Aeryn Rudel's Blog, page 15

One-Hour Flash: The Christmas Crypt

I don’t write many holiday-themed stories (okay, maybe Halloween), but I did write one Christmas story nine years ago for a one-hour flash fiction event. I’ve shared it before, but, you know, ’tis the season and all that. It’s a weird little flash that’s more vignette than full story, but I still dig it. It’s probably not quite up to publishable snuff in my humble opinion, but it makes for a weird literary stocking stuffer.

Happy Holidays, everyone. Here’s “The Christmas Crypt.”

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The Christm...

One-Hour Flash Success Stories (2021 Update)

Many of the stories I write begin life as part of a prompted bi-weekly one-hour flash fiction writing contest. I’ve been doing this contest with my writing group for years, and some of the stories produced during these sprints turn out good enough to publish (a lot more don’t). I first published a list of my one-hour successes back in 2018. At that time, I’d managed to place 23 one-hour flash fiction stories. Since then, I’ve published 27 more. Not too shabby. If you’re curious, my success rate ...

Rejection Roundup: 3 Shortlist Rejections

I’ve received a fair number of close-but-no-cigar or final-round or shortlist rejections this year, which I’m just gonna shorthand to shortlist rejections (hah!) in this post to make things easy. Overall, this kind of rejection is a positive thing, as it generally tells you the story has some merit. I’ve covered why stories are held or shortlisted and then get rejected in previous posts, but today I want to talk about three types of shortlist rejections based on the feedback they provide and wha...

Weeks of Writing: 11/29/21 to 12/12/21

Another couple of weeks in the books. Here’s how it went down.

Words to Write By

This week it’s another quote from Ray Bradbury. 

“You fail only if you stop writing.”

— Ray Bradbury

When you’ve had a tough week, month, or year in the ol’ writing trenches, I think it’s natural to stop, look around, and say to yourself, “Should I keep doing this?” I certainly have. When I feel like that, I try to remember this quote (and a few like it). You see, I’ve found that the answer to most of my writing woe...

Submission Statement: November 2021

November 2021 is but a memory. Let’s see how I did.

November 2021 Report CardSubmissions Sent: 8Rejections: 5Acceptances: 1Publications: 1*Further Consideration/Shortlist: 0

November was a momentous month in submission land, not because it was special in the sense of the number of rejections or acceptances, though it was still decent. No, the real reason November was special is because I picked up rejection #500 since I’ve been tracking them through Duotrope. That’s a significant mileston...

The First 500 Rejections: An Analysis

Earlier this week, I collected my 500th rejection since I’ve been tracking them through Duotrope. It took me almost ten years to amass that many, and, well I’ve certainly learned a fair bit in that time. In this post, I’ll break down what 500 rejections looks like, give you some raw numbers, and then talk a bit about what half a thousand not for us’s and we’re gonna pass’s has taught me.

First, lets look at how many rejections I received each submission year.

YearRejections2012420131...

Weeks of Writing: 11/15/21 to 11/28/21

The final two weeks of November have come and gone. Here’s what I got up to, writing-wise.

Words to Write By

This week’s quote comes from author Lawrence Block. 

“One thing that helps is to give myself permission to write badly. I tell myself that I’m going to do my five or 10 pages no matter what, and that I can always tear them up the following morning if I want. I’ll have lost nothing—writing and tearing up five pages would leave me no further behind than if I took the day off.”

—Lawrence Blo...

A Week of Writing: 11/8/21 to 11/14/21

The second week of November is done and over with. Here’s how I did.

Words to Write By

This week’s quote comes from historical fiction author Steven Pressfield. 

 “Start before you’re ready.”

― Steven Pressfield

This quote is short and sweet, but it carries a big message. The truth is I almost never feel ready to write. No matter what I’m writing, getting started is the hardest part. I think it’s that way for a lot of authors, and waiting around for inspiration or the right mood is often a recip...

100 Submissions: A Quick Look

This morning, I sent my 100th submission for 2021. This is a goal I set or myself each year, and I generally fall short, but 2021 has proven productive in this area, so here we are. In this blog post, I’ll give you a quick breakdown of what 100 submissions looks like.

Here are the raw numbers.

Unique Stories: 37Unique Markets: 46Acceptances: 6Rejections: 75Pending:  16Withdrawn: 3

Unique Stories: I’ve sent 37 unique stories in 2021 so far. As for length, I sent 28 flash fiction stories, 8...

A Week of Writing: 11/1/21 to 11/7/21

First week of November is history. Here’s how I did.

Words to Write By

Another quote from one of my faves, Elmore Leonard. 

I think the best advice I give is to try not to write. Try not to overwrite, try not to make it sound too good. Just use your own voice. Use your own style of putting it down.

― Elmore Leonard

This quote reminds of when I first started writing, and I think it’s great advice for new authors. Invariably, when you start out, you tend to mimic the styles of other authors. When ...