February 2021

It's February in Maine and this is what it looks like when you are hiking at 3:00 in the afternoon.

So this month, I received a rejection for a short story I thought might have been a fit for a magazine but was just different enough from what they publish that they would not accept it. The rejection was expected, but it still sucked. The few days after a rejection always makes me question why the hell one might want to keep doing this. What does this whole writing thing even matter? Why can't I just sit around and watch tv or meditate? 

Then I remember that I like thinking about stories and playing 'what if?'. And what I really like is the feeling I get when I finish a story, when I type those last couple words, marvel at the word count, move it to a folder I have labeled 'editing' until I try to edit it a couple months or years later. It set's my brain right and makes life a bit easier.

This month I started that werewolf story - I posted the false start here earlier this month and did not work on another start. I have my notes, so I'll be letting that sit a bit longer. 

I also began another short story that I am or at least was planning to submit to an anthology. It involved the death penalty and is really a much more serious topic than I usually work through in my writing. My story started out fun, and then it goes south, and then I was going to get into the details of being on death row and such. 

It weighed a bit heavy on the brain, so that was the piece I decided to move forward with for my first writer's group submission. Makes sense, right? Not sure where you are going with a story - throw it out there for critique.

First, the group was kind but added a ton of insight to make it better. They pointed out where it was lacking. Where I switched from the first person to the third person. They pointed out some stupid grammar mistakes that will plague me long after I stop writing. The big thing that was confirmed for me was that I was not taking something as serious as the death penalty very seriously. Also, it confirmed that I don't think it's a story I want to write. I did generate a bunch of ideas that I may work through and expand the story. Change it up in a way that will allow me to have fun with it. Who doesn't want to write a revenge from beyond the grave death penalty story? 

I think John Scalzi says it best with this tweet. https://twitter.com/scalzi/status/1363328670421708800 

Since the January post, I have also received great feedback on the novel I wrote for my daughter. I have pages of suggestions, some I'll take action on, and some I'll accept and keep it the way I wrote it. While I am writing this month and over the next couple of months, I'll be making adjustments to that book. Maybe, if I'm feeling brave, I'll submit a chunk of that novel to the writing group. 

I could be working on that novel forever, really. There was a quote I bumped into this month that fits. 

    A book, a poem, or a piece of art (basically fit in whatever your thing is) is never completed but merely abandoned. - Somebody (https://quoteinvestigator.com/2019/03/01/abandon/#note-21874-6) 

That's the February update - the goal is to keep posting something monthly, so I have something to look back on.