I am getting worse and worse at doing this, and it has nothing to do with my lack of desire to write and everything to do with my disgust at my laptop. One can only restart a computer so many times before the list of necessary tasks to be completed grows thinner and thinner. Knowing that I might only have twenty minutes max before the computer freezes makes me hesitant to do anything at all, specifically when working on a story or my novel, which I would be extremely pissed to say the least, if it was lost in cyberspace.
So I apologize for my sporadic appearances. I promise to take a fiber supplement and become more regular.
I had dinner with a friend the other day and it was great because I realized something that I don’t think many other writers experience. I sat there, eating my bread and soup and explained to her that I am getting ready to submit my fist ever short story to a professional market (for those of you not hip with the writing world market is the medium which you sell your work For short stories it is usually some sort of magazine, print web, small press etc.). I told her that I was told by several writers to submit to Fantasy and Science Fiction first because it is one of the most prestigious markets and Gordon rejects very very quickly. Lol. You can get a rejection in less then two weeks.
Some of you rather brilliant observers might wonder why I would want to submit a story to a market where there is an 85% chance of getting rejected right off the bat. I could take the same work of fiction to a semi-pro zine or a nonpaying market, where a writer with my lack of experience will not count against me and I can gain publishing credit. But I have been told by many older and wiser authors to start at the top and work your way down. You never know who is going to like a story. Once you get past the grammatical structure a good story really is in the eye of the beholder. Different people will simply like different things. By submitting work to the top markets first you don’t cut yourself short on exposure opportunities and let’s face it money.
So I digress a little bit, and I could digress a little further and tell you all how the word digress came to be one of my favorites, but that too would be digressing.
I was at dinner with a friend, explaining how I was ready to submit my story, and how excited I was. I am about to submit a story to a magazine that has little chance of seeing the light of day. A story that is not particularly my favorite, and all I can think of is the rejection letter. I cannot wait to get my first rejection letter. Bizarre isn’t it? Don’t you wish life were like that. Instead of having so much fear of failing, to welcome it with open arms? I could use some of that thinking right now. Anyway. That’s me. Awaiting rejection.
