Sunday, November 30, 2008

Writing Angst...which this blog is all about, really

I mentioned before I have some old stories in my trunk that I've pretty much put aside because I'm mainly working on new stuff now. I'm doing that for a lot of reasons, mostly because I think it's the right thing to do. Many of those stories are tapped out and I think I've moved on both stylistically and artistically since I wrote them.

So I was in a bit of a quandary when I came across a magazine looking for a particular story type. I think I had something, but since I made the decision to move on from that older work it has to be the right kind of magazine for the right kind of story which I have moldering in the trunk. This didn't fit the criteria so I never submitted it.

Maybe a mistake. Maybe. But either I'm moving on or I'm not. Either I'm growing as a writer or I'm not. And I'm pretty damn certain I am.

Okay. That's not to say if a high-profile magazine wanted something and I thought I had a piece that was appropriate, I wouldn't submit it. So is this me just being picky or me really trying to make what I perceive as a much-needed course correction and trying to stick to it?

You can see my problem. I wouldn't be writing this entry if I wasn't 100-percent sure I made the right decision. I'm 99-percent sure. But that remaining one percent niggles at me.

Oh, well. What's done is done and the window for submission has elapsed. I have to trust my instinct that I did the right thing. I believe I did, anyway.

I also didn't do the rewrite for "Styx" this weekend. Not good, but not entirely unexpected. I want to start something new. I'd like to get at least two more stories under my belt before the year ends. That's my target. But I honestly should do the rewrite for "Styx" first and that's going to make things tight.

I'll just have to get it done, I guess.

Sorry for the grumbling. I'm just trying to work this all out....

1 comment:

N.G.K. said...

You would have to turn in your angst-driven writer union card if you didn't second guess yourself. The story is still in the trunk, you only passed on one possible submission, others will come around again if it's the right time. In the meantime, it sounds like you have a passion for the newer material, you're seeing growth, so pursue it. My oh my, it's so easy to give advice to some one else =)