Tag: Short story

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 18 the with … wait, is that a sale?

Week 18! With a little luck, this week, we’ll have some sunshine, and warmer temperatures, and maybe spring. Crazier things have happened.

My brain is totally into the revision of Speechless, so the 1,000 words I managed were a little rough. But … I managed them, and that’s the main thing. Plus, I had some good and surprising news this week as well. Keep reading to find out.

Writing:

  • Vigil ~ 1,000 words.
  • Revisions on Speechless, edits up to chapter fifteen. With all the changes, I’ve added ~5,000 words so far. I’m hoping to be done this week. I wanted to be done this weekend, but better slow and steady than rushed and sloppy.

Rejections:

  • Filling the Space ~ uh, this one went off into the ether, I think. I don’t know. Anyway, it will be the sub 1 for this week.

Submissions:

  • The Burden of So Many Roses ~ to a reprint market.

Acceptances:

  • Elvis Has Left the Building ~ I sold this to Untreed Reads and it will come out as its own little e-book. From what I’ve seen/heard, they have fabulous distribution and editing/proofing. This was an older story that I still thought I should/could send out, so I’m pleased to have found a home for it.

Other:

  • Pitch contest: I’m a finalist in the pitch contest I entered a few weeks back. 

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 14 the one where I look ahead

Week 14! I spent some of my writing time this week revising a story to send out (it’s next week’s sub 1), and looking at the handful of stories I want to send out this month.

One, I’d like to have some new stories making the rounds. Two, I’m running out of stories to submit. (I have 18 pieces out at the moment, some duplicates, but still, I need more stories) Three, there are some submission deadlines I’d really like to hit. All that adds up to more revision.

Also, this week, I sent out my first reprint submission. We’ll see how that goes.

Additionally, I spent some time reviewing the calendar for the next three months. We. Are. So. Busy. I still hope to stay on track with Write 1/Sub 1, but I’m not going to stress about trying to write ALL THE THINGS. Some things will just have to wait.

Writing:

  • Market Day, ~ 4,000 words.

Rejections:

  • The Madness in King’s End

Submissions:

  • The Madness in King’s End
  • Pitch contest
  • The Burden of So Many Roses to a reprint market (!)

Acceptances:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 11, the one with even more stomach flu

Week 11! Oh! What a week. Everyone in the house, minus myself, came down with what we suspect was the norovirus. Seriously. They were all sick. I was not. This equation does not balance. Trust me.

Despite that, and the weather, I did manage to get a story written. One that came out of the blue (and yes, I’m calling it that), with characters and a world with the potential to recur.

Writing:

  • Out of the Blue, ~ 2,670 words
  • Untitled something-or-other, ~ 800 more words, in progress

Rejections:

  • The Madness in King’s End   

Submissions:

  • Land of the Free (Haircuts)
  • The Madness in King’s End 

Acceptances:

  • None

The Burden of So Many Roses: Milestone story

Falling Roses

So today, The Burden of So Many Roses is live over on Kazka Press, where the theme this month is an undelivered valentine. My guess is (I haven’t read all the stories yet) that if you’re not a fan of gooey Valentine’s Day stories, you’ll be happy with the fare offered up this month.

At least, mine isn’t gooey.

It is, however, a milestone story for me. Here’s the breakdown:

1/3/2013: finished the draft

1/13/2013: sent to Kazka Press

1/30/2013: accepted

2/5/2013: published!

Not only is that one of the fastest turnaround times for me, submission to acceptance, it is the fastest I’ve ever drafted/revised/polished a story and sent it out. That being said, Kazka Press has a list of prompts on their submission page, and I had that undelivered valentine fermenting in the back of my mind for the entire month of December. That probably helped.

One of my goals this year is to figure out how to maintain a steady pace of writing while dealing with the ebbs in my creativity. And ebb it does. To the point where I’m all reclined on the fainting couch, hand on forehead, and despairing, I’ll never write again!

But since I always do, I’ve stopped believing myself when I get this way. This is why Write 1/Sub 1 is such a challenge. If I don’t write one, I’ll run out of things to submit. But it’s teaching me that:

  • I can write more than I think I can.
  • I have more story ideas than I think I do.
  • No one story concept is like another. Some tumble out like gifts, some I pick at, bit by bit.
  • There’s no wrong way to draft a short story.

Sometimes, to write, you simply need to get out of your own way.

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 4 rejections, fast and furious

Week 4! I did take it easier this week, writing a flash story. I also worked on some revisions as well for some upcoming deadlines. Plus, I read a novel-length manuscript for a friend and provided some feedback. Have my fingers crossed for her.

Writing:

  • The Madness in King’s End, flash fiction, ~967 words

Submitting:

  • Cash or Check, to another postcard fiction type site.

Rejections:

  • Cash or Check, in what may be the world’s fastest rejection (or at least my fastest) ~ 8 hours
  • Long Distance Charges May Apply, 12 days

These were both nice rejections and if I have something appropriate in the future, I’ll definitely submit to both markets again. Besides, I don’t mind fast turnarounds. It beats staring at your submission tracker and thinking, wow, that’s been out for 397 days. Is it too soon to query?

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 3

Week 3! This week I finished a long short story. Word count says it’s a novelette, but I think it wants to be a novella when it grows up.

This coming week I would really like to work on some shorter stories.

Writing:

  • Aliens & Invisibility ~ 11,800 words. Aliens & Invisibility is not its title, just a reminder (to me) about its content. Although I feel compelled to say that the aliens in the story aren’t invisible. You can see them. Or could, if they weren’t a fictional construct. You know what I mean. 

Submitting:

  • Long Distance Charges May Apply, another super short story (80 words) that I sent to a postcard fiction site.
  • The Burden of So Many Roses, normally I don’t send stories out so soon after writing them, but this was in response to a prompt call for submissions with a deadline, so out it went.

Rejections, etc.:

  • Cash or Check (that 44-word story) was a finalist but did not make the winners’ list. Which, if you recall, I was totally fine with since part of the prize was reading on stage. 

Writing in 2013: And now for something completely different

Inspired by many things, like writing The Secret Life of Sleeping Beauty and reading Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing, I am trying something completely different this year.

This year, I am taking on the challenge, inspired by Ray Bradbury, to Write 1/Submit 1. My firm commitment is writing one story each month and submitting one story each month (not necessarily the same story). My stretch goal is to do this weekly. Yes. Weekly.

I know. Just a little bit crazy. But I’m thinking I need to do something just a little bit crazy with my writing this year. I’m under no contracts; I have no (writing) obligation. So why not?

I know my (writing) self well enough to realize I’ll probably end up tallying my weekly progress at the end of each month. My process is such that I may write two stories in one week, then spend a week or two woolgathering. (I’m a world-class woolgathering. If woolgathering were an actual profession, I could pull in six figures.) Then, I’ll write some more. Ultimately, my aim is to write 52 stories this year and to submit 52 times as well.

Fortunately, since I turned my attention back to short work in the middle of last year, I have an inventory of stories that are either already on submission or can go out fairly soon. In fact, I submitted a story today! I just met my monthly goal. So: Ha!

You can read about the challenge here if you’re interested in trying it yourself. If you do, let me know. We can keep each other on track.

And whatever your goals for the year are, I wish you success and happiness in working toward them.

Taking (summer) stock

I haven’t been writing in my blog–uh, yeah, clearly–and I miss it. I really do. I have been writing. A lot, I think. When school started for the kids (right after Labor Day this week), I took stock of my summer. Just what did I do on my summer “vacation”?

Starting with Memorial Day and ending with Labor Day, I did the following:

  • Second draft of a middle grade novel I’m calling Speechless. ~ 42,000 words. This is the “that which does not kill you makes you stronger” draft.
  • Second/revised draft of my short story (The Trouble with Firsts) for the Debs anthology The First Time. Started at 7,800 and ended up just under 6,000 words. Cutting 1,700 seems like an arduous task, but once I focused on the story, it was relatively easy. I had a lot of things in there that would’ve been fine for a novel. Short story? Not so much.
  • Revised/edited Dating on the Dork side with Darcy for our agent. 83,000 words. Y’all can just keep your fingers crossed for us, okay?
  • Third draft of Speechless, which is the “draft other people can read and it won’t injure them” draft. 43,000 words (oh, I added to it!).

Bonus items:

  • Took a class on metaphors and did all the assignments. I’m so freaking proud of myself.
  • Read a terrific manuscript by my friend Joy Hensley and got to celebrate (virtually) her agent call/representation. Can you squee via email? Yes, yes you can.
  • Mentoring another writer via one of the RWA chapters I belong to.

Oh, and I bought these awesome boots:

Okay, so the boots don’t = writing progress. Still. I think the potential is there for writing awesome things while wearing these boots.

So. How was your summer?