Publicizing Goals

Now Playing: DRACARYS by Ramin Djawadi

Following up on my last post: I managed to submit four stories since bringing an increased number of submissions to the forefront of my writing goals for the near future. In one form or another, they have all been rejected by other magazines, but I've since spent some time working on them, polishing them, prepping them to perform better at their next editor's interview. I enjoy all these stories--I don't enjoy all of mine, and if I'm being honest with myself I can gauge objectively just how good or bad one is--so my hopes are high.

I like publishing my goals on my blog. It gives me a reason to readdress them frequently. I've blogged before about how one of the hardest parts about writing is showing up, because young writers before they have agents or deadlines are only accountable to themselves, so if a writer can't hold himself or herself accountable he or she is doomed to fail.

So knowing that I had already blogged about and made myself aware of how behind I was on my submissions schedule, I felt more compelled to fix the problem. In two weeks I've submitted four stories, and I've been researching the requirements for some other magazines that are newer and might be a good fit for me, so ideally I'll have some new venues to send to. Also, a few of these magazines are themed, which I've always found inspiring because it takes away that "What am I going to write about . . . " question that floats to my frontal lobe when I first sit down.

Since the last goal-posting (sounds like that should mean hitting the pole with a slap shot) worked out well for me, here's my next: my ensuing story will be directed toward one of these new publication finds that have themed issues, so I can submit to them with confidence. They have lengthy breaks between publications, which gives me enough time to write a directed piece, go back to my own random work, and come back to a directed piece without getting annoyed.

These are my goals. I'll report back on my mission progress.