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....

Finished Today

Finished the last edit for "Till Death Do Us Part" and I'll send it out when I hear back from my first readers.

Not much else on the writing front to report. I'm still sifting through story ideas for my next project and of course I've got the rewrite for "Styx" circling me like a hungry buzzard. That story is so demanding. But I'm scheduling that for the upcoming weekend -- tentatively. Then my first readers will get it, too. Lucky them.

For myself I'm looking forward to getting back on my weekly schedule with my writing buddy. One thing does irk me. The old coffee shop where we used to meet closed down so we had to move our circus down the road a mile or two. This new coffee shop is busier than the old one...hence the reason it's still open, I guess. Still, I liked the other because it was much quieter and not as much bustle going on around me.

Oh, well, beggars and writers can't be choosers, it seems.

If I had anything more pithy to say I would say it. I don't, so I guess I'll end this post here.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Mice and Writers

Not much to report today which doesn't mean I didn't have a good day. Because I did.

I had a friend over and we did lunch. It was fun. Talked about writing and watched part of an old movie on TCM. Talked about writing some more. Who says the life of a writer isn't interesting?

Tomorrow I need to do a little edit on "Till Death Do Us Part" if only to show something for the week before Thanksgiving. I've been thinking very seriously about starting a new story next week, but I also have the rewrite for "Fishing the Styx" hanging over my head. Maybe I'll do "Styx" this weekend. Nothing else planned. If the weather's good I'll go out on the deck and work on that. I'd like to have it out of the way so I can start something new next week. That would be ideal.

But we all know how best laid plans oft gang agley. Ahem. That's true for mice as well as writers.

"Fishing the Styx"

I finished the new story and it's a big relief off my shoulders. This is one of the most difficult stories I've ever written. I think it's good, I think it might sell, but it was a tough one to write.

It could have gone either way: delve into comedy or be stuck in an act of self-pretension. Not surprising given the content and I wanted to straddle that line and just get a good story written. So it was a struggle. But I've finally finished it and can now turn my attention to a new Haxan story.

I'll let this current story lie fallow for about a week before I do any rewriting. I usually do this. Distance of time and space allows me fresh insight when I open up a story I've just finished and I'm able to do my editorial work without getting lost in the "newness" of the piece.

So all in all I'm satisfied about that and now looking for something new to work on. There are a few ideas banging around in the attic of my mind. I'll probably get some old stories sent out to new magazines and then start toying with starting another story. Again, like I said, one almost certainly to be set in the Haxan world.

Another Day

I've been struggling with a lot of things lately, some of them personal but most of them related to my writing. I go through dark periods like this every once in a while, but I think I'm starting to come out of this one.

It's just that I don't always think I have enough to say or anything deep to report on the blog, so I don't update. I haven't been writing lately, which is a bit of a bother. But it doesn't appear to be a block or anything like that as much as it's just laziness on my part. But I talked to a friend last night who helped me see some things in a bit of a different light and I'm more motivated now than I was.

I've tentatively put tomorrow down as a Big Writing Day. I'm clearing my calender of everything I can and will set aside the day to finish my latest story, "Fishing the Styx". It's been weighing on my mind too much, has been more difficult to write than I ever expected. So tomorrow is The Day. I'll just sit down and finish it, come what may. Not that I expect it will be a tough slog or anything. I actually believe it will go quite well. But it needs to be done so I can get back to writing the Haxan stories.

I also have two stories that have come back and I need to send them out to other editors. Not a big deal, but it's the kind of office work that I find imminently boring. Part of being a writer, though.

I know. It's not all perfume and roses, lol, who'd a thunk it?

I'm actually looking forward to working on the story tomorrow. I'm ready to get beyond it and it's ready to be finished. I can't do it today because I have some personal things that need attention, but tomorrow, as Scarlett sez, is always another day....