Category: Short Fiction

Year of Short Stories — Week #31

2024 is my year of short stories. In this weekly series, I talk about the stories I’m working on, from idea and draft to submission.

  • Stories in Progress – 4
  • Submissions This Week – 0
  • Submissions Currently Out – 6
  • Acceptances This Year – 1
  • Rejections This Year – 17 (7 personalized)

Another Story

Last week, feeling blocked on my stories in progress, I started working on a new story. This week, inspiration struck for yet another idea. Since I was excited about that, I let the momentum carry me and started on a fourth story.

I do believe that it’s important to work on finishing things, and that writers can fall into a bad habit of chasing ideas without ever putting in the work to revise and polish. Unfortunately, revision is never as thrilling as that first discovery of a new story, and sometimes working on exciting new ideas can be a good emotional reset. Working on the thing that excites you at the moment can be a good way to boost word count as well.

Simultaneous Subs

This was the second week in a row with no responses to my current submissions. Since I purposely picked publications that accept simultaneous submissions for my drabbles, I should probably send those to at least one or two more places.

Goals for Next Week

This upcoming week, I’m going to try to motivate myself with a word count goal. I plan to write 1,000 words on one of these stories in progress every day. That should get me close to finishing at least one of them—although my first drafts tend to run long.

Year of Short Stories — Week #30

2024 is my year of short stories. In this weekly series, I talk about the stories I’m working on, from idea and draft to submission.

  • Stories in Progress – 3
  • Submissions This Week – 3
  • Submissions Currently Out – 7
  • Acceptances This Year – 1
  • Rejections This Year – 17 (7 personalized)

Release

I’m happy to report that my tongue-in-cheek horror drabble, “Renter’s Dilemma,” is in the anthology Dead Girls Walking (The Red Volume) which released this week. It is available in EPUB and paperback.

Submissions

Since I finally finished my big ‘ol list of publications that seem like they’d be interested in drabbles, I figured I had better send out the ones I’ve had sitting around.

I sent out Tom, Dick, and Larry; A Going Away Party; and No More Kings.

Goals for Next Week

Short update this week. I just didn’t get much done besides submissions.

It’s starting to feel like I haven’t finished a new story in a while, so this week I’m going to focus on really churning through my stories in progress.

Year of Short Stories — Week #29

2024 is my year of short stories. In this weekly series, I talk about the stories I’m working on, from idea and draft to submission.

  • Stories in Progress – 3
  • Submissions This Week – 0
  • Submissions Currently Out – 3
  • Acceptances This Year – 1
  • Rejections This Year – 17 (7 personalized)

No Submissions, No Responses

My stories are currently submitted to publishers with longer turnaround times, so I had no responses this week. It was a nice break to get caught up on other writing tasks. I still haven’t submitted those drabbles that have been sitting around. More on that below.

The Writing Pipeline

Recently, I’ve been thinking about my writing pipeline. When I find myself doing the same type of work (like editing drafts) for too long, I lose focus and slow down. It is good to actually finish projects instead of endlessly jumping between half-finished things, but when I’m getting stuck on a project, it’s better to make some progress on another piece than grind ineffectively.

This week, I tried to diversify my writing more than I have been. I spent some dedicated brainstorming time generating new story ideas, which I haven’t done in quite a while. I also started outlining the new story I mentioned last week, The Vine. Finally, I wrote more of Portrait of the Artist in Wartime, a story where I suspect I will end up with a large word count and have to pare down.

What I didn’t do this week is any editing of Red Eyes, which is the story I was stuck on.

Next week, I’m going to try the same tactic and split my time among a few projects, and I might go back to Red Eyes to see if I can be more productive.

The List

The last thing I did this week is finish compiling my big list of potential publications for submitting drabbles.

One interesting discovery (which is obvious in retrospect) is that many publications will pay a fixed amount per story, and while $5-20 per story doesn’t seem like much, it ranges from a respectable semi-pro to top-tier professional pay rate when the story is exactly 100 words.

My next step will be to rearrange these publications into a rough ranking. I’d like to try more simultaneous submissions, but that will be limited by the amount of time I want to spend submitting.

Goals for Next Week

  • Work on brainstorming, The Vine, Portrait, and Red Eyes – whatever feels most productive
  • Submit some drabbles

Year of Short Stories — Week #28

2024 is my year of short stories. In this weekly series, I talk about the stories I’m working on, from idea and draft to submission.

  • Stories in Progress – 3
  • Submissions This Week – 1
  • Submissions Currently Out – 3
  • Acceptances This Year – 1
  • Rejections This Year – 17 (7 personalized)

The Vine

I have the excuse of a busy schedule over the past month or two, but I haven’t been getting as much done on my stories as I would like. Perhaps counterintuitively, I decided to unblock myself by starting work on yet another story.

The new story is tentatively titled “The Vine,” and is one that I’ve been kicking around for a while. (It inspired a piece of microfiction way back in the summer of 2021.) It’s about a plant that gets inside you and makes you feel empathy for others.

When I find myself getting stuck like this, it’s usually because there is some issue that I’m not recognizing and addressing, and it can be helpful to step away and work on something else. When I return, I’ll have a little more distance to evaluate the problems in my other stories and address them.

The Drabble Publishing List

I mentioned in previous weeks that I have a couple of drabbles that I’m interested in submitting, but some would qualify as reprints (since they already appeared on this site), and I think a good percentage of publications aren’t interested in stories that short.

So I dug deep on Duotrope and sifted through nearly two hundred publications that say they accept SFF flash fiction. I poured over submission requirements, editorial interviews and mastheads, and created a list of about thirty paying and thirty non-paying markets that might be good places to submit.

My next step will be to read some stories from as many of these as possible, especially the ones that specialize in shorter formats.

The Grind

It was a quiet week for submissions, with no new responses. I resubmitted The Incident at Pleasant Hills (which came back to me last week).

Goals for Next Week

  • Continue narrowing my drabble publisher list
  • Work on The Vine

Year of Short Stories — Week #27

2024 is my year of short stories. In this weekly series, I talk about the stories I’m working on, from idea and draft to submission.

  • Stories in Progress – 2
  • Submissions This Week – 0
  • Submissions Currently Out – 2
  • Acceptances This Year: 1
  • Rejections This Year – 17 (7 personalized)

Acceptance

It was a busy week for submissions, but the exciting news is that I received my first acceptance of the year. My drabble, Renter’s Dilemma, will be published in an upcoming horror anthology.

Part of being a writer is the “skill” of being simultaneously self-aggrandizing and self-deprecating, so my inner critic immediately looked for some reasons to get less excited: it’s just a drabble, it’s a big anthology series with lots of authors, and there’s no payment. But hey, the truth is that there are fewer and fewer publications that pay, and a writing credit is a writing credit. I’ll take a win, and keep on submitting. And I’ll post links when it’s released.

A Little Clarity?

I also received an odd email this week that made me realize even those who work in publishing sometimes have trouble communicating clearly.

This email was in response to a submission I had sent, and it said that the story had been “accepted for further consideration.” Since this publication accepts submissions via email, I am assuming this is nothing more than an acknowledgement that they received my story. (Duotrope’s guidelines for their normal response times also backs this up.) However, many publications do require submissions to pass through multiple readers or editors before acceptance, so this could conceivably be a note that the story made it through a first round.

The word “accepted” is a very loaded word in a response to a submission, so this phrasing that starts with the story “accepted” and ends with “further consideration” ends up being a linguistic rug pull for expectant writers.

Rejections

I received two speedy rejections this week: one for my recently renamed drabble, Tom, Dick and Larry, and one for Incident at Pleasant Hills.

I don’t normally talk about where I’m submitting, but I did want to mention how much I appreciate Clarkesworld Magazine. They are an excellent sci-fi mag with a very nice homemade online submission system, and they are remarkably fast at responding to submissions, despite being one of the biggest English language sci-fi markets.

Goals for Next Week

Quick turnarounds on submissions are a mixed blessing. It means I’m getting stories in front of more editors, sooner, but it also means I’m spending more time prepping and sending stories. It’s a lot easier to get to some of my other writing goals when stories aren’t coming back to me in 3-4 days.

As usual, I find myself with a lot of things I’d like to do, and not enough time to get them all done. I need to re-send those rejected stories, and I need to continue working on my stories in progress. That’s the bread-and-butter work.

I do still have a couple of completed drabbles that I have not been sending out, and this is mostly because it’s a pain to find places that are interested in a 100-word story. I also haven’t really done any simultaneous submissions, even when I’m sending stories to publications that allow it. That’s another way to get more stories in front of more editors.

Finally, there are always Critters critiques to catch up on. Those tend to be the first thing I let slide when I have too much to do. Luckily, I’ve built up a lot of credit, but it will eventually run out, and I don’t want to end up with a story blocked, waiting in the queue while I try to catch up on my quota.

So, I’ll throw down all of these as goals, with the understanding that I’m only going to get some of them done in the next week:

  • Resubmit rejected stories
  • Look for simultaneous submission options for The Bluefinch and the Chipmunk
  • Submit more drabbles
  • Work on incomplete stories
  • Catch up on critiques

Year of Short Stories — Week #26

2024 is my year of short stories. In this weekly series, I talk about the stories I’m working on, from idea and draft to submission.

  • Stories in Progress – 2
  • Submissions This Week – 4
  • Submissions Currently Out – 5
  • Rejections This Year – 15 (7 personalized)

Playing Catch-Up

First thing this week, I queried the final submission that was still outstanding after my one-month writing break. The magazine responded promptly, and it was a rejection that was likely eaten by my spam filter. I’ll need to be a little more vigilant checking for responses in the future.

I re-submitted the four stories that came back to me over the past month. The process still takes a while, but I’m getting better at having publications lined up for each story, so it’s mostly a matter of checking the particulars and making sure my cover letter and formatting match their expectations.

I submitted Dr. Clipboard to a contest with a small submission fee. This is the first time I’ve spent money on a submission. I received positive feedback on a different story from the magazine running the contest, so I’m hoping that their tastes align with my style.

The Halfway Point

We’re over halfway through the year, but I got a late start on my “year of short stories” project, so this is week 26 by my count—the official halfway point.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping I’d have an acceptance at this point, but the process is slow, and I have received positive feedback. I’m also feeling more and more comfortable with the short story grind, from writing and editing to submission. It’s quite a bit of work, but I’m having a lot of fun.

Goals for Next Week

With my finished stories back in submission, I really need to get back to writing. I’ve also been neglecting my Critters critiques, and I need to get back into that habit as well.

  • Get back to writing stories and get my word count up
  • Finish a few Critters critiques

Year of Short Stories — Week #25

2024 is my year of short stories. In this weekly series, I talk about the stories I’m working on, from idea and draft to submission.

  • Stories in Progress – 2
  • Submissions This Week – 0
  • Submissions Currently Out – 2
  • Rejections This Year – 14 (7 personalized)

A Month Of Responses

As I mentioned in my previous post, I took a writing break in June, so my works in progress are still in progress. I haven’t sent anything new out, but I did receive several responses.

For “The Incident at Pleasant Hills,” I received a very positive personalized rejection, indicating I had gotten past several rounds of evaluation. This confirms to me that the story is solid, and this is a publication I should keep in mind for future submissions.

“Dr. Clipboard’s Miracle Wonder Drug,” received a rather strange rejection that was generally positive about the story, but concluded that it didn’t fit the editors’ definition of the fantasy genre. To my sensibilities, it’s more of a modern fantasy or new weird story, but this response makes me think it might be worth trying some “softer” sci-fi magazines as well.

“The Bluefinch and the Chipmunk” received a form rejection.

My drabble, “Tom, Dick, and Larry,” has the distinction of being the first submission of the year that didn’t get a response at all. A few magazines state in their submission guidelines that they won’t respond for rejections, but this was not one of them. It’s possible that the story got lost in the shuffle, or the response was eaten by internet goblins or spam filters. I’ll be sending a query to see if I can get a clear response.

Goals for Next Week

  • Send a query to get the status of “Tom, Dick, and Larry”
  • Re-send all the stories that came back to me
  • Get back into the writing groove and work on at least one short story

Year of Short Stories — Week #19 and #20

2024 is my year of short stories. In this weekly series, I talk about the stories I’m working on, from idea and draft to submission.

  • Stories in Progress – 2
  • Submissions Past Two Weeks – 1
  • Submissions Currently Out – 5
  • Rejections This Year – 11 (4 personalized)

This week is the last week of school, so my kids are keeping me busy with concerts and events. I’m also packing and getting everything set up to move house next week. Once again I’ve been slacking on my short story reports, so we’re doubling up this week and last.

Submissions

My first submission for The Bluefinch and the Chipmunk came back with a rejection, so I sent it back out. This was my only submission for the week, although a few other stories should be coming back soon, if the duotrope estimates are anything to go by.

Writing

I finally completed a draft of Red Eyes, a story that I revived from the trunk, although it’s still a pretty big mess. This pass was mostly to find the core of the story and assess what the big, structural problems are. Now I need to take some time to decide how those things should be fixed. I also need to make it shorter, because this story is awfully long.

I’ve been doing a lot of revision lately. This is a good thing, because it’s one of my weaker points and I want to get better. However, too much revision makes me feel like I’m churning on the same stories, so I’m planning to shift focus to fresh stories for a week or two. The first of these will be Portrait of the Artist in Wartime, which I’ve been talking about for a while, but not really working on.

I intend to knock out a half-assed draft just to get a feel for where I want to go with it. Hopefully that will leave me feeling refreshed and ready to tackle more revisions.

Goals for Next Week

  • Rough draft of Portrait.

Year of Short Stories — Week #17 and 18

2024 is my year of short stories. In this weekly series, I talk about the stories I’m working on, from idea and draft to submission.

  • Stories in Progress – 2
  • Submissions This Past Two Weeks – 3
  • Submissions Currently Out – 5
  • Rejections This Year – 10 (4 personalized)

Moving

Well, I missed my usual Monday post last week, and as soon as I did, I lost all my blogging ambition. So this week will be a double-whammy and include the stats for last week too.

In exciting non-writing news, I’ll be moving house in about a month. We’re just getting all the paperwork sorted and starting on the packing, but I have no doubt it’ll be a big time suck. We’ve had more than a decade at the current house, and boy oh boy, stuff accumulates. At least it gives us an opportunity to go through everything and do some Spring cleaning. It’ll be a good thing, but it may eat into my writing time in the next few weeks.

Submissions

Luckily, the Year of Short Stories continues full-bore. With more than a quarter of a year under my belt, I’m up to five short stories currently out for submission, and feeling like a proper short story writer.

I finally finished The Bluefinch and the Chipmunk and sent it out. I also found a good themed anthology that accepts reprints, and submitted an old drabble, Haunted, under a new name: Renter’s Dilemma. I also got a rejection on Dr. Clipboard’s Miracle Wonder Drug and sent it out again. I’ve just about exhausted the professional-paying options for this story, so I’m moving on to the semi-pro publications.

New Stories

I’ve noticed that I tend to slow down when I’m working on a single story, so I’ve decided that it makes sense to have a couple irons in the fire. Now that Bluefinch is done, I’m going back to Red Eyes, another story from the trunk that I’m in the process of revising. I’m also working on a fresh story, Portrait of the Artist in Wartime, in the hopes that if I don’t feel like working on one of these stories, I can make progress on the other.

Goals for Next Week

  • Make some progress on Red Eyes and Portrait

Year of Short Stories — Week #16

2024 is my year of short stories. In this weekly series, I talk about the stories I’m working on, from idea and draft to submission.

  • Stories in Progress – 2
  • Submissions This Week – 0
  • Submissions Currently Out – 3
  • Rejections This Year – 9 (4 personalized)

Finishing “The Bluefinch and the Chipmunk”

This week was less stressful than the past few, and I found myself with more time and energy. None of my submissions came back, which meant I could focus entirely on getting The Bluefinch and the Chipmunk done.

I did some more cleanup based on critiques, trimmed it down, and tightened up the new ending. This story has felt close to done for a few weeks, so I was very excited to finally get it finished and ready to send out.

The Joys of Multi-Tasking

Until recently, my plan was to work on Red Eyes after I finished with Bluefinch, since I already have a draft. Then I had a flash of inspiration about a story idea I’ve been calling Portrait of the Artist in Wartime.

I had been struggling with the structure of that story because I wanted to write it as an interview with the main character, but I needed to reveal past events that the character wouldn’t want to talk about.

Now I’m thinking that I’ll alternate between the interview and flashbacks. That will give me a way to access those scenes outside the interview, and allow for some interesting juxtaposition between what the character is saying and what the reader sees actually happening.

So, now I’m planning to work on a rough draft of Portrait. When I’ve had enough, I’ll switch to Red Eyes revisions again. It can be nice to have a few different stories at different stages of completion, to switch back and forth when one feels blocked.

Goals for Next Week

  • Send out Bluefinch
  • Start writing Portrait