Aeryn Rudel's Blog, page 31

Weeks of Writing: 2/17/20 to 3/8/2020

Playing catch up and hitting you with multiple weeks here. I was on vacation for most of this period, then I caught a bad cold (while on vacation, no less), but I did manage to do a bit of writing and submitting and whatnot. Here’s how I did.

Words to Write By

Got another one from the font of writerly wisdom that is Elmore Leonard.

“I don’t believe in writer’s block or waiting for inspiration. If you’re a writer, you sit down and write.”

―Elmore Leonard

Writer’s block is one of those...

10 Top-Tier Markets: My New & Improved New Story Gauntlet

Back in 2016 I put together a list of markets I submit to first with new short stories (not flash; that’s a different list), dubbing it my new story gauntlet. I published that list in a post titled 7 Top-Tier Horror Markets: My New Story Gauntlet. As you might guess a lot can change in four years, and the list of markets I send stories to first looks a little different these days.

For reference, here’s my list from 2016, presented in no particular order:

Clarkesworld Magazine The Dark...

A Week of Writing: 2/10/20 to 2/16/20

Another week of writerly wins and woes. Let’s have a look.

Words to Write By

Got two quotes for you today that essentially say the same thing. The first is by Stephen King.

“In many cases when a reader puts a story aside because it ‘got boring,’ the boredom arose because the writer grew enchanted with his powers of description and lost sight of his priority, which is to keep the ball rolling.”

―Stephen King

The quote above dovetails nicely with this one from Elmore Leonard..

“I try to leave...

First Draft Drive: 2000 Words Per Day

This week I’m starting the first draft of a new novel. I’ve got my outline, and I’m (more or less) ready to go. But what’s my plan of attack? What are my goals? How quickly do I aim to finish. Let me answer those questions with a quote from Stephen King.

“I like to get ten pages a day, which amounts to 2,000 words. That’s 180,000 words over a three-month span, a goodish length for a book — something in which the reader can get happily lost, if the tale is done well and stays fresh.”

-Stephen...

A Week of Writing: 2/3/20 to 2/9/20

One more week down, and it was a fairly productive one. Let’s take a look.

Words to Write By

This week’s quote comes from novelist Jane Smiley.

“Every first draft is perfect because all the first draft has to do is exist. It’s perfect in its existence. The only way it could be imperfect would be to NOT exist.”

― Jane Smiley

This week I’ll start writing the first draft of a new novel, and I think the quote above is a great way to look at the process. The first draft doesn’t have to be...

Reprints: Easy or Hard Sell?

Reprints are a great way to get extra mileage (and maybe a little extra cash) out of your stories, and there are a lot of markets that take them, even some that preferthem. But are they easier or more difficult to sell/place than standard story submissions? I think a lot of that depends on the publisher, but let’s see if we can’t dig a little a deeper and put some numbers on the question.

What follows is a list of all my reprints submissions and their outcome. I send out a reasonable amount...

A Week of Writing: 1/27/20 to 2/2/20

Well, I got the lead out last week and managed to make progress in a number of areas. Here’s how I did.

Words to Write By

This week’s quote comes from novelist E. L. Doctorow.

Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you’re doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing.

-E. L. Doctorow

I think there’s something quite valuable in this quote by E. L. Doctorow. What I take from it is a warning against a very specific and subtle form of...

Aeryn’s Archives: Cowtown

Today’s installment of Aeryn’s Archives continues a trend of firsts. My comedy/horror story “Cowtown” was the first story I published with The Arcanist and the first story they published after launching. In the ensuing two years and change, The Arcanist has become one of the best damn flash fiction markets in the industry. Now, here’s a cow.

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So a little about how this story came to be and how it ended up atThe Arcanist.Like the vast majority of my published flash fiction “Cowtown” started...

A Week of Writing: 1/20/20 to 1/26/20

This is one of those weeks where I’m almost ashamed to post. To say I did not accomplish what I set out to accomplish is an understatement. That said, accountability (and shame) can be particularly motivating.

A Week of Writing: 1/13/20 to 1/19/20

One more week of writing in the books. Let’s see how I did.

Words to Write By

This week’s quote comes from novelist Hallie Ephron.

“Outlining is like putting on training wheels. It gives me the courage to write, but we always go off the outline.”

– Hallie Ephron

Since I’m deep into the outlining stage of my novel, I really like this quote from Hallie Ephron. I outline for a number of reasons, and one of them is it lets me dip my toe into the story before I dive into the deep, cold water of...