Aeryn Rudel's Blog, page 29

Weeks of Writing: 5/25/20 to 6/7/2020

This post covers a couple of weeks of writing endeavors. Here’s how I did.

New Look

Instead of the usual quote I put here, I figured I’d talk about the obvious. You certainly noticed the new logo and new look for the site. I’ve been wanting to change things up for a while, so I started working with a graphic designer (Erik Nowak, an old friend and colleague of mine) and, well, this is the result. Okay, so why the change? Two reasons:

Promotion. I started this blog with a two-fold mission. The f...

Submission Statement: May 2020

Another month of submissions. Here’s a breakdown of my short story endeavors for May.

April 2020 Report Card

Submissions Sent: 11
Rejections: 4
Acceptances: 2
Publications: 2

Very good month. Eleven submissions in May gives me forty-three for the year and puts me back on track for my goal of one-hundred. Only four rejections, all form rejections. Two more acceptances, both flash, and both to pro-paying markets. I’ll talk about the two publications below.

Rejections

Four rejections this month.

...

A Week of Writing: 5/18/20 to 5/24/20

One more week has come and gone. Here’s how I did.

Words to Write By

Today’s quote is from Jodi Picoult.

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

– Jodi Picoult

This, this right here, is what keeps me writing the first draft even though every fiber of my being screams THIS IS TERRIBLE. Because, like Jodi Picoult says, I can always edit a bad page. I can fix it in post. This is the only way I can write. If I try to make the first draft perfect–an impossible task anyway–I’ll ...

Writing Prompts: Stirring or Stifling?

These days it’s not uncommon for writers to use a prompt of some kind to get the ol’ creative juices flowing. It’s often part of a writing exercise, but sometimes it’s an element of a writing contest or even a short story submission. But are writing prompts useful to authors, especially authors looking to produce publishable stories? Let’s talk about that.

Before we get started, I’m gonna go ahead and state my bias up front. Some forty of my published stories began life as part of a prompted exe...

A Week of Writing: 5/11/20 to 5/17/20

Another week of writing in the books. Heres how it all went down.

Words to Write By

Todays quote comes from Douglas Adams.

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.

Douglas Adams

Last week, I stopped writing the first draft of Hell to Play and instead revised my outline. Douglas Adams quote kind of sums up why. I realized, as I was writing the first draft, and especially after I ended act one, that the novel I was writing was NOT the novel...

A Week of Writing: 5/4/20 to 5/10/20

A day late on this past week of writing, but heres how I did.

Words to Write By

Todays quote comes from Kurt Vonnegut.

We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.

Kurt Vonnegut

I have stepped off the cliff and now Im furiously flapping my arms hoping those wings will sprout. There are a few feathers here and there, but we have not yet achieved flight. Ive stalled a bit on the first draft of Hell to Play, and a desperate sense of falling has set in....

A Week of Writing: 4/27/20 to 5/3/20

Another week of writing in the books. Lets see how I did.

Words to Write By

Todays quote comes from Andy Warhol.

Dont think about making art, just get it done.

Andy Warhol

Its rare you find a quote that perfectly encapsulates your writing process, but this single sentence from Andy Warhol pretty much describes how I go about my first drafts. I just want to get the story on the page and not worry about making it perfect. Sure, I do occasionally go back and fill in plot holes or fix continuity...

Submission Statement: April 2020

Okay, lets get accountable again. Heres a breakdown of my submission endeavors for April.

April 2020 Report Card

Submissions Sent: 8 Rejections: 9 Acceptances: 2 Publications: 3

Pretty good month, really. Im a tad off my pace of 100 subs for the year, but I hope to catch up in May. A fair amount of rejections, but there are some encouraging nos from new markets that tell me I should keep trying stories with them. Two acceptances in a month is always good, and the three publications is extra...

A Week of Writing: 4/20/20 to 4/26/20

Happy Monday, everybody. One more week of writing in the books, and heres how I did.

Words to Write By

Todays quote comes from New York Times Best Selling author Cheryl Strayed.

Writing is always full of self-doubt, but the first book [Torch] is really full of self-doubt, and it was much more of a struggle to keep the faith. By the time I wrote Wild, I was familiar with that feeling of doubt and self-loathing, so I just thought, Okay, this is how it feels to write a book.

Cheryl Strayed

Im...

1 Publisher, 17 Submissions, 5 Letters

When you submit stories to publishers you can expect a wide variety of letters in response. Youve got the various flavors of rejection letter (form, higher-tier, personal, etc.), informative notices like further-consideration and shortlist letters, and, of course, the king of all responses, the acceptance letter. Ive showcased these letters on the blog before, but today I want to show you examples of all (well, most) of them from the same publisher. Yep, theres a market I have submitted to 17...