Tag: Newbie

Old door, Tribeca, NYC, 2018
Writing About Writing

Rejections Are Opportunities

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Old door, Tribeca, NYC, 2018
Photo by Pamela Weis – Old door, Tribeca, NYC, 2018

It’s not that it hurts so horribly, getting a rejection, or a “decline,” which I think is a bit softer, but it does sting a tiny bit. I appreciate the kindness of the letters I have received so far, and there have been only three, so it’s not like I am racking up tons of “NO”s just yet, but I know it’s coming. I will inevitably have a huge email folder overflowing with gentle rejections. Hopefully those will be semi-balanced by a handful of “YES”s. I believe they will. Eventually. The doors are not closed to me forever. And there are many doors from which to choose.

Finding the right fit for my writing is one of the most difficult parts of this process. There are so. many. journals. Some have been around for decades, others are new and eager to discover new authors. I have no vanity about where I am published. I’m happy to try whatever feels right. While it would be nice to have a “recognizable name” on my list of credits, that is not why I am doing this. And that is something I need to remember. It’s easy to get caught up in the process of submitting, revising, submitting, revising, submitting. It’s easy to focus on where I should plant my flag. It’s easy to read short stories by others who are published and say, yes that is something like me. Or no, that is nothing like me. Or, how in the hell did that get published? Or, how can I ever write that well? I sometimes have to remind myself that I am doing this–the writing part–because I love it. It makes me feel whole. It is not helpful to compare my writing to that of anyone else’s. And most of the time I am good at pushing those thoughts out of my head, but they are sneaky. A writer will produce a particularly gorgeous sentence or paragraph and I think, damn, I wish I’d written that. Could I have written that? No, of course not. It did not come from my brain. What are the odds of the exact same sentence, phrase, or paragraph coming from more than one person’s brain? I mean okay, if it’s something like, “I ate dinner,” or “Life is hard,” then sure. But if it’s something like, “The nose on that man reminds me of a ski slope I crashed on a few years ago,” or “It’s best to check your vegetables halfway through roasting to make sure you’re not turning them into shriveled bits of carbon,” it’s unlikely anyone else would write those exact same words in that exact same order. I don’t know the odds. I’m not a statistician. I studied theater and anthropology. The point is, we each have our own voice. Part of this process is not only finding that voice, but embracing it. Loving it. Finding comfort and challenge and inspiration in it.

I keep writing a new short story every week, more or less, so I don’t have a lot of time for more revisions and more submissions, but that’s okay. I don’t want to get too caught up in that aspect of being a writer. It’s important, of course, and it is a goal, but it’s not what drives me. I suppose it’s different for everyone, but for me the most important part is just doing it–every day, even if I feel distracted or frustrated or if Shuri cat is crawling all over me and I have to type with one hand. It’s worth it.

Stairwell in 1850 House Museum, New Orleans
Writing About Writing

NaNoWriMo 2019 Project

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Photo by Pamela Weis – Stairwell in 1850 House Museum, New Orleans 2018

I am dabbling in historical fantasy. I don’t want to pigeon hole my stories, but that’s pretty much what this is. Late 19th century Brooklyn with ghosts, witches, and a talking cat – yeah, that fits the bill.

The quality of the story may be best suited for a young adult audience, but I’m not sure yet. What differentiates a YA fantasy from an adult fantasy? Complex plot lines? Sophisticated prose? Adult versus juvenile characters? I have not read much YA, so I’m not the person to answer this.

Regardless, I am loving the research process, finding fascinating tidbits on late 19th century New York and Brooklyn to weave into the story. And since this is not pure history, I can pick and choose, which is quite liberating. What sorts of toilets were most common among middle class families in the 1890s? What were the popular songs played on pianos in wealthy homes? Did women wear trousers? What was public transit like, if it existed at all? What were the most offensive and pleasing aromas one experienced when walking down a street on a hot summer day? There are so many little details to discover! Plus, I have included some tiny elements from my own family history, largely in the way of names, plus a few other odds and ends. It is deeply satisfying to create an entire world and imagine how the people in that world live each day.

This is my NaNoWriMo project for 2019 and I am almost done. Just over 46,000 words written and I will finish a day early because I won’t be around to write on the final day! It has been a fun challenge. I did not go to any write-ins, mostly because I write at odd hours, but also because I don’t think I would like writing in the same space with other people. It sounds distracting. But maybe I will try one next year, out of curiosity. If nothing else, it’s probably a good way to become part of a solid writing community.

The most important part of this writing journey so far, even without the NaNoWriMo challenge to help me along, is that I feel more confident with each day about the quality of my writing, and that I enjoy the process. I have written at least 800 words every day for the past six weeks or so. This is my new habit. My new routine. My new daily “must do.” With any luck, it will eventually become some kind of livelihood. But that was never the goal. The goal was always to just do it. And I have.

Morning on the east coast of South Africa
Writing About Writing

Writing Every Day

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Photo by Pamela Weis – Morning in South Africa 2008

I did it! For two weeks in a row, I managed to get up a little early every day and write at least 800 words. On the weekend I managed about 2000 words per day. And there was one weekday on which I hit 1000 words! This is a huge milestone for me. Waking up in the morning is painfully difficult, but for whatever reason, the motivation was there. And what a difference it makes…it is so much easier to hold onto the thread of a story when you write a little bit of it every day.

But this is a one day at a time process. I do have a little bit of a social life, and getting up early is not always possible when I have been up late the night before. Late for me is about 11:30. So I wrote in the afternoon on Sunday, and that worked because, well, it was Sunday. I don’t have that luxury during the week, but I managed to get back into the rhythm of it.

This settles my indecision about NaNoWriMo. If I can write every day, I can do NaNoWriMo. I may not hit 50,000 words, but damnit, I’ll try my hardest to make it happen. As for what I will write? Ah well, I think I’ll make that decision when I start writing on November 1st (gulp, today!). I have an idea for a new story – a new circumstance for a new character – but I will see how it goes. Either I will stick with a new project for that month and return to my primary project in December, or I’ll switch gears midway through and return to my primary project. It doesn’t matter. It’s all so exciting! It also feels really good. I have finally found, or rather, finally accepted, that writing is one of my favorite things to do.