Tag: Writing

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 5, the one with no heat and a sale

Week 5! Our furnace died on Friday. It’s also been one of the coldest weeks all winter. Clearly our appliances have a (dark) sense of humor. Yesterday was Girl Scout cookie “go” day, so since the house was cold, Kyra and I bundled up and sold cookies door-to-door. By the time we arrived back home (several boxes lighter), we had heat.

Writing:

  • Poem about the color orange. It is full of whimsy. And adjectives.

Submitting:

  • One Good Turn, (very) tongue-in-cheek science fiction story.
  • Payment, an even shorter (25 words) version of Cash or Check

Rejections:

  • None!

Acceptances:

  • The Burden of So Many Roses to Kazka Press for their undelivered valentine prompt. The story should be “live” in a few days. 

I also spent a good deal of time revising/editing two stories, One Good Turn and another that I’m set to submit in this upcoming week. 

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. 

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 2 is untitled

Week 2! This week I worked on a longer short story and I think I have about 5,000 words. It’s on my Mobile Pro, which doesn’t have a word count function, so I’m guesstimating by its file size. (And yes, I’ve written so many scenes/stories on my Mobile Pro, I can do this. Certainly a skill I can apply to other areas of my life.)

I completed an untitled (for now) flash fiction, which I managed to write without a single line of dialogue. However, it does have neck tattoos. So, you know, there’s that. It’s Desperate Housewives meets Breaking Bad. In 600 words. Without dialogue. Yeah. This one’s going to sell.

Writing:

  • Untitled flash fiction, ~600 words
  • Untitled longer short story, not complete ~ 5,000 words

That longer short story? Another dream-inspired one. I crawled out of bed and scribbled down the notion, even though I had some note cards and a pen on the nightstand.

Submitting:

  • Two Hammers, a persona poem I wrote during a poetry class last year. I found a lit journal that focuses on historical topics, so I sent it there.

Also in this week’s writing news: I did some revising and wrote several pages on a story that only wants to be written by hand.

Be sure to check the Write 1 Sub 1 Satummary page each week. It includes links to all the published stories from the Write 1 Sub 1 participants for the week. Not only is it some good reading, but if you’re a writer, it’s a great way to get a feel for the market as well.

Highlights: UFO anthology editor Alex Shvartsman has a really cool story up at Daily Science Fiction, and my friend Von has a lovely New Year’s story at Every Day Fiction.

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 1

Well, did I do it? I think so! Here’s my tally for the week.

Writing:

  • Fire and Ice, a novelette, ~8,500 words
  • The Burden of So Many Roses, flash, ~1,260 words

Here’s the crazy thing: I totally dreamed the start of the novelette. And in dream-like fashion, I was both writing the story and in the story. This never happens to me. I never dream stories. But since the universe offered up this gift, I decided to go for it and the whole thing tumbled out of me in a matter of three days, no planning, no outlining, nothing but words. It. Was. Glorious.

The flash I hope to cut down a bit, to about 1,000 words. I suspect a good 200 or more are throat-clearing anyway and this won’t be too tough.

Submitting:

  • Cash or Check, a 44-word story (hey, it counts) to a local flash fiction (100 words or less) contest. I am actually hoping not to win or place, since the prize includes getting up on stage and reading your work. The introvert’s nightmare. This will be my happiest rejection ever.

And, thanks to that novelette, I’ve had this Pat Benatar classic running through my head all week. Now, it can run through yours. You can thank me later.

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.

Looking back: Writing in 2012

iStock_000002528747XSmallIt’s the end of the year (or almost) so, of course, I simply must look back on writing in 2012. All the cool kids are doing it.

Anyway, my key word for 2012 was growth. I wanted to try a few new things with my writing and untie myself from the notion that I could only do just one thing.

I think I succeeded.

First, I mixed it up with some classes. I took:

  • A poetry class
  • Writing in the flow (the Robert Olen Butler method) class
  • Flash fiction/flash memoir class

I ended up writing more than forty poems (not necessarily good poems, mind you). In March, I surprised myself by writing a piece of flash fiction that simply tumbled out of me one morning, sparked by a poem I’d read.

And I thought to myself: Why am I not doing more of this? I like this!

I liked it so much, I ended up writing seven more stories (complete drafts) and have several others in the “stewing” stage.

Than first piece of flash fiction I wrote back in March? The Secret Life of Sleeping Beauty, which ended up:

In the big, surprising, out-of-the-blue sort of news this year, Darcy and I sold audio rights to Audible.com for The Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading. And now you know everything I do about that. If/when the audio book is produced, I’ll be sure to let you know.

I finished off the year with The Southeast Review’s 30-day writer’s regimen. At first, I was reluctant. Writing? During the holidays? Actually, it kept me writing during the holidays. I missed a prompt here and there, but I wrote something for nearly all of them. According to the website, it looks like they’re launching all new material in February 2013. Mark your calendars! I highly recommend this. I had a blast doing it.

And that’s my writing year. I think it was a good one.

Virtually yours

I forgot all about this very cool site, Authorgraph, until I received a request for an e-book autograph* this morning, which was a very nice post-Christmas type of present to get.

I have two books up on Authorgraph, The Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading and The Trouble with Firsts. Click on through to the site and request an e-autograph or two. Or ten. Or more!

Get a free Authorgraph from Charity Tahmaseb

*While writing this post, I had one of those moments where a word totally loses its meaning and I had to look it up to make sure it was a real word. Today’s unreal word is autograph. I’m still not sure it means what I think it means.