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Not Quite the Final Cut

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Well, earlier last week I received word back from Suzanne Vincent at Flash Fiction Online on my short story “Blue Pearls.” While the story made it to the finalists for the month, it did not make the final selection (Of 32, I think 3 are selected). Still, only about 5% of submissions make it to that point, so it was quite an honor indeed. Better yet, feedback was provided or those who requested it (Who wouldn’t?), and it was very helpful.

With the feedback I received I was able to fix several errors I had missed (Some obvious, some not so much) and even extend the story a little bit. It’s gone from around 800 words to close to 940 and is currently sitting in the slush pile at Daily Science Fiction. Here’s hoping it makes it just as far there, if not a little bit farther.

Regardless of where it winds up, I want to thank Miss Vincent and her staff for their efforts. Already the story is in much better shape than when I first sent it there, and that matters more than anything to me.

I am currently working on the next flash piece that I will send to them, so hopefully it will do better!

 

Writing in Public: Month 5 in Review

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Well, I didn’t keep up with the posting as much as I would have liked (At all, in other words), but I did manage to keep up with the challenge. While not as productive a month as I would have liked, two submissions were made and a third was missed (But will be finished the first week of September). They are:

“Common Cause” – 2,980 word short story set in the Wendigo Universe and submitted to Third Flatiron Publishing’s “Abbreviated Epics” Anthology.

“You Are My Brothers” – 2,400 word excerpt of a 30,000 word novella set in the Soul Weaver Universe and submitted to Tor.com’s Imprint publication line (22,000 words completed as of this post).

“Fire with Fire” – 6,000 word short story set in the Soul Weaver Universe and intended for Crossed Genre’s “Destruction” themed issue, but is general enough that it could be submitted anywhere accepting fantasy (3,000 words completed as of this point).

My plan for September through the end of the year is to write at least six short stories a month, in addition to a novelette-length work and to complete at least a portion of a novel, be it outlining, writing, or editing. For September through November, the plan is to do a rewrite of the

Total Fiction for Month: 48,023

Total Salable for Month: 5,380

Total Fiction for Challenge Year: 201,627

Total Salable for Challenge Year: 44,394

Writing in Public: Day 1, Month 5

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And we’re off! I had some unplanned distractions during the day, so my actual short story writing was below what I intended, but that was all right. Between outlining and writing it came to be close to 4,000 words. I mostly finished with the rough draft of the Abbreviated Epic story, so tomorrow I should be able to get started on the revised draft. I say “should” because weekends are always odd. When I think there’ll be time it turns into a day of chores and errands and other stuff that ultimately is not writing.  It’s much easier to maintain a routine during the work week, I guess.

In any event, here are the actual numbers for the day:

  • Blog Posts: 000
  • Planning and outlining: 1,422
  • Short Fiction: 2,450
  • Novel Fiction: 000
  • Salable words: 000

Total Fiction for Month: 2,450

Total Salable for Month: 000

Total Fiction for Challenge Year: 156,054

Total Salable for Challenge Year: 36,034

“Harmonious Bedlam” Accepted by Fictionvale!

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I am in the middle of working on an “abbreviated epic” for the upcoming Third Flatiron Publishing anthology, and I happened to notice a new message in my inbox. It was from Venessa Giuntas, Editor-in-Chief over at Fictionvale Magazine. Fictionvale has graciously accepted my fantasy short story “Harmonious Bedlam” for Episode 5 of the magazine, due out this upcoming November. My thanks to her and to Fictionvale for the opportunity to submit, and for the acceptance!

Another of my works, “Mechanicis Solis”, will be published by Fictionvale later this month in Episode 4. Venessa and I have worked back and forth on editing the story and it has been transformed into a much, much better piece than the one I originally submitted. I learned quite a lot from that one story, and so I am looking forward to repeating the process with “Harmonious Bedlam.”

Once again, thank you to Venessa! I look forward to working with you again.

Continuing the Writing in Public Challenge

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Well, after a hiatus of two months (May through June) dealing with a family emergency, it’s time I stopped neglecting this website and get back to work.

The last real amount of writing I did was back at the end of May, but I have not been entirely idle in the meantime. A lot of brainstorming has been done on a new book idea (At present titled simply “Life Mage” just so I have something to name my reference files and to use as a header for my notebooks) as well as on a couple of novellas I would like to write for TOR Impact and the Writers of the Future contest, respectively.

I have also been taking advantage of what free time I had to delve into several books on writing that had either been recommended by authors I respect or that just happened to catch my eye at the local used bookstore. I’ve learned a lot, but it’s time to get back to writing if I’m to make use of the texts. It’s all well and good to learn more about writing, but it’s only with the act of writing that one truly betters oneself.

So, without further ado, the Writing in Public Challenge will begin anew tomorrow. Even though we’re beginning the 8th month of the year, this will be the 5th month of the challenge. It is my hope this will be my most successful month yet, but that remains to be seen. It is the goal, however.

Here are the current word count year totals:

Total Fiction for Challenge Year: 153,604

Total Salable for Challenge Year: 36,034

 

Writing in Public: Day 22, Month 04

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Today I did not do any active writing, but I did quite a bit of brainstorming on a couple of stories, but mostly on the story  I want to write for Penumbra’s “Pain” themed issue. The story is temporarily titled “Pain Junkies” and is going to be something of a mystery/suspense story. I don’t write these as a rule, so it will be a good exercise if nothing else.

The story is almost planned out, but I’m still having trouble coming up with try/fail sequences. At least initially. A lot of this will come as I just sit down and write out the rough draft, but I really want to get better at handling that in the planning phases. Well, anyway, my hope for tomorrow morning is to get the tale written and revised, but I’ll be content with a completed rough draft and some more brainstorming on the revision.

  • Blog Posts: 179
  • Planning and outlining: 1,000
  • Short Fiction: 000
  • Novel Fiction: 000
  • Salable words: 000

Total Fiction for Month: 24,127

Total Salable for Month: 3,500

Total Fiction for Challenge Year: 153,604

Total Salable for Challenge Year: 36,034

Writing in Public: Day 16, Month 04

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Well, the next revision of “You Are My Brothers” is finished, but it still isn’t to where I like. Maybe that adage of art never being finished is true and I will just have to abandon the tale at some point. I’m going to set it aside for the time being and look at it wish fresh eyes come next week. I really want to do it justice, and it could just be my skills as a writer aren’t quite where they need to be in order to pull it off.

I had this happen with the short story “Sublease” that I was working on earlier this year. It’s a story I’ve been wanting to write for a couple of years, yet every time I’ve written – and finished – a draft it is never what I originally set it out to be.

This weekend and the first part of next week will largely be devoid of writing. There are a lot of outdoor activities going on this weekend, and next week I have a bit of work to catch up on. When I get back into the saddle there are a few stories I want to try and get finished by month’s end. Penumbra has an interesting theme this month (“Pain) as does Crossed Genres (“Typical”) amongst a few others.

  • Blog Posts: 248
  • Planning and outlining: 000
  • Short Fiction: 6500
  • Novel Fiction: 000
  • Salable words: 000

Total Fiction for Month: 24,127

Total Salable for Month: 3,500

Total Fiction for Challenge Year: 153,604

Total Salable for Challenge Year: 36,034

Writing in Public: Day 15, Month 04

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The first main revision of “You Are My Brothers” is finished! Tomorrow I will attempt to revise it a second time. I’m still not entirely happy with what’s going on in the story, though. No story I write ever really matches the initial vision I have for it, but this one seems to be going in a completely different direction in some respects.

If I do not finish it in time for the deadline tomorrow I will consider holding it for the Writers of the Future next month. It will need to be reworked heavily, but I have some ideas on how to do that.

On a different note, the other day I received back the initial round of edits on “Mechanicis Solis” from Venessa Giunta. I haven’t yet had a chance to go over them, but once this is finished I intend to devote my full attention to the hard work Venessa has put into getting that story whipped into shape. She says the first round of edits is the most involved and – in some respects – the most painful, but I am looking forward to it. Any chance I can take to improve my craft, I’ll do it!

  • Blog Posts: 228
  • Planning and outlining: 000
  • Short Fiction: 5,503
  • Novel Fiction: 000
  • Salable words: 000

Total Fiction for Month: 17,627

Total Salable for Month: 3,500

Total Fiction for Challenge Year: 147,104

Total Salable for Challenge Year: 36,034

Writing in Public: Day 14, Month 04

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The revision of “You Are My Brothers” is going sluggishly, but it’s getting there. I’ve added a new character I did not initially think needed to be in there, and I’m starting to see where other scenes and sections can be eliminated altogether.

My goal is for the story to be in the 9,000 range. I don’t want it to go too much beyond that, but if I get descriptive with the battle sequences it will need to be done.

  • Blog Posts: 108
  • Planning and outlining: 000
  • Short Fiction: 2,466
  • Novel Fiction: 000
  • Salable words: 000

Total Fiction for Month: 12,124

Total Salable for Month: 3,500

Total Fiction for Challenge Year: 141,601

Total Salable for Challenge Year: 36,034

Writing in Public: Day 13, Month 04

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Today was a productive day from multiple standpoints, but most importantly from writing. I wrote enough of each scene of “You Are My Brothers” to be able to start the rewrite tomorrow morning. This is good, as the deadline for Sword & Sorceress is Friday, and I will do my best to make it happen.

I imagine the final word count for the story will be in the 7,000 to 8,000 range. This rough draft was lacking in detail. It was more to get the basic layout and pacing of the story down, and I think I’ve managed to do that.

Nothing new on the other tasks of the week, although I did finish reading David Farland’s Drawing on the Power of Resonance in Writing. It was a very fascinating read, and I plan to go back through it again in order to take notes. He goes into quite a bit of detail on just what resonance is, how it affects our choices as readers, and how it should affect our choices as writers. I plan to do a more detailed post on it in the future, but for now know it is well worth the investment. It’s a short book, but chock full of great concepts and ideas.

  • Blog Posts: 236
  • Planning and outlining: 000
  • Short Fiction: 4,158
  • Novel Fiction: 000
  • Salable words: 000

Total Fiction for Month: 9,658

Total Salable for Month: 3,500

Total Fiction for Challenge Year: 139,135

Total Salable for Challenge Year: 36,034