how many words a page of my current notebook holds (this one, with the hedgehogs, about 250 to 280, depending).

As you can see, I went a little crazy on the subs this week. Next week, my aim is to get at least one brand new story into the mix–and not get too ahead of myself and run out of things to send.

Writing:

  • A Boy and His Witch ~1,000 words (last week)
  • Keeping Time ~ 1,000 words (this week)

Submissions:

  • Filling The Space
  • The Burden of So Many Roses (reprint market)
  • Just a Matter of Time
  • The Secret Life of Sleeping Beauty (reprint market)

Rejections:

  • The Burden of So Many Roses ~ you guys, what a nice rejection! Not only did the editor ask me to submit in the future, but gave me market suggestions for this particular story as well (and permission to name drop). So. Yeah. It went right back out this week.

Acceptances:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 17 from snow to sun

Week 17! Last week it was all snow. Now? We have sun! We’ll be inching toward eighty degrees here today. It’s a little surreal.

Even with the revision work, I wrote something new, if short, this week. I got my submissions in, even submitting something new along with a re-submission of another story.

Writing:

  • Long Walk Home~ 1,000 words.
  • Revisions on Speechless, edits up to chapter nine, new scenes added (and some deleted). In total, I’ve added 4,400 words to the manuscript. Because I’m “aging” it (from tween to teen) this is a good thing. The book can go a bit longer without any worries about it being too long.

Rejections:

  • None

Submissions:

  • Leap of Faith
  • Just a Matter of Time 

Acceptances:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 16 the one with more April (snow) showers and rejections

Week 16! And what a week is was, was it not? Glued to the news, two and a half hour commutes thanks to an epic April snowstorm, and those are just the things I remember.

The rest of the week I revised and I wrote a … well, let’s call it another episode of what I’m thinking of as Pansy’s story. I sent out another new story this week, although for this coming week, I may go with a re-submission of a story that has been making the rounds. I have enough on my writing plate that revising another short story might be more than I can handle.

Writing:

  • Downpour ~ 4,500 words.
  • Revisions on Speechless, book map, new calendar, and the first two chapters revised. Yay!

Rejections:

  • The Patron Saint of Lost Things
  • Fellowship award I knew I wasn’t going to get

Submissions:

  • The Weight of Secrets 

Acceptances:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 15 April rejections bring …?

Week 15! So, yes, I knew it was coming. One glance at my submission tracker would tell anyone that April might have more than its fair share of raining rejections. And they’ve already started to fall.

But that’s okay. That’s the way it works. And hey, look! I’m not running out of stories to submit. Ah, yes, the upside to rejection.

Of course, not all the news is bad; some of the news is in progress, for lack of a better description. I hope to say more about this soon.

Writing:

  • Daydreams and Nightmares, ~ 3,000 words.
  • Revisions on Speechless, moving it from tween to teen.

Rejections:

  • The Madness in King’s End
  • The Burden of So Many Roses ~ came back fast, but it was a nice rejection; I’ll try here again
  • Just a Matter of Time

Submissions:

  • Filling the Space

Acceptances:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 13 the one with the monster award

Week 13! Here we are, three months into this experiment and I’m still on track. Amazingly.

So far, for the year, I’ve managed to write fourteen stories and send out twenty one submissions. Add to that two acceptances. So not only do I win the monster award for March, but I’m one third of the way through this experiment and looking forward to even more.

I’ve been surprised at just how many (odd) ideas are knocking around in my head and how many of them seem to fly off my fingers, seemingly from nowhere. That’s been the biggest reward so far. It’s like lifting a rock and discovering not squirming bugs, but many shiny, shiny things.

Writing:

  • Pansy, Too (continuation/standalone addition to Out of the Blue), ~ 1,500 words. Yes, I suspect a time will come when I can’t call these standalone episodes or what have you, but for now, I am.

Rejections:

  • None

Submissions:

  • Rhymes with Orange

Acceptances:

  • None