Here is wishing
• that each of you obtain most, but not all, of the goals set out before you,
• that you experience true happiness, if only for a short time, that you have a moment of personal clarity through which you see yourself and the world,
• and that moment leaves you changed for the better.
Here, too, is wishing
• that the world experiences one day without killing,
• that the government always acts in the best interest of the people,
• that the human race learns to judge people based on their actions, and not on the color of their skin, who they like to sleep with, or how they do or do not worship.
May we humans learn to work together to eliminate tyranny, poverty, hunger, fear, and hate.
Here is to a fresh start and another chance to get it right.
Best wishes for a happy, safe, and productive 2010.
Happy New Year.
31 December 2009
24 December 2009
Merry Christmas
Christmas Gift Suggestions:
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To your opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To your opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.
19 December 2009
Ridiculousness: Working for a Possible Chance at Maybe Getting Published
Almost every week when I receive the Duotrope fiction newsletter, I open it and look a the paying markets. Sometimes, as happened this week, a title catches my eye and I take a closer look. What I found was this
Critical Writing magazine has a non-standard submissions procedure.
In order to submit work authors must join the Critical_Writing critique group for fiction submissions
and the Poetry- group for poetry submissions
and, when I clicked on the "more info" link (only because I decided to blog about this, I discovered
Rule #1: DON’T SUBMIT YOUR WORK UNLESS YOU’VE OFFERED AT LEAST 3 CRITS FIRST!
Rule #2: TRY TO DO SEVERAL CRITS BETWEEN YOUR SUBMISSIONS.
The rules go on from there, but this is completely ridiculous. This is a publication that values my time and my effort not at all. They're not offering a paying market, but trying to build a crit group through bribery.
It's bad enough that the number of paying markets has been greatly reduced in recent years, it's bad enough that most paying markets don't pay pro rates (and I understand why -- most of them have no funding and can't afford to pay pro rates), but now, in addition to writing the story, rewriting and editing the story, researching the markets, and submitting the story, this market wants freelancers to act as the editing staff and take their already limited time to critique other people's work.
Look, I have a critique group. I love them. They're my tribe. I would do almost anything for them. I'm not looking to expand it. I'm looking for opportunities to sell my work and have it read.
I understand every writer has not yet been as fortunate in finding ideal readers as I have been, but providing a critique group is not the job of publications. There are writers' forums, universities, and artist organizations for that. Publishing is the job of publications. Marketing to readers -- not writers -- is the job of publications.
Now, I can anticipate someone coming along and posting that if I don't want to submit to this market, I shouldn't. And I won't. You shouldn't either, because really this is exploitation. Your time, as a writer, would be better served writing another story and finding another market than submitting to a place that puts extra work requirements on submitting.
Oh, by the way, critiquing the requisite number of stories, submitting yours, and ranking high enough for publication is still no guarantee you'll be published by this market, because at any time, you might be bumped by someone who has ranked higher than you, but, if by some chance you do make the cut and the so-called editors at this market decided to publish you in their bi-annual 'zine, you will receive $30 for a feature story, $20 for a non-feature, and $10 for poetry.
Ridiculous.
For those wondering, the market is called Critical Writing. It's new. Don't expect it to last long. In addition to non-standard submission requirements, they also don't have a target audience, as evidenced by the fact they accept any genre. I take that back. They do have a target audience: it's writers who are desperate for a critique.
If you're reading this and really need a critique, I'd suggest Absolute Write's Share Your Work forum, or any writing forum with a critique area, would be a far better use of your time.
It's bad enough that the number of paying markets has been greatly reduced in recent years, it's bad enough that most paying markets don't pay pro rates (and I understand why -- most of them have no funding and can't afford to pay pro rates), but now, in addition to writing the story, rewriting and editing the story, researching the markets, and submitting the story, this market wants freelancers to act as the editing staff and take their already limited time to critique other people's work.
Look, I have a critique group. I love them. They're my tribe. I would do almost anything for them. I'm not looking to expand it. I'm looking for opportunities to sell my work and have it read.
I understand every writer has not yet been as fortunate in finding ideal readers as I have been, but providing a critique group is not the job of publications. There are writers' forums, universities, and artist organizations for that. Publishing is the job of publications. Marketing to readers -- not writers -- is the job of publications.
Now, I can anticipate someone coming along and posting that if I don't want to submit to this market, I shouldn't. And I won't. You shouldn't either, because really this is exploitation. Your time, as a writer, would be better served writing another story and finding another market than submitting to a place that puts extra work requirements on submitting.
Oh, by the way, critiquing the requisite number of stories, submitting yours, and ranking high enough for publication is still no guarantee you'll be published by this market, because at any time, you might be bumped by someone who has ranked higher than you, but, if by some chance you do make the cut and the so-called editors at this market decided to publish you in their bi-annual 'zine, you will receive $30 for a feature story, $20 for a non-feature, and $10 for poetry.
Ridiculous.
For those wondering, the market is called Critical Writing. It's new. Don't expect it to last long. In addition to non-standard submission requirements, they also don't have a target audience, as evidenced by the fact they accept any genre. I take that back. They do have a target audience: it's writers who are desperate for a critique.
If you're reading this and really need a critique, I'd suggest Absolute Write's Share Your Work forum, or any writing forum with a critique area, would be a far better use of your time.
03 December 2009
Milestones
In writing, milestones are sometimes fuzzy. When we start out writing, we expect that measurements of when we’ve “made it” to be clear and easily defined. We’ll sit down with our notebooks, at our typewriters, at our laptops, and we’ll type away until a book – novel, non-fiction, memoir, it doesn’t matter – appears beneath our fingers. Or we’ll jet about the country, finding interesting people, uncovering earth-shattering news, writing the details of what we find, and our names and our words will appear on the cover of Time or National Geographic. Regardless of the writing track we’re pursuing, it will be easy. We’ll sit down, write, and publish. We will make a living from our writing. We will be writers. Easy peasy.
Reality soon shatters our illusions. Writing is hard. Sure, the stories are in our head; the interesting people are out there. But using words to create images on the page is not as easy as it sounds. People with stories that need to be told don’t just appear next to us while we wait in line at the grocery. Not to mention the old adage “writing is rewriting” is far truer than we could have ever imagined. This writing thing is work. It takes time and energy. Research takes effort and, in some cases, money.
That’s the other thing we writers soon learn. It takes an incredibly long time to make a living from our words and in the meantime, we have to pay our rent and put food on the table. Even when we have loved ones who make enough to keep a roof over our heads and our bellies full, they often don’t make enough to pay for braces, a second car, Julia’s band dues, or for us to pay postage to keep sending manuscripts out. We have to do something to contribute to the household’s financial well-being while we wait for the world to discover us. In some cases, that means a day job – part-time or full-time. For others, that means getting really creative and finding ways to make our writing pay for itself in the meantime. In many ways, the day job is easier.
Through it all, our families and friends, keep waiting for us to “make it,” as do we. When, people ask, will we be able to take them on a celebratory trip to Disney World? With each achievement they want to know if they can auction off our stolen underwear on eBay yet or hold our cat for ransom. Can they say they knew us when? And with each guess-where-I-just-got-accepted-e-mail, we answer “not yet.”
In traditional careers, the milestones are easier to recognize. A raise. A promotion. A title added to our business cards. In writing – as in most creative endeavors – the markers of success are not that clearly defined. First acceptance is certainly one, as is the first rejection. First sale for money. First request for something specific. First letter from someone who has read your work. First… In truth, writing is a career of firsts and they all mean something to us, even if they don’t mean we’ve made it yet.
Over time, we come to recognize the truth of that other adage, the one that says it takes twenty years to become an overnight success. Being a writer, we realize, is not a destination, but a journey, no matter how cliché that may sound. Each achievement is not so much a milestone as it is a signpost confirming we are traveling toward our goals. It is progress. We might, one day, be able to make a living at our craft or become a household name. I question if we will have arrived even then. More than likely, those achievements will be yet another signpost on our path, telling us we are still growing in the direction we chose for ourselves so long ago. In the distance, there will be still another goal waiting for us and we will still be telling our friends and family “not yet,” this achievement is not the destination, but merely a step in the journey we are on.
Reality soon shatters our illusions. Writing is hard. Sure, the stories are in our head; the interesting people are out there. But using words to create images on the page is not as easy as it sounds. People with stories that need to be told don’t just appear next to us while we wait in line at the grocery. Not to mention the old adage “writing is rewriting” is far truer than we could have ever imagined. This writing thing is work. It takes time and energy. Research takes effort and, in some cases, money.
That’s the other thing we writers soon learn. It takes an incredibly long time to make a living from our words and in the meantime, we have to pay our rent and put food on the table. Even when we have loved ones who make enough to keep a roof over our heads and our bellies full, they often don’t make enough to pay for braces, a second car, Julia’s band dues, or for us to pay postage to keep sending manuscripts out. We have to do something to contribute to the household’s financial well-being while we wait for the world to discover us. In some cases, that means a day job – part-time or full-time. For others, that means getting really creative and finding ways to make our writing pay for itself in the meantime. In many ways, the day job is easier.
Through it all, our families and friends, keep waiting for us to “make it,” as do we. When, people ask, will we be able to take them on a celebratory trip to Disney World? With each achievement they want to know if they can auction off our stolen underwear on eBay yet or hold our cat for ransom. Can they say they knew us when? And with each guess-where-I-just-got-accepted-e-mail, we answer “not yet.”
In traditional careers, the milestones are easier to recognize. A raise. A promotion. A title added to our business cards. In writing – as in most creative endeavors – the markers of success are not that clearly defined. First acceptance is certainly one, as is the first rejection. First sale for money. First request for something specific. First letter from someone who has read your work. First… In truth, writing is a career of firsts and they all mean something to us, even if they don’t mean we’ve made it yet.
Over time, we come to recognize the truth of that other adage, the one that says it takes twenty years to become an overnight success. Being a writer, we realize, is not a destination, but a journey, no matter how cliché that may sound. Each achievement is not so much a milestone as it is a signpost confirming we are traveling toward our goals. It is progress. We might, one day, be able to make a living at our craft or become a household name. I question if we will have arrived even then. More than likely, those achievements will be yet another signpost on our path, telling us we are still growing in the direction we chose for ourselves so long ago. In the distance, there will be still another goal waiting for us and we will still be telling our friends and family “not yet,” this achievement is not the destination, but merely a step in the journey we are on.
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