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Posts tagged ‘Writing Challenge’

Aug 16

Mid-August Update 2015

Quite a first half for August. One of the places I sent a story to (way back in the winter) closed up shop and I didn’t notice until this month. Bummer, but the story went back out into the world and will hopefully find a good home. Also during the last update I mentioned there were a few that didn’t open until August 1. So three of those submissions happened quickly.

Ok. Let’s get to the numbers so far for this month.

Submission: 13
Acceptances: 0
Rejections: 21

August has been both busy and dull. I find moments of incredible productivity when I’m writing and submitting. Then, I can spend two or three days tinkering through a scene and putting down only a few hundred words. It has been a while since I wrote anything close to a long piece, so I both remember this feeling and marvel a the newness of it. I’m hoping to finish by the end of the month.

I also did a summer clean out of my workspace. After school was done, I noticed that my apartment was drowning in paper, revision notes, and info. I had to organize. A couple of good hours a day sorting, tossing, and filing paper work worked wonders for my sanity. I don’t feel so disorganized anymore. (I even have a dining room table again!)

So I am feeling quite productive this month and hope to continue this pattern.

Jul 31

July 2015 – Refreshed and Writing

We’re 2/3 of the way through summer and this month I feel as if I have really got back on track. Not only have I been working on my novella (I think it is a novella, but that could change.), but I also managed to mail out more submissions!

And I even wrote a new short story.

Yes, I know. In my last post I said I was going to ditch the short stories this summer, but there were a couple of places I wanted to submit to and their deadlines are September 1. So I took a couple of days off and pounded out a new story. There is one more I need to write, but I will do that this weekend. So those will be off and submitted next month and then I can really concentrate on this longer piece. Also, I have two other stories that are ready to be submitted, but the journals don’t open until August 1, so those pieces are not included in this update. Here is my total so far:

Submissions: 8

Acceptances: 0

Rejections: 12

Still woefully low, but hey, if I’m going to fail at this, I’m going to fail. After all, the goal is to get myself submitting, writing, and (hopefully) published.

Also, can I say how wonderful reading is now that I am not in school anymore? One of the downsides to grad school is that I never seemed to have time to read for pleasure during the semester. I was either reading books for class, reading short stories for class, or reading my classmates work. It was only in those brief weeks during break that I could read for fun. This year between January and May (when I graduated) I read 3 books for fun.

However in July, I read 5(!!). FIVE books that have been sitting forever waiting for me to read them. Oh people, it is so nice to get back into the swing of things with my reading. Maybe in December I’ll do an end of the year post on all the books I read. But here are a few more that I’m working my way towards:

Stone Mattress – Margaret Atwood

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms – NK Jemisin

The Corrections – Jonathan Franzen

The Diamond Age – Neal Stephenson

Yep, this was a good month all the way around. I hope your July went well too. See ya in August!

 

Jul 5

3 Comments

Tiny June 2015 Update (that spilled over into July)

Ah , that is what happens when summer hits. You get all distracted by warm weather, vacations, and daylight lasting well into early evening.

Anyway, not much else has changed. Stats are still the same as the end of May, so I won’t repost them. The only big change is that I am considering dropping my short story aspirations for the year. Originally I wanted to write 2 new stories a month, but that has been an epic failure. I’ve barely written anything this year. The stuff I have written has been for my longer pieces (novel or novella, not sure yet).

So this summer I am ditching the short story and setting my goal to finish my longer piece. I can bring back Short Story September, if I feel the need. I have to see how I feel at the end of the summer. For now, I’m working on the long piece, reading the rest of the Mistborn series (the ones that have been out so far), and getting back to healthy. (I indulged in some stress eating during thesis.)

May 31

End of May 2015 — Back to the Real World

Ok, take two of this post. Don’t you just hate it when you write the whole thing, only to have the computer freak on you and then you lose all the writing???

Yeah, I hate it too.

It’s the end of May 2015 and the end of a busy month. It began with me graduating from school and getting my MA. After the celebrating died down, I’m back into the grind of everyday life before school. For the first time in three years, I actually have the summer off.

But it doesn’t feel like it.

I’m still writing, submitting, and trying to move my writing career forward. The high of graduating has worn off and now I’m back to the REAL work of a writer. The writing. Here’s where the challenge stands so far:

Submissions: 4
Acceptances: 0
Rejections: 18

I submitted everything from my thesis (complete stories – I had one that was an excerpt.) Plus one story is a hold over from December. One story came back a few weeks ago and I am debating where to send it next. I’m in the process of looking over all my work and evaluating which I should keep submitting.

The writing of new material is slow. Last year I was able to finish quite a few, but I don’t know… Now I feel stuck. I start a new piece, but then I just loose interest. Finishing has always been tough for me and usually I can power through. Not the case this month. Maybe I need to put this concern aside. Finishing is good, but lots of writer have more than one story going at the same time. The story will be done when it is good and ready. Better to look at the total numbers at the end of the year.

Yikes, we’re coming up on the mid-point of the year and my rejection numbers are tiny! You can see why this summer is going to be a busy one for me. I have a lot to catch up on. June will be over before I know it.

Apr 30

End of April 2015

Oh wow! What a month! My thesis is done, turned in, and returned with an acceptance! I took a big, cleansing breath and am ready to move to the next part. That is really about continuing my challenge. The rejections came this month while I worked. I was so busy writing, nothing was mailed out.

Here’s where I stand:
Rejections: 17
Acceptance: 0
Submissions: 1

Pitiful, I know. This weekend is looking quiet for me, so I will send out more. The hard part of school is over. Yet, I need to keep the pressure on.

I’m so far behind my writing goals, I think I may just scrap the first four months of the year. Better to not try and catch up and just write. I still have that longer piece I need to finish. It’s funny, but even though I’m not in school, I still give myself homework! Lol!

New Feature for Blog
Over the next month or so, I’m going to be adding a few new things. I want to add a (running) list of minority SF &F writers. Sparked by this article which ran in the Washington Post, I decided that I wanted to add another place for people to find these authors. Writers are out there, but they don’t get the same coverage that others do. There are no particular order, some might even be writers I don’t care for. If the writer has a website (if they are still living), I’ll link to it. I just felt like I hear too often, “I can’t find X” or “I didn’t even know about X.” So this is my little attempt to help you find X.

Mar 31

End of March 2015

Just a quick post. I’m working hard on my thesis and I’ve got to devote most of my time to that.

Rejections: 14

Acceptances: 0

Submissions: 5

Next month should see some changes in the numbers. But for now, nothing much has changed.

If you celebrate it… Happy Easter! Or Happy Passover!

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