Of taste and consistency
Lately, I've been catching up on things I should've done earlier. This mostly includes watching movies and television shows (it sounds like I work pretty hard when I say it like that, right?). A friend of mine chastised me for a statement I made about how much writing I do. I told her, seriously, that if I compounded up all the time I spent doing things that furthered or lead to writing, then I don't do much else aside from eat and sleep. Which is not to say that I live in an internment camp. I do it because I like doing it.
I got a copy of a signed contract back, and was invited to yet more online groups. The welcome was warm, and the emails of things rated from stuff I need to know to stuff I don't even understand is up to maybe 100 or so a day. I have discovered a really neat feature in my email client that lets me "mark as read" things I haven't actually tended to. Check back with me later for when that bites me in the ass. As a recent movie (which I enjoyed) insisted, this week I've taken time out to enjoy the little things. The top half of a box of honey bunches of oats was pretty thrilling. The pieces are big and sugar-coated and crunchy, not like the shrapnel in the bottom.
And proper to that, I also received a rejection letter on Monday from a story I have, after some deliberation, decided to "table." For any of you who read this, and wish to become published, it's very likely that you will hear about publishers insisting that you read the sort of things that they publish before submitting. The reasoning behind this will conflict with the notion that good writing gets published, which you likely won't hear ever except from me. Because there's good, and then there's better, as in a better fit. It's crowded out there, and people are trying to find their own light to shine in. And with places to go and buy reading material, it's the same way. This one publishes happy, this one publishes sad. That one you go to if you want to read about zombie robots (okay I'm joking about that one).
So I made a step. I didn't just take the letter and pin it to my wall. I did read the first line and sit it down for an hour. But then I went back and read the rest of it, the parts that they had included for my benefit, a whole page of typing someone, some day way back when had to do. And, being mature, I accepted what I did wrong, and even more than that what the story doesn't do as a whole. It isn't the first place that's rejected the piece. I've talked to people who like it, but as round as it is, I've been trying to push it into square holes. So, instead of buying a hammer, I'm going to sit it on the floor and create an end table. At least for a while. I hear people say things like going into their files and "dusting" something off. I suppose this will be my first such. That specific piece getting published is just another item on the to-do list.
In other news, I talked to a screen writer in the group, and I have a lead on some free software to recreate my screen play, which I have some fresh ideas for. The novel goes nicely, second-drafted my way to chapter 12 just yesterday. The plan is to get to 15 (appproximately half way to completion) before taking a break to work on a short story idea I had just the other night, and putting that into the rotation in the open slot I just created. So, I'm keeping busy I guess. Equally important, though, is taking time to enjoy the little things.
I got a copy of a signed contract back, and was invited to yet more online groups. The welcome was warm, and the emails of things rated from stuff I need to know to stuff I don't even understand is up to maybe 100 or so a day. I have discovered a really neat feature in my email client that lets me "mark as read" things I haven't actually tended to. Check back with me later for when that bites me in the ass. As a recent movie (which I enjoyed) insisted, this week I've taken time out to enjoy the little things. The top half of a box of honey bunches of oats was pretty thrilling. The pieces are big and sugar-coated and crunchy, not like the shrapnel in the bottom.
And proper to that, I also received a rejection letter on Monday from a story I have, after some deliberation, decided to "table." For any of you who read this, and wish to become published, it's very likely that you will hear about publishers insisting that you read the sort of things that they publish before submitting. The reasoning behind this will conflict with the notion that good writing gets published, which you likely won't hear ever except from me. Because there's good, and then there's better, as in a better fit. It's crowded out there, and people are trying to find their own light to shine in. And with places to go and buy reading material, it's the same way. This one publishes happy, this one publishes sad. That one you go to if you want to read about zombie robots (okay I'm joking about that one).
So I made a step. I didn't just take the letter and pin it to my wall. I did read the first line and sit it down for an hour. But then I went back and read the rest of it, the parts that they had included for my benefit, a whole page of typing someone, some day way back when had to do. And, being mature, I accepted what I did wrong, and even more than that what the story doesn't do as a whole. It isn't the first place that's rejected the piece. I've talked to people who like it, but as round as it is, I've been trying to push it into square holes. So, instead of buying a hammer, I'm going to sit it on the floor and create an end table. At least for a while. I hear people say things like going into their files and "dusting" something off. I suppose this will be my first such. That specific piece getting published is just another item on the to-do list.
In other news, I talked to a screen writer in the group, and I have a lead on some free software to recreate my screen play, which I have some fresh ideas for. The novel goes nicely, second-drafted my way to chapter 12 just yesterday. The plan is to get to 15 (appproximately half way to completion) before taking a break to work on a short story idea I had just the other night, and putting that into the rotation in the open slot I just created. So, I'm keeping busy I guess. Equally important, though, is taking time to enjoy the little things.
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