It’s Monday again, and time for an update.
And man, what a Monday it has been. Work was just ROUGH today! Partially because I didn’t get much sleep last night. It’s my own fault. I was organizing my WIP’s and my Submissions in a spreadsheet, so I could keep track of everything I was doing.
Yes, that’s right, all that talk a week ago about getting such a sheet done, and I finally do it… last night. And why? Because I needed to figure out what WIP had the next deadline. It’s ridiculous. But, at least it’s done, and now it’s just a matter of maintaining it. Which will be easy.
But, the result was, today was rough. Busiest day of the week for me, and to top it off, we’re in the beginning of a peak period for my company, so the’s even more work to do than normal. And what do I do? Go to be late. Ugh. I’ll do my best to get some serious sleep tonight, but it probably means no real work done on my WIP. Still, sleep and health are important, so I will do those things first. Writing can come when I’m awake.
And speaking of writing… I submitted again! I sent of a query letter to an agent for the Windsmith. It’s always a little frightening when I do that. I have butterflies in my stomach even talking about doing it. Still, I have hopes for this one! And even if she rejects me, there are many more agents out there. I’m hopeful that this book will get published.
I had a good weekend. The fam went to the local Earth Day festival, and marched in the parade with the boy’s school. Except for the anti-abortion extremists with their extremely graphic pictures, the faire was fun as usual.
And I think that’s it from the world of me. I’ll see you all tomorrow with a new Tiny Tales Tuesday! Until then, keep remembering the future!
Showing posts with label Submitting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Submitting. Show all posts
Monday, April 18, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Submissions, submissions!
(The title of this post to be sung to the tune of Traditions from Fiddler on the Roof).
Phew, this blog post is LATE! Truth be told, I almost forgot to post it today.
So, anyway, here’s the deal. I didn’t submit anything last week, and not because I didn’t have places to submit, but because I realized that I need to do more research than the week I’ve been giving myself allows. Or find more time to do research in that week. So, I’m not sure I’m giving up on the 1 submission a week idea, I just think I need to be smarter about the submitting than I have been.
On the bright side, I did submit something already this week. I put my query letter for the Windsmith into a contest. Cross your fingers.
On the subject of submissions, I wanted to discuss something. I’ve realized that I’ve been sending off submissions left and right, but I haven’t done anything to track them.
This may seem like submission 101, I realize, but give me some slack. I’m learning as I go along here. And then sharing what I learn with you all. So here’s what I’ve learned. Not keeping track of submissions is a horribly bad idea.
It’s not too late, of course. I still have copies of all the emails I’ve sent. So, my simple solution is to use an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of everything. What I sent, who I sent it too, when, if I got a response, when, and what that response was.
I can’t really think of anything else to track there, but that’s my plan. Post everything I submit to this spreadsheet and keep track of it all. That will help me focus, I think, because I’ll have a record to look at. And as I work in Excel all day at the day job, I think it will be easier for my brain to process the information this way, too.
I’ll let you know how it goes when I get said spreadsheet set up. Maybe I can even tell you how many times I’ve submitted something. Until then, however, that’s all I got for now. See you tomorrow!
Phew, this blog post is LATE! Truth be told, I almost forgot to post it today.
So, anyway, here’s the deal. I didn’t submit anything last week, and not because I didn’t have places to submit, but because I realized that I need to do more research than the week I’ve been giving myself allows. Or find more time to do research in that week. So, I’m not sure I’m giving up on the 1 submission a week idea, I just think I need to be smarter about the submitting than I have been.
On the bright side, I did submit something already this week. I put my query letter for the Windsmith into a contest. Cross your fingers.
On the subject of submissions, I wanted to discuss something. I’ve realized that I’ve been sending off submissions left and right, but I haven’t done anything to track them.
This may seem like submission 101, I realize, but give me some slack. I’m learning as I go along here. And then sharing what I learn with you all. So here’s what I’ve learned. Not keeping track of submissions is a horribly bad idea.
It’s not too late, of course. I still have copies of all the emails I’ve sent. So, my simple solution is to use an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of everything. What I sent, who I sent it too, when, if I got a response, when, and what that response was.
I can’t really think of anything else to track there, but that’s my plan. Post everything I submit to this spreadsheet and keep track of it all. That will help me focus, I think, because I’ll have a record to look at. And as I work in Excel all day at the day job, I think it will be easier for my brain to process the information this way, too.
I’ll let you know how it goes when I get said spreadsheet set up. Maybe I can even tell you how many times I’ve submitted something. Until then, however, that’s all I got for now. See you tomorrow!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Rough Week
Man, it really has been a rough week. And not just for me. The Earth shook, rocked Japan, and it seems to have affected everyone’s lives in various was, from small to major. For me, it’s been a series of things. The biggest one, of course, was that a friend of mine died. But, it’s been little things, too. I’ve had trouble sleeping, which I usually blame on the time change. I freaking hate Daylight Savings. My wife was sick over the weekend, and even my kid has had trouble this week, with just a general feeling of dis-ease. And I’ve heard the same from almost everyone that I know. Last week was just rough.
But in the middle of all that, or maybe at the end of it, I’m not sure, I am trying to find the positive. Because if I don’t, I’ll sink into a miasma of despair, start wondering what am I doing (either at work and quit, or at my writing and quit) and just be generally miserable.
So, here’s some positive things going on in my life.
I have a job. It doesn’t pay much, but it is sometimes the difference between eating this week and not. And there are a number of people out there that still don’t have jobs at all. So I am grateful for that.
I have a wife and child that are both healthy and both love me. I am ever grateful for that.
This weekend will be my birthday party (several weeks after the fact, but, hey, who cares? It’s a party!). We’re doing a Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy theme. No, I’m not 42, but that might make a good excuse to do it again in a few years when I am.
In a few weeks will be a gathering of local table top role playing gamers for our annual game fest. I always have a ton of fun at this, and look forward to it all year long.
I am grateful for a ton of other things, too, that may seem small and petty, but their really not. I’m grateful that our car runs. I am grateful that we have food in the house. I am grateful that I have a working computer, so I can continue writing. I am grateful that I have internet access.
I am even grateful for all of you, for putting up with me rambling on about things like this on my blog. Thanks for that!
And I am grateful for this blog for one other reason: my weekly check ins. I submitted a story proposal to a website this week, one that is doing an anthology set in a shared world. I like the setting and am excited to write something for them, so I hope they accept my proposal. We’ll see. And, I’ve managed to do some writing, no matter how small, every day this last week. I’m stoked about that, it’s the first time since December that I have.
So, there you have it. Last week was rough. But, it’s over, and now it’s time to look forward to this week.
I plan on making it decidedly not rough.
But in the middle of all that, or maybe at the end of it, I’m not sure, I am trying to find the positive. Because if I don’t, I’ll sink into a miasma of despair, start wondering what am I doing (either at work and quit, or at my writing and quit) and just be generally miserable.
So, here’s some positive things going on in my life.
I have a job. It doesn’t pay much, but it is sometimes the difference between eating this week and not. And there are a number of people out there that still don’t have jobs at all. So I am grateful for that.
I have a wife and child that are both healthy and both love me. I am ever grateful for that.
This weekend will be my birthday party (several weeks after the fact, but, hey, who cares? It’s a party!). We’re doing a Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy theme. No, I’m not 42, but that might make a good excuse to do it again in a few years when I am.
In a few weeks will be a gathering of local table top role playing gamers for our annual game fest. I always have a ton of fun at this, and look forward to it all year long.
I am grateful for a ton of other things, too, that may seem small and petty, but their really not. I’m grateful that our car runs. I am grateful that we have food in the house. I am grateful that I have a working computer, so I can continue writing. I am grateful that I have internet access.
I am even grateful for all of you, for putting up with me rambling on about things like this on my blog. Thanks for that!
And I am grateful for this blog for one other reason: my weekly check ins. I submitted a story proposal to a website this week, one that is doing an anthology set in a shared world. I like the setting and am excited to write something for them, so I hope they accept my proposal. We’ll see. And, I’ve managed to do some writing, no matter how small, every day this last week. I’m stoked about that, it’s the first time since December that I have.
So, there you have it. Last week was rough. But, it’s over, and now it’s time to look forward to this week.
I plan on making it decidedly not rough.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Why I am in love with Ray Bradbury
Yes, I said “in love” up there. I’ll explain that in a minute.
Let me start off with my weekly update. Work progresses on my current WIP. I stumbled a little with the bad guy, but I’ve gone back to basics with him and now he’s working much better. I was trying to make him all nuanced and maybe not a real baddie, but it ended up making him really clumsy and uninteresting, so I ditched all that and just went back to him being a bad guy, pure and simple. It’s a little black and white, but the subtleties of his personality came come out later.
I’ve also settled on a short story plot for my submission I plan on making to the Splintered Lands site. I’m rather happy with it. Next step will be to read some of the Splintered Lands stories already written, so I can work mine into it a little better.
On the submission front, I did a single submission this week, which was to send of my novella from NaNoWriMo, The Life and Times of Aries Webb, to a contest. The grand prize is a professional edit from a Del Ray Books editor, and a shot at getting said book published. That would be awesome. Everyone keep your fingers crossed.
Now, to the title of this little rant of mine. I’ve been reading Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury recently, and with what he is saying in there, and the lecture he gave at a Learning Annex I went to a few years back, I’ve realized the secret of his profile writing, and why his stories are always so engaging. Love.
For those of you that know anything about him, this is probably not a shock. He says it all the time. Find out what it is you truly love, he says, and write about it. Find ways to combine things you love. When you were growing up, did you love army movies and dinosaurs? Write a story about WWII soldiers that find a secret Nazi island where they are breeding dinosaurs to fight the allies with. On second though… don’t, that’s an awesome idea, and I may have to use it later.
For him, it was circuses and trains and dinosaurs and Buck Rodgers. These all lead to Something Wicked This Way Comes and the Martian Chronicles and a hundred other stories he’s done over the years.
So, I’ve been thinking about what I love recently. And amid the other things I’ve listed (D&D, video games like Mario Brothers and Zelda, Star Wars, Star Trek, The Hobbit and others) I’ve come to realize that I’ve been in love with fantasy and sci-fi since I was a little boy, when my dad first introduced me to it.
He gave me books like E.E. Doc Smith’s Lensemen, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Hobbit and a little book called Fahrenheit 451, by a Mr. Ray Bradbury. I realized that along with my love of space ships, laser guns, sword fights and dragons, I was in love with Ray. I’ve been in love with him and his passion since I was a little boy, and I’ve rekindled that love recently with this book. I’m itching to go back through my collection and find the books of his I still have. In addition to Fahrenheit 451 and the Martian Chronicles, I have a few short story collections of his. His passion and his love shows through in his work, and even today, those words of his and that passion of his influences me in my writing.
And what I’ve come to understand is that I want that passion and that love to show through in my writing as well.
Because this is what people are talking about when they say “write what you love, not what will sell.” Because if you love it, and I mean REALLY love it, to the point that you would be willing to break up with your girl friend because she wanted you to stop playing D&D (true story on my part), then that love will show through when you write about it.
So, while I fall in love with Ray all over again, I’m going to keep writing, and hope that my love shows through.
I hope you will too.
Let me start off with my weekly update. Work progresses on my current WIP. I stumbled a little with the bad guy, but I’ve gone back to basics with him and now he’s working much better. I was trying to make him all nuanced and maybe not a real baddie, but it ended up making him really clumsy and uninteresting, so I ditched all that and just went back to him being a bad guy, pure and simple. It’s a little black and white, but the subtleties of his personality came come out later.
I’ve also settled on a short story plot for my submission I plan on making to the Splintered Lands site. I’m rather happy with it. Next step will be to read some of the Splintered Lands stories already written, so I can work mine into it a little better.
On the submission front, I did a single submission this week, which was to send of my novella from NaNoWriMo, The Life and Times of Aries Webb, to a contest. The grand prize is a professional edit from a Del Ray Books editor, and a shot at getting said book published. That would be awesome. Everyone keep your fingers crossed.
Now, to the title of this little rant of mine. I’ve been reading Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury recently, and with what he is saying in there, and the lecture he gave at a Learning Annex I went to a few years back, I’ve realized the secret of his profile writing, and why his stories are always so engaging. Love.
For those of you that know anything about him, this is probably not a shock. He says it all the time. Find out what it is you truly love, he says, and write about it. Find ways to combine things you love. When you were growing up, did you love army movies and dinosaurs? Write a story about WWII soldiers that find a secret Nazi island where they are breeding dinosaurs to fight the allies with. On second though… don’t, that’s an awesome idea, and I may have to use it later.
For him, it was circuses and trains and dinosaurs and Buck Rodgers. These all lead to Something Wicked This Way Comes and the Martian Chronicles and a hundred other stories he’s done over the years.
So, I’ve been thinking about what I love recently. And amid the other things I’ve listed (D&D, video games like Mario Brothers and Zelda, Star Wars, Star Trek, The Hobbit and others) I’ve come to realize that I’ve been in love with fantasy and sci-fi since I was a little boy, when my dad first introduced me to it.
He gave me books like E.E. Doc Smith’s Lensemen, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Hobbit and a little book called Fahrenheit 451, by a Mr. Ray Bradbury. I realized that along with my love of space ships, laser guns, sword fights and dragons, I was in love with Ray. I’ve been in love with him and his passion since I was a little boy, and I’ve rekindled that love recently with this book. I’m itching to go back through my collection and find the books of his I still have. In addition to Fahrenheit 451 and the Martian Chronicles, I have a few short story collections of his. His passion and his love shows through in his work, and even today, those words of his and that passion of his influences me in my writing.
And what I’ve come to understand is that I want that passion and that love to show through in my writing as well.
Because this is what people are talking about when they say “write what you love, not what will sell.” Because if you love it, and I mean REALLY love it, to the point that you would be willing to break up with your girl friend because she wanted you to stop playing D&D (true story on my part), then that love will show through when you write about it.
So, while I fall in love with Ray all over again, I’m going to keep writing, and hope that my love shows through.
I hope you will too.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Moving Towards Published... and Paid
Well, not a lot to say this week, really. Work on my new WIP continues, if a bit slowly. I’m working through it using the Snowflake Method of outlining, and I am already discovering things about my characters doing it this way. I’m pretty sure I’ve plugged this method before, but if you’re unaware of it, check it out, it’s pretty awesome.
http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php
I’ve also submitted a short story to a magazine this week, keeping up with my goal of one submission a week. This is exciting to me, because if accepted, I’ll actually get paid for it. That will be awesome. I’ll keep you all posted.
I’ve also been invited to write and submit a piece to an anthology website called www.splinteredlands.com. This sight looks pretty cool and I love the concept of a shared world like they are building. I’ve already got a half-formed plot roaming around in my head, so I’ll be working on that soon and submitting it ASAP. Also a paying gig if I get accepted. Go check it out, they’re accepting submissions.
All in all, I’m pretty excited. I feel like I’m making real progress to being a “real” writer, someone that is actually trying to get published, rather than just writing and talking about it. I’m pretty happy with this progress.
I have to confess something with that last sentence. I feel like, because of these things posted above, I have the right to continue with this blog. See, if I weren’t actively working on getting published, or paid in somewhat for my writing, I would be a fraud. Someone that writes, but doesn’t submit is just doing this as a hobby. And don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just not what I want, and if I am going to be talking about being a writer, and my goal of being a professional writer specifically, I need to do more than just make a hobby at it. I need to live it. And after this week, I feel like I am.
Hey, look at that. I guess I did have something to say this week after all.
Anyway, I’ll continue with the submitting, and I’ll see you all tomorrow for Tiny Tales Tuesday.
http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php
I’ve also submitted a short story to a magazine this week, keeping up with my goal of one submission a week. This is exciting to me, because if accepted, I’ll actually get paid for it. That will be awesome. I’ll keep you all posted.
I’ve also been invited to write and submit a piece to an anthology website called www.splinteredlands.com. This sight looks pretty cool and I love the concept of a shared world like they are building. I’ve already got a half-formed plot roaming around in my head, so I’ll be working on that soon and submitting it ASAP. Also a paying gig if I get accepted. Go check it out, they’re accepting submissions.
All in all, I’m pretty excited. I feel like I’m making real progress to being a “real” writer, someone that is actually trying to get published, rather than just writing and talking about it. I’m pretty happy with this progress.
I have to confess something with that last sentence. I feel like, because of these things posted above, I have the right to continue with this blog. See, if I weren’t actively working on getting published, or paid in somewhat for my writing, I would be a fraud. Someone that writes, but doesn’t submit is just doing this as a hobby. And don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just not what I want, and if I am going to be talking about being a writer, and my goal of being a professional writer specifically, I need to do more than just make a hobby at it. I need to live it. And after this week, I feel like I am.
Hey, look at that. I guess I did have something to say this week after all.
Anyway, I’ll continue with the submitting, and I’ll see you all tomorrow for Tiny Tales Tuesday.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Monday Morning Update!
Monday Morning Update!
Well, I guess technically, it’s Monday afternoon. At least, it is here. But, I digress.
So, status updates for me. First, let me say that I had a good week, and an even better weekend. Very productive, I got some good writing done around my housework. My current WIP, an epic fantasy project I am tentatively calling The Final Days, now has two out of three character outlines as part of the Snowflake method of outlining. After I finish the last two, I have a slew of minor characters to do at least one paragraph on. I’m actually looking forward to this, it gives me an interesting perspective of the story to see it from different eyes, and it gives me some good insight into my characters. Also, it lets me know if their individual arc in interesting. For example, I just realized that these two characters that I have written up at this point are not being tortured enough. I need to ratchet things up for them, or at least keep that in mind when working on the actual story later. So, for this reason alone, Snowflake get’s a big thumbs up from me.
And now for the big news… submissions! Yes, I have submitted my novel to an agent, on Friday. That’s right, I actually followed through, and sent out a query letter to an agent on Friday. It was amazingly scary, hitting that send button, and this one will be particularly scary, because her website says she is so busy that if she’s not interested in my story, she just won’t respond. So, no news, in this case, is bad news. I just have to let it go and see what happens, I guess. And move onto the next submission. I’ve found a magazine that I think I want to submit one of my short stories too, maybe several. I’ll let you all know how this goes next week.
My weekend was also good for some other, non-writerly reasons. My wife, son and I all went to see a puppet show this weekend at the park. It was a little corny, but the boy liked it, and that’s all that matters. We have fun, and wandered around the park in the sun for a while. Also, I had some fun experimenting with some cooking this weekend. Not that I don’t cook, I’m the cook in my house, I just did some new things. I made a chili recipe that turned out FANTASTIC. I also made some cheesy, pizza pop-corn, that also was really good. And we ended Sunday with Sloppy Joes and cheese fries. All in all, a good food weekend.
One other thing before I go. I’ve been using Scrivener for Windows since the beginning of January, and I gotta say, this program is awesome. In my current WIP, I have all my notes, my outline and the manuscript all in one file. It’s fantastic. I think a full review may be coming on Wednesday. What I will say now is that I can’t wait for this bad boy to go live, so I can purchase it.
So, until next Monday, that’s my update.
Well, I guess technically, it’s Monday afternoon. At least, it is here. But, I digress.
So, status updates for me. First, let me say that I had a good week, and an even better weekend. Very productive, I got some good writing done around my housework. My current WIP, an epic fantasy project I am tentatively calling The Final Days, now has two out of three character outlines as part of the Snowflake method of outlining. After I finish the last two, I have a slew of minor characters to do at least one paragraph on. I’m actually looking forward to this, it gives me an interesting perspective of the story to see it from different eyes, and it gives me some good insight into my characters. Also, it lets me know if their individual arc in interesting. For example, I just realized that these two characters that I have written up at this point are not being tortured enough. I need to ratchet things up for them, or at least keep that in mind when working on the actual story later. So, for this reason alone, Snowflake get’s a big thumbs up from me.
And now for the big news… submissions! Yes, I have submitted my novel to an agent, on Friday. That’s right, I actually followed through, and sent out a query letter to an agent on Friday. It was amazingly scary, hitting that send button, and this one will be particularly scary, because her website says she is so busy that if she’s not interested in my story, she just won’t respond. So, no news, in this case, is bad news. I just have to let it go and see what happens, I guess. And move onto the next submission. I’ve found a magazine that I think I want to submit one of my short stories too, maybe several. I’ll let you all know how this goes next week.
My weekend was also good for some other, non-writerly reasons. My wife, son and I all went to see a puppet show this weekend at the park. It was a little corny, but the boy liked it, and that’s all that matters. We have fun, and wandered around the park in the sun for a while. Also, I had some fun experimenting with some cooking this weekend. Not that I don’t cook, I’m the cook in my house, I just did some new things. I made a chili recipe that turned out FANTASTIC. I also made some cheesy, pizza pop-corn, that also was really good. And we ended Sunday with Sloppy Joes and cheese fries. All in all, a good food weekend.
One other thing before I go. I’ve been using Scrivener for Windows since the beginning of January, and I gotta say, this program is awesome. In my current WIP, I have all my notes, my outline and the manuscript all in one file. It’s fantastic. I think a full review may be coming on Wednesday. What I will say now is that I can’t wait for this bad boy to go live, so I can purchase it.
So, until next Monday, that’s my update.
Monday, February 21, 2011
First Week Failure
So, as Monday is the day were I report in on my status, I have to start off with some bad news. I failed to meet myself imposed deadline of querying once a week. I didn’t even start doing any research into agents for my novel until this weekend. So, I have failed to meet my goal in my first week. I don’t even have a really good excuse. I did get in some writing, but I failed to find the time to submit. I have no one to blame but myself.
This, however, does not mean I am giving up! It just means that I am now one week behind.
And the good news about this is that I’ve started researching. And this is a very good thing. Had I not done the research, and been more concerned with sticking to my self-appointed deadline of one query a week, I would have queried an agent who does not rep the kind of story my novel is.
If I’ve learned anything from the agents I follow on Twitter, it’s that random querying will piss them off. And, like a lot of industry professionals, agents talk to each other. The last thing I want is to be known as one of those desperate authors that just queries randomly in the hopes of hitting the target.
So, no query last week, but research started, and on the road to getting a query in this week. I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted next week on my progress.
See you then!
This, however, does not mean I am giving up! It just means that I am now one week behind.
And the good news about this is that I’ve started researching. And this is a very good thing. Had I not done the research, and been more concerned with sticking to my self-appointed deadline of one query a week, I would have queried an agent who does not rep the kind of story my novel is.
If I’ve learned anything from the agents I follow on Twitter, it’s that random querying will piss them off. And, like a lot of industry professionals, agents talk to each other. The last thing I want is to be known as one of those desperate authors that just queries randomly in the hopes of hitting the target.
So, no query last week, but research started, and on the road to getting a query in this week. I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted next week on my progress.
See you then!
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