Weeks of Writing: 3/28/22 to 4/10/22

Another catch-up post, so here’s a few weeks of writing in one go.

Words to Write By

Today, I don’t have a quote, but more a comment about a type of quote I was unable to find. I searched for quite a while for a quote from any well-known author about taking the occasional break, and I couldn’t find one (if you know of one, let me know). I think that says a lot about how we authors approach writing. There’s this feeling that you must be writing every minute of every day or you’re failing. Or, worse, that if you take a break, even for a few days to let the creative batteries recharge, or. shit, just to deal with life, you’ve somehow done something wrong. Maybe it’s just me, but as I said, I think my inability to easily find  a quite about taking a break says a lot. I’m not talking about writer’s block or anything here. Just that sometimes, just maybe, it’s okay to take a week away from your work, that it’s not a moral or professional failing, and, in fact, might be the best thing for your productivity than simply grinding it out day after day after day.

Anyway, like I said, if my Google skills have failed me, and you do know of a good quote about taking a break, please share it in the comments. 

Short Story Submissions

A little slow in submission land these last couple of weeks.

• Submissions Sent: 3
• Rejections: 4
• Acceptances: 0
• Publications: 0
• Shortlist/Hold: 0
• Withdrawn: 0
• Pending: 13
• 2022 Total Subs: 30

I’ve only sent three submission over the last couple of weeks, giving me thirty for the year. Two of those three subs went out in April, and I’ll need to pick up the pace if I want to hit my numbers for the month. I need roughly nine submissions per month to stay on pace, so that means seven more over the next few weeks. Doable, but I need to finish some new pieces to really have a good shot at it. I received four rejections over the last fortnight, all form, all standard, and all pretty boring, so I won’t be sharing them with you (I guarantee some of you have seen them before). And that’s it, honestly. Nothing to report on the novel front, mostly because I’ve been taking a bit of a mental health break over the last few weeks from big, long-form projects.

The Rejectonomicon

The second volume of THE REJECTONOMICON, my Q&A column over at Dark Matter Magazine, went up last month. You can read it by clicking the banner below. The third volume is coming in May, and I’ve already got some great questions, but as usual, I want MORE! 

Here’s how to send writing and rejection questions to me.

1. Email your question to questions@rejectomancy.com.
2. Put REJECTONOMICON in the subject line of the email.
3. Write your question in the body of the email. Try to keep it brief.
4. Please let me know if you’d like your first name published along with your question or if you’d like to remain anonymous.
5. Please restrict your questions to the subjects of writing, submissions, and rejections. Those are pretty broad categories, though, and I’d be happy to field questions about my past career as a Tabletop RPG game designer/editor and media tie-in writer.

Got it? Then send me those questions!

Goals

Keeping it simple this week, Finish short stories and send them out.

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Those were my weeks. How were yours?