Should I start a binder? Or keep an electronic file for my rejections?
One thing I’ve noticed is that I don’t have that many rejections (but I do have several). Main reason for this is because I have not submitted many pieces. I need to get it together here and JUST DO IT.
There are a lot of things I have not been doing, and that needs to change. Writing, yes, but it’s all terrible and bad. Laundry, yes, but I have no choice. It’s too cold to walk around semi-naked this time of year. Cooking…yep. Teenagers live here, and all that. Driving to and fro, ditto. See teenagers and their endless sports.
But house cleaning? Decorating to spruce up this place with light and festiveness? Dog walking? That would be a big, fat NOPE.
Submitting writing isn’t that easy either. Just because you have a piece ready doesn’t mean you can just send it. You have to research the publication, follow their rules which may require formatting and editing, write a query letter (I am terrible at marketing myself) and all that takes time.
I have a spreadsheet. But I’m ignoring it more than following it. THAT too needs to change.
Yesterday I spent almost the entire day taking down content on another blog. I revitalized some of the pieces there and I may share those here, at some point. That was my practice space, an experiment of sorts, and although I’m generally happy with how it turned out, I want to change that blog’s direction a bit. If I even bother to keep it. We’ll see.
I also finally managed to make a hair appointment. My hair, be that as it may, is trying to kill me in my sleep by strangulation. It’s too long and if I don’t get a cut soon, these will be the last words you read from me. 😂
Anyway, they didn’t answer their phone on Tuesday, so I dropped in on them on Wednesday on my way home from groceries. My appointment is at 12:15 today.
The other thing that’s bugging me is dog walking. I have no dogs. They have all dropped off. Simultaneously I seem to be gaining weight…So, on a whim, I contacted a former dog’s human, as this coming weekend I will be dog sitting Molly the Schnoodle for a friend.
Molly used to love playing with my client’s dog Jasper the Bichon Poo. So we made a date: I will be walking the two dogs on Saturday with my girl child, and I’m sure the reunion will be blog-worthy. Stay tuned for that. 😀
In the meanwhile, I need to get back to my spreadsheet. And get off this couch to check if we have a binder. Perhaps I need a physical reminder that I did in fact DO the submitting, it’s not my fault that THEY don’t accept my material.
Boo.
May I ask what you use for your spreadsheet? Right now, I’ve been using Microsoft Word with a table, but I’m not sure that I’m happy with it, and I’m awful at Excel. Any suggestions?
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I use both actually, table in Word and Excel. I fool around creating my own charts in Excel but I waste too much time playing there instead of writing. 🙂
Ultimately a handwritten list in a journal would probably work too. 😉
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Interesting. Do you make the Word and Excel documents transferrable to one another? Maybe that might make a neat post. Showing how you do your spreadsheets? I haven’t tried the handwritten list. That might be a really good idea. Plus, I could use stickers on it, and who doesn’t like stickers?
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I love your hair. How short are you going?
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She took an inch off. Still below my shoulders. 🙂
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Oh that’s good.
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I’ve never written anything for submission but it sounds like a lot of work.
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Yeah…
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I’m sure you’ve seen J K Rowling talk about her rejection letters, right? She hawked Harry Potter to all the publishers, and had almost given up when it was eventually taken up almost by chance.
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It sounds obvious and unnecessary … but, keep writing, writing, writing … submitting, submitting, submitting … its the cost of your destiny to be published.
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I’m worried about all the wrong things. But yes, I am doing that. Thank you for the encouragement. 🙂
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No fear. You’ve got it, Claudette. 🙂
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I hear you, I’m much the same, using all sorts of tactics to avoid getting down to business. You are not alone. So I’m here to encourage you, you have a great voice, get it out there in the world where more people can benefits from your important narrative! Go!
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Thank you for your kind comment! Focus and determination coming right up. 🙂
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I like making some more money but I wouldn’t mind a break and soon.It is nice to be popular with those in charge though!I might as well make the most of it while it lasts.
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I uses WordPress as my breather! To laugh a little and enjoy a little.
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I hope you don’t take that the wrong way…about time. I am juggling a few things this semester and it is ripping me at times.
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Not at all.
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Claudia,
You might have more time than me. I just use the computer to track my rejections along with my accepted list on Submittable. I look forward to Christmas break as I will have time to write a short story. If you don’t have rejections, you have no chance for acceptions. Is that even a word?
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Yes. And I do have an account and collections of rejections in Submittable, but not all publications require you to submit that way. Also they are expensive! It adds up over time. 🙂
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I type in free or no charge and I submit this way. Submittable allows me to find the journals I want to submit to without paying for the privilege.
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I haven’t submitted anything, because I have nothing submittable, so cheers to you fir having finished pieces that you like
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As I read this, I thought “I have no rejections letters – not one!” And the reason for that is I haven’t submitted anything to anyone. Thanks for the inspiration. While you’re walking the dogs, I will submit something…although I may need to create a spreadsheet first. 🙂
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