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Posts tagged ‘Short Stories’

Oct 5

How Do You Measure Growth? – Beginning of Oct 2024

Last month marked a milestone for me. Ten years ago, I got my first fiction story published. Prior to that, I had a couple of non-fiction pieces published, but nothing else. I was happy to realize that I was still on this journey, writing and publishing. I’ve had bumps along the way, but I’m still picking up the pen (or booting up the computer) to get the story down. I mentioned this to my mother, and I had an epiphany.

I had real, measurable growth in the past ten years.

My first two stories were published in two anthologies. I knew the editor and she had encouraged me to submit. I had a pretty good feeling that I would be accepted (about 90%). It was a good beginning and I was happy to finally have some stories out in the world to show people. My family could have something in their hands that would prove that I was a “real” writer. (I should note that no one ever made me feel bad about being unpublished. It was just nice to show them after all the years of talking about it.) It was good for my ego too. I had two books in my hands that listed me as a contributor. Humble as they may be, it was a start.

My next two stories came out in 2018 and 2019. These were two stories that I had workshopped in grad school. They had gone through multiple revisions and had at least a dozen people comment on the work. Both had been rejected from 20 or so places, but I persisted because I believed in them. They, at last, found a home and I was proud of both of them. The growth aspect came from the editors. They were complete strangers. These folks received submissions all the time. My stories had been good enough to convince them to publish me.

And, finally, we get to the two stories that got accepted this year. Both of these stories were written after I graduated. No workshopping (but I do have a critic group and they read over and commented on both stories) and no prior relationship with the editors.

Folks, I’m off the training wheels and riding this bike on my own! I may be slow on this journey, but I’m getting there.

The growth in my writing career is there. I can see it, but it is only obvious when I look back over the years. In a snapshot of a year or two, you won’t see much. But ten years later? Yeah, there is movement. It’s a reminder to me that a writing career is a marathon, not a sprint.

I’m still on this journey and I’ve made progress.

Jun 23

End of June 2024 Round Up

Happy summer!

I hope everyone is having a great summer so far. I’m basking in the comfort of air conditioning and hard at work on my next writing project. While I’m happy to enjoy the sunshine, I don’t really like to sweat. Indoors I stay.

Let’s recap my writing news for the first half of the year and what I hope will be some achievements for the last half of the year.

In March, I decided to really try and get some stories out for submission. I made the commitment to submit five times a week. Although there was a week I didn’t make it, I made up for it and submitted extra the following week. As a result, in the month of April I got two acceptances. I was floored. I’d never had that happen before, but it motivated me to keep going.

One story (Siren Call) is already out. The other will be published this fall. After four years, it feels good to see some of my work out in the world again.

Also, I finally stopped procrastinating and self-published two of my previous short stories for Amazon Kindle (See the Published Works Page for the link). They came out so long ago that the rights have reverted back to me and I’m putting them back out into the world. I will do the same for my other stories too (both published and unpublished). I view my short stories as marketing for an eventual longer work. The short stories are cheaper and shorter in length, so if someone is unsure whether they want to buy a novel, they can buy a story and see if they like me.

And I am writing a novel. I still have a long way to go, but I’m making progress. Like I said, those two acceptances have been great for my motivation. I’m hoping to be done with a first draft by September 1st.

Also, I have four other short stories that either need to be finished or rewritten. I’d like to get them submitted too.

So, in the last half of the year, I have a novel draft to finish and four short stories to work on. I’d like to self-publish two more stories (one in 3rd quarter and one in 4th quarter), get two more acceptances, and have a complete draft of my novel. That’s a lot, but I like aiming at big goals.

Finally, I quit X (Twitter) last fall, but I have joined Instagram. Feel free to follow me here.

Hope everyone’s summer is fun and productive!

Jun 11

New Story Publication – Siren Call

It may be heating up outside with the summer months, but I hope my latest publication sends a chill down your spine…

After a 4-year absence, I am please to announce that my horror story “Siren Call” is now published.

Click here to read it — Siren Call

Enjoy!

Aug 14

How Important is Your Time?

I’ve come across a few articles in the last few weeks about managing your time better. Most talk about how we waste time on unimportant tasks and not enough on what we care about. For example, I watched Avengers Endgame again last night instead of, say, writing more of my novel. I had a busy day doing all the adulting things we need to do and when I got home, I just couldn’t muster the energy to focus and write. It happens. I let it go and this morning I was back at it searching for markets to submit to and writing more.

But it also go me thinking about how much time I waste submitting to literary journals. Most doing respond quickly and a story can sit for months, if not years, with no response. Yes I’ve done the simultaneous submission route, but still I feel like my time is being wasted.

To be honest – I’m tired of the treadmill.

Round and round my stories go. Sometimes they find a great place, but most have been sitting waiting for (more than likely) a rejection. I don’t blame the journals. They have hundreds, if not thousands, of submissions to comb through and little time and man power to do it. That’s is the nature of the business. There is a lot of competition. I know this and accepted it.

Maybe this is a repercussion from my layoff, but I’ve been taking a hard look at my career (both of them) and asking myself, “What do I want?” Is this part of the dream to keep submitting, or do I want to move forward in a different way? Like limiting the number of submissions and then, self-publishing them myself. Or should I let go of stories and lean harder into my novel? I love short story writing, but sometimes I think I use it as an excuse not to take on an ambitious work. I shy away from something longer, because I have other stories that I can finish and submit right away.

Something has to change. I’m unhappy with my progress as a writer and I want to shake things up. Focusing on my novel, would consume more of my time, but I would have something BIG at the end. Over a decade ago, I wrote a novel and it never went anywhere. I’m glad it didn’t get published, because I’m a better writer today. Through the practice of craft and classes I’ve taken, I’ve grown into a better writer than my twenty-something self could ever imagine. I think it is time to go all in.

As for my short stories, I like the idea of a limited submissions. Maybe 5-10. If nothing happens, I’m going to self-publishing them and call it a day. All I really want is for people to read and enjoy my stuff. Having journals and magazines publish me is always a treat, but I am not going to chase this need to be a worthy writer. That’s for others, who want it more than me.

I’m going to spend my time in better ways.

Apr 16

Should I Submit to Non-Paying Markets?

This is a dilemma many writers have. Should you only submit to places that pay, or do you widen your search to everywhere no matter if they pay or not?

My stance for the past few years has been to submit only to places that pay. My initial publications were at places that didn’t offer payment, but now that I have a few publication credits, I’ve only been focused on paying markets. Problem is, I think I may be missing out. Am I limiting myself by only going for markets that pay? Or is it a disservice to myself and my work by going for markets no matter if they pay or not?

I see the refrain of many successful writers. Never work for free. Money should flow toward the writer.

But a lot of writers feel that when you first start out, and you don’t have any credits, you should submit anywhere. You don’t have the luxury of being picky. You submit everywhere that is appropriate for your work whether they pay or not. Once you have a few pieces out, build a following, and get some experience, then you can start submitting to the big leagues.

Then, I’ve read some writers that say start at the top paying markets and then work your way down. Swing for the fences first and when those markets are exhausted, you move down the list.

And then there are writers who say the only places you should be submitting are ones that pay. Anything else is a waste of time. I don’t necessarily agree with this notion. There are a few places I really like and would love to be published in print (like Conjunctions). Also I think that if you are getting something you believe is beneficial to your career from the publication(maybe lots of eyes on the piece, or listed on Amazon with other writers, or for charity), then it may be worth it to submit.

For now, I’m in the second camp. I submit my stories to the best places first. Once they get rejected, I move on to the second rung journals, and so forth. This way, if a story gets published I don’t have the regret of saying, “Maybe I should’ve submitted to ______ first.” There is a lot more competition for the higher paid places, but moving away from those, I’ve noticed there are more places that I thought that pay semi-pro rates (.03-.05 cents/word) or token payments. Nobody is getting rich, but still feels good to get fifty bucks or so for a story.

I guess there is no one way to get it right. Maybe some of the amazing, non-paying markets offer great opportunities that I am missing. However, I can’t get over the fact that I want to be paid. I don’t work at my day job for free, so why would I be okay with my writing career? And other writers may disagree and build an amazing career build on lot of non-paying credits. Each writer has to make the best decision for themselves.

I may revisit my feelings about this in a few years to see if my strategy worked or not. I’m sticking to my plan and working hard to make all my stories successful.

Feb 22

New Story Published at Four Star Stories

Look A New Story!      photo: Department of the Interior

 

My new story “Future Virtual Love” is now live at the Four Star Stories website. Click here to read it in full!

For all of my fellow writers, I wanted to give some background info on the evolution of the story.

The first version was written sometime in late 2012. I later revised it and added more (about 1500 or so more words). I then workshopped it twice. The first time in summer 2013 and then later in fall 2013. During summer 2013, my professor encouraged me to submit. I had held off submitting, because I wanted to focus just on craft while in grad school, but she said that the story was strong, and I should try. So off it went into the cycle of submissions and rejections.

During my thesis in Spring 2015, my advisor said that I should try submitting it with a significant portion cut. It wasn’t that the story was bad, in fact the whole story was part of my thesis and accepted. Honestly, her advice came from the feedback the story was getting from editors. “The story is good,” they would say, “but not quite for us.” It got quite a few personal rejections and, yes, that spurred me on, but also made me take second, or even third looks at my work. Then, my advisor suggested that I submit the shorter version instead.

3.5 years after that first workshop… 1 year after thesis… 18 rejections later… I submitted to Four Star Stories in July 2016. In September 2017, I got the acceptance e-mail.

Now in February 2018, the story is published.

Yay!

This experience taught me a lot, but there are TWO big lessons:

  1. Believe in your work. If you think your work is worth publishing, eventually others will as well. It may take time, but it will happen.
  2. Don’t be afraid to take a hard look at your writing and change it if YOU want to. (Don’t let anyone talk you into changing something you think is right and true.) No story is perfect, and don’t revise until the story is a mere shell, but do take a look at it and see if there is anything that can get better. As an artist, we should strive to be better at our craft then we were the day before.

Don’t stop learning.

Don’t stop growing.

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