My latest rejection project just passed the 15,000-word mark. It is getting easier to write as I go, though I still have a MAJOR problem to solve down the road and I don't have a clue how I will do it.
I'm counting on the muse to pull me through. She's never failed me before.
I wonder if there is a muse for getting books published? If so, she don't come ’round here!
At this rate I think I will be through with this project (assuming I can solve this problem) in two months or less. Then: More rejection letters. Oh, joy!
Yours in rejection,
Phil
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Writing contests
I have only entered one writing contest and it is a big one: The annual Writer's Digest short story contest. I would imagine there are tens of thousands of entries.
I would hate to judge the thing!
All of this horde will find out by Oct. 22 how we fared according to the rules. I have no expectations, but I will be interested in seeing who wins, or rather the kind of story that wins. I liked my story, but that is pretty meaningless. It would be impossible, but I would also like to know where my story ranked along the continuum. Well, it is impossible unless you win or get one of the top 25 prizes.
Still, it was fun to enter and Writer's Digest is also having a short-short story contest. No more than 1,500 words. Just look on the Web site if you are interested. I'm going to enter it, too. These things must be real money-makers.
It does cost you $20 to enter and the top prize is $3,000. You can enter as many times as you want, but I would advise working on one story until you are absolutely sick of it and making it the best you can.
I'll let you know later this month if I get a letter in the mail telling me I'm a winner, but I would advise you to remember the title of this blog.
Yours in rejection,
Phil
I would hate to judge the thing!
All of this horde will find out by Oct. 22 how we fared according to the rules. I have no expectations, but I will be interested in seeing who wins, or rather the kind of story that wins. I liked my story, but that is pretty meaningless. It would be impossible, but I would also like to know where my story ranked along the continuum. Well, it is impossible unless you win or get one of the top 25 prizes.
Still, it was fun to enter and Writer's Digest is also having a short-short story contest. No more than 1,500 words. Just look on the Web site if you are interested. I'm going to enter it, too. These things must be real money-makers.
It does cost you $20 to enter and the top prize is $3,000. You can enter as many times as you want, but I would advise working on one story until you are absolutely sick of it and making it the best you can.
I'll let you know later this month if I get a letter in the mail telling me I'm a winner, but I would advise you to remember the title of this blog.
Yours in rejection,
Phil
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Solitary man
Writing is a solitary exercise. As much as you might want it to be otherwise, it cannot be a group project. You can talk to other people about what you are writing, how it is going, or whatever else and they will never quite understand.
That's because it is all going on inside your head and only one person at a time fits inside of your head.
Well, at least you hope there is only one.
This can also be frustrating though, both for you and for those who genuinely care about your work. About all I can ever say is, "going OK," or "having trouble."
Other than what I write here, of course, but this is mostly just me talking to myself.
Yours in rejection,
Phil
That's because it is all going on inside your head and only one person at a time fits inside of your head.
Well, at least you hope there is only one.
This can also be frustrating though, both for you and for those who genuinely care about your work. About all I can ever say is, "going OK," or "having trouble."
Other than what I write here, of course, but this is mostly just me talking to myself.
Yours in rejection,
Phil
Saturday, September 25, 2010
The importance of headphones
Since I no longer have a serene writing space, which is a real bummer, I had to find a way to create one, or at least a way to block out the ambient noise of televisions, people talking on telephones, dogs barking, the world breathing.... You get the picture.
I can't write with all that noise, but I have always been able to write encased in music as long as it is loud. I know, this probably doesn't make any sense, but writing may not make any sense on any level, anyway, so there you go.
The answer appears to be noise-canceling headphones, with the music from my iTunes cranked up and the noise-canceling feature turned on. No, I don't know how that works and don't care.
But it works wonderfully. I am a key-pounder and I cannot even hear myself type.
I didn't buy the expensive kind. Those ones from Bose cost hundreds of dollars. I just went to Wal-Mart and I think they were something like 50 bucks. They may not be quite as fancy, but they do the trick just fine.
Yours in rejection,
Phil
I can't write with all that noise, but I have always been able to write encased in music as long as it is loud. I know, this probably doesn't make any sense, but writing may not make any sense on any level, anyway, so there you go.
The answer appears to be noise-canceling headphones, with the music from my iTunes cranked up and the noise-canceling feature turned on. No, I don't know how that works and don't care.
But it works wonderfully. I am a key-pounder and I cannot even hear myself type.
I didn't buy the expensive kind. Those ones from Bose cost hundreds of dollars. I just went to Wal-Mart and I think they were something like 50 bucks. They may not be quite as fancy, but they do the trick just fine.
Yours in rejection,
Phil
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Knight in Shining Armor, Ltd.
That's my new title for my latest exercise in rejection that I've been working on. The Ltd. is supposed to be italicized, but I couldn't do that in the title. Of course, it could change a dozen more times.
I just passed the 10,000-word marker and have been writing almost every night on it, picking up speed with each passing night.
Still have a few major hurdles to overcome on this one, but I am warming to it. The 10,000-word level is usually the first sign that I am really on to something. I have half-a-dozen projects I have started and written 7,000 or 8,000 words and then...just...nothing.
When do I know it is really going to make? Usually when I get between 25,000 to 30,000 words. By that time I will either have worked out my problems or found they are insurmountable.
I can hardly wait to start the rejection parade again! Exciting, that's what it is.
Yours in rejection,
Phil
I just passed the 10,000-word marker and have been writing almost every night on it, picking up speed with each passing night.
Still have a few major hurdles to overcome on this one, but I am warming to it. The 10,000-word level is usually the first sign that I am really on to something. I have half-a-dozen projects I have started and written 7,000 or 8,000 words and then...just...nothing.
When do I know it is really going to make? Usually when I get between 25,000 to 30,000 words. By that time I will either have worked out my problems or found they are insurmountable.
I can hardly wait to start the rejection parade again! Exciting, that's what it is.
Yours in rejection,
Phil
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Getting into KSA
I've decided that KSA, Inc. (or whatever the name ultimately turns out to be) is going to make. The flash of a plot turn came to me as I was slogging through it the other night, looking for inspiration.
This is something I have learned: Inspiration does not come in a flash, it comes after hard work. Work is required before the inspiration, not the other way around. It would be so much easier if you could get inspired first.
All the problems in this novel are not worked out by any means and there still remain a few significant stumbling blocks, but I have come up with an original plot idea (I think) so I am beginning to feel energized.
Gee, I hope it lasts.
Yours in rejection,
Phil
This is something I have learned: Inspiration does not come in a flash, it comes after hard work. Work is required before the inspiration, not the other way around. It would be so much easier if you could get inspired first.
All the problems in this novel are not worked out by any means and there still remain a few significant stumbling blocks, but I have come up with an original plot idea (I think) so I am beginning to feel energized.
Gee, I hope it lasts.
Yours in rejection,
Phil
Monday, September 13, 2010
The easy way
It is easier to not work than work.
It is easier just to say, "I can't do this," than to try.
It is easy just to fall out of habits than to keep them up.
Easier not to create. Easier to watch TV. Easier to read poems other people have written. Easier to read great novels.
Much easier.
So if you want to write, you just have to push yourself beyond all real reason for doing it, especially when rejection is the typical result of everything you do.
I've been having to push myself to get much of anything done, like walking through goopy mud.
But I'm trying.
Yours in rejection,
Phil
It is easier just to say, "I can't do this," than to try.
It is easy just to fall out of habits than to keep them up.
Easier not to create. Easier to watch TV. Easier to read poems other people have written. Easier to read great novels.
Much easier.
So if you want to write, you just have to push yourself beyond all real reason for doing it, especially when rejection is the typical result of everything you do.
I've been having to push myself to get much of anything done, like walking through goopy mud.
But I'm trying.
Yours in rejection,
Phil
Monday, September 6, 2010
A new direction
I can't get back into "Lost in Translation," at least not now, it is going to take some time and space for me.
I've been writing poetry, just to get back into the swing, but tonight I wrote on an idea I had in the middle of writing "Translation."
It's tentatively called KSA, Inc., about an unlikely guy who turns out to be a Knight in Shining Armor (hence, KSA) for the downtrodden.
I wanted to write something and pretend I was James Patterson, write something totally without merit. Hey, at worst it is just another way to get rejected, right?
Anyway, KSA, Inc. is total fluff and fun, which does kind of make it fun and easy to write. Have less than 10,000 words, so it might not even make, but we'll see where it goes.
Yours in rejection,
Phil
I've been writing poetry, just to get back into the swing, but tonight I wrote on an idea I had in the middle of writing "Translation."
It's tentatively called KSA, Inc., about an unlikely guy who turns out to be a Knight in Shining Armor (hence, KSA) for the downtrodden.
I wanted to write something and pretend I was James Patterson, write something totally without merit. Hey, at worst it is just another way to get rejected, right?
Anyway, KSA, Inc. is total fluff and fun, which does kind of make it fun and easy to write. Have less than 10,000 words, so it might not even make, but we'll see where it goes.
Yours in rejection,
Phil
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Better up or better down?
Does my writing flow more easily when I am happy or when I am depressed?
This is a good question and it is not all that easily solved. Some say no true art is ever created without pain being involved. I don't think I believe that.
But a mild depression does seem to help me write. Notice I said help me write, not necessarily help me write better.
And depression is exhausting. I want to write, but I am often too tired to do so. I have more trouble writing when I am upbeat, but I have more energy to push it out.
I'm not answering this question today and I might never do so, just something to ponder.
Yours in rejection,
Phil
This is a good question and it is not all that easily solved. Some say no true art is ever created without pain being involved. I don't think I believe that.
But a mild depression does seem to help me write. Notice I said help me write, not necessarily help me write better.
And depression is exhausting. I want to write, but I am often too tired to do so. I have more trouble writing when I am upbeat, but I have more energy to push it out.
I'm not answering this question today and I might never do so, just something to ponder.
Yours in rejection,
Phil
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
So what will I do in my 56th year?
Looking back, I didn't have such a bad double-nickle, though I did not meet my goal of finding an agent. I thought it was going to happen a few times, but it just didn't.
Such is life, and all that. Rejections ground me more than acceptance ever would. Besides that, I surely know I am not alone in the world.
In fact, over here in the rejection side of life it is damn crowded.
But in my 55th year I rewrote a novel, completely wrote another one, wrote a raft of poetry, wrote half-a-dozen short stories and did all that querying trying to find an agent.
The last couple of months HAVE been kinda draggy, but that is still a lot of work to do during roughly 10 months — not to mention that I have a day job to worry about.
So I feel pretty good about it all — but I won't feel good if I can't get re-energized.
I have written four or five poems in the last few weeks, all in various stages of revision. A couple of them have promise. That is a beginning, but I don't think poetry is my strongest talent. That means it will probably be the only place I am ultimately published.
Such is life!
Yours in rejection,
Phil
Such is life, and all that. Rejections ground me more than acceptance ever would. Besides that, I surely know I am not alone in the world.
In fact, over here in the rejection side of life it is damn crowded.
But in my 55th year I rewrote a novel, completely wrote another one, wrote a raft of poetry, wrote half-a-dozen short stories and did all that querying trying to find an agent.
The last couple of months HAVE been kinda draggy, but that is still a lot of work to do during roughly 10 months — not to mention that I have a day job to worry about.
So I feel pretty good about it all — but I won't feel good if I can't get re-energized.
I have written four or five poems in the last few weeks, all in various stages of revision. A couple of them have promise. That is a beginning, but I don't think poetry is my strongest talent. That means it will probably be the only place I am ultimately published.
Such is life!
Yours in rejection,
Phil
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