"The only thing worse than writing is not writing."

[ordinarybirds]

 I'm getting ready to make what will probably be my final Glimmer Train submission before they shutter in 2019. There will be other contests before then, and general submissions (the reading fee for a general submission is only $2 I believe) but I have a little more than half of a story in my pocket that fits the submission category, and they extended the deadline to January 2nd, and hell, how cool would it be to not only be published by them but as a contest winner? And since I just got paid by the BoE for my election day work, I can pay the reading fee.

I had always planned to just throw stories at GT until something stuck; they pay well, they look for new writers, they're a print journal, something you can hold in your hands, rub your face on, give your mother to take to school and show all her teacher friends at lunch. I am not even vaguely ashamed of my one online publication credit--do you understand how incredible it is to hear your story read out loud by a total stranger and have been paid for the privilege?--but I've always dreamed of being in print. 

But of course before any of that can happen, I have to actually finish the story. Ask for beta reads. Edit, edit some more, keep poking it. Agonize over a title only to choose one vague word like I always do. Tell myself it's done this time and then give it one last read. Argue with my partner over whether or not this weird little turn of phrase is worth keeping. Try not to get my hopes up too much. Fail at that. Maybe make some other submissions to other places, do some world building for the other two stories I've got kicking around. Try not to be too pessimistic about my chances of any kind of success. Fail at that.


My partner, and our mutual ex, have a saying: you keep creating because it hurts too badly not to. The only thing worse than writing is not writing.


(This is all a very dramatic way of saying "I dont wanna :c ") 

Comments

[pangodillo]

Have partner and ex read Heinlein? (Weirdly, I feel like he wouldn't--maybe because I've read Heinlein, and I perceive him as Smart and Literary and Above Such Petty Things as whatever I like.) But that's a sentiment that Heinlein talked about a lot, and having just read The Cat Who Walks Through Walls again (much queerer than I remembered) I think that saying might be a near-verbatim quote from the first couple of chapters.

[ordinarybirds]

He's read all kinds of things; he is Smart and Literary but he casts a wide net for media to consume (also remember: he sure hung up that Yale degree, but he did so over the toilet, he's got a sense of humor about what stuffiness he does have). I don't know if either of them have read any of his work. I will ask about it if I remember to when I'm home again.

[pangodillo]

I did say my perception of him was weird! I know he's a goofy sweet dude and any Above Such Petty Things impressions are entirely my own creation.

doesn't he say "grok"? although it's possible that that's just a word now, and not a definite sign of a Heinlein reader.

[ordinarybirds]

I don’t think I’ve ever heard him say “grok”, and it always sticks out when you say it because it always sounds like not-a-word before I remember it is in fact a word. So I feel like I would have noticed? Perhaps I am giving my attention to detail too much credit >.> (I’m using the “comment reply via email” function DW offers so if it comes out funky that’s why)

[pangodillo]

ahaha I assumed he said it bc I'm pretty sure I've heard you say it? and I feel fairly sure you haven't read Heinlein. it fades in and out of my active vocabulary and atm it's more "out" so I don't think of it as something I say. but maybe I do more often than I think.

comment reply via email is the best

[ordinarybirds]

I am 95% certain I have never said “grok”, because I didn’t know what it meant until you explained it to me.

[cosleia]

(grok is such a fantastic word, it is so useful)

[hedgemistress]

Hello yay it is I, Eggplant!