Aeryn Rudel's Blog, page 12

Weeks of Writing: 4/25/22 to 5/15/22

Well, I am more than a little behind here, so let’s catch up. Three weeks of writerly doings all at once.

Words to Write By

Today’s quote is from author James Lee Burke

“Every rejection is an incremental payment on your dues that in some way will be translated back into your work.”

— James Lee Burke

Well, since I’m on a rejection streak (19 and counting), I figure a quote about rejections is appropriate. I think you have to look at rejections as accomplishments to some degree. Y...

Submission Statement: April 2022

Not gonna lie, April was a tough month. Read all the gory details below.

April 2022 Report CardSubmissions Sent: 9Rejections: 10Acceptances: 0Publications: 0Further Consideration/Shortlist: 0

Any month where the number of rejections eclipses the number of submissions is probably gonna be a bad month. Add to that exactly zero acceptances or publications, and, well, I’ll just stand by my opening statement. If I search for a silver lining, I guess it’s that I sent 9 submissions, giving me 3...

Good, but Not Good Enough

Something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is talent. Specifically, writing talent (obvs). A lot of this comes down to my specific version of impostor syndrome, which says, “Yeah, you’re good, but you’re not good enough.” Impostor syndrome is a real asshole, huh? Still this belief that I have talent, just not enough of it persists. So when I find myself pondering this awful conundrum, there are two quotes by Stephen King I like to think about. To me, they handily sum up the “good” and the “...

Weeks of Writing: 4/11/22 to 4/24/22

Two more weeks of writing. Let’s dive in.

Words to Write By

Today’s quote is from author Allegra Goodman.

“Know your literary tradition, savor it, steal from it, but when you sit down to write, forget about worshiping greatness and fetishizing masterpieces.” 

—Allegra Goodman

Great quote, and one I’ve somehow missed all these years. I think a lot of us start out trying to sound like our favorite authors. I know I did. Those are the literary traditions I think Allegra Goodman is ...

Three Steps for Novel Reclamation

So, recently, I returned to a novel I abandoned about four years ago. It’s tentatively titled Hell’s Aquarium, and I wrote 35,000 words, essentially the first act, got spooked by the research I needed to do, and moved on to other projects. I’ve since written two other novels, but I’ve longed to return to Hell’s Aquarium. Well, now I have finally summoned the courage to do what needs to be done, and I’ve started writing the book again. It really think it’s the best idea I have for a novel, and I’...

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 fa...

Rejection: It’s Not Personal

If you’re a writer who submits fiction on the regular, you’ve undoubtedly had someone tell you rejections aren’t personal. Hell, that person might have even been me! For the most part this is true, and in this post we’re going to discuss why it might feel personal, even when it’s probably not. Okay, let’s dive in.

Feels Personal but Probably Isn’t

First, let’s look at why a rejection might feel like you’re being singled out, then we’ll discuss the reasons why that likely isn’t the case.

1) Speed...

Submission Statement: March 2022

March was a pretty good month in submission land. Here’s how it went down.

March 2022 Report Card

Submissions Sent: 11
Rejections: 9
Acceptances: 2
Publications: 2
Further Consideration/Shortlist: 0

Like I said, pretty good month. Eleven submissions puts me at 27 (the 28th went out today) for the year, which is right where I want to be in terms of hitting my goal of 100. I landed two acceptances, one pro-paying, and had a couple of stories published. Nine rejections is a fair amount, ...

A Week of Writing: 3/21/22 to 3/27/22

Another week of writing. Here’s how it went.

Words to Write By

Today’s quote comes from novelist Jodi Picoult.

“You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.”

‒ Jodi Picoult.

This is a pretty straightforward quote, and I’m sure I’ve used it before, but it’s another of my favorites. Get the words on the page, even if they’re terrible. Get the words on the page, even if you have zero confidence in them. Get the words on the page, even if you have to rip each one kicking a...

The Way I Write Part 6: Shorts, Flash, & Media Tie-In

This is the sixth post in a series titled The Way I Write. I’ve been looking at my writing style over the last twenty years largely used the Flesch-Kincaid readability scores to get an idea of what my work looks like in an admittedly nuts-and-bolts fashion. Last time, I focused on long-form fiction. This go-around, I want to look at my published short stories and flash fiction, as well as compare it to the media tie-in work I’ve done for Privateer Press.

So, a few definitions. A flash fiction pi...