Well, I knew the bubble would burst some day, and it has. I've just had yet another in a long stream of rejections. At the beginning it seemed like everything I submitted was snapped up instantly.
Have statistics caught up with me? Has my writing turned to crap? Motivation is plummeting.
Still, my original plan when I started all this was:
1) See if I can write a story that someone would want to read (tick)
2) See if I can write a story that someone would pay me for (tick)
3) Do that a couple of times, to make sure it wasn't a fluke (tick)
4) See if I can get anywhere in a writing comp (tick tick)
5) Have a go at a novel.
So, I guess it's time to turn my attention to reeeeeallly long stories. I find this very hard to do because I can't waffle, I only get teeny bits of time to write, and I don't want to wait a year or more to find out if it was all a waste of time. However, this is the next logical step in stretching myself as a writer.
I've already tried twice to write a novel. Both times, my crit group thought the first two chapters were excellent and the third one sucked. This made me give up until I got another bright idea for a novel.
Teeny voice from shoulder: "Stop being such a WUSS! Believe in yourself!"
Teeny voice from other shoulder: "Listen to that Disney-philosophy dork! Ha! As if you could do as good a job as (successful author/acclaimed author/the spec fic clique)".
If only those voices would shut up so I could write.
2 comments:
Perhaps you're now trying to hit higher and more prestigious markets where the competition is tougher? Or maybe you just have higher expectations of yourself now.
Either way, I wouldn't worry too much, if I were you. :)
Why don't you try your hand at slightly longer short stories, it seems like you've got a couple of chapters in your before the inspiration dries up so aim for that and build from there!
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