Comments | theladywolf: Rejection. Everybody's doing it so I might as well too.

theladywolf

Rejection. Everybody's doing it so I might as well too.

May 17, 2009 16:21

I got a sixty one day personal reject from Strange Horizons which was lovely and gentle and explained several things that might be wrong with the story. This is a story I cut swathes out of to make it short enough for the short story world. I also cut swathes out of it to make it, well, more short storyish, if anyone else understands what that ( Read more... )

Comments 17

namelessarchon May 17 2009, 15:47:24 UTC

Go long, Sharon, go long... :)

theladywolf May 17 2009, 16:12:10 UTC

I'm going long. This summer. Stealthily. Don't tel anyone. :)

ideealisme May 17 2009, 15:49:40 UTC

A personal note is good - Strange Horizons is a tough market. Did they want more development etc. and stuff that would make it longer.

I've got a similar problem with a story of mine set during WWI - yes the one I've been banging my head over the last X couple of months. I need to make it longer - Mr Strange thinks so anyway - but can't. And there aren't any historical fiction markets out there, or not many anyway.

PS ideealisme May 17 2009, 15:50:35 UTC

Do you view ra_log? It's like one day out of every two months the people at Strange Horizons hole themselves up and start reading...;-)

Re: PS theladywolf May 17 2009, 16:11:35 UTC

Yes, I've noticed that. I've also noticed that the optimal time to have your story there is about 45 days. Any longer and it's like they really don't love it, but wonder could they come to love it if they hang on a little longer. They rarely do. :) But yes, I know it's nice to get a personal. I appreciated it.

I think the editor didn't exactly get it, and I think the reason he didn't exactly get it was because I had taken things out. And yet if I had left them in, I don't know that it would be suitable for them. So it's a hard sell. And I'm not willing to get back in there and rewrite when the only options I see are semis and tokens. I've written this story from every angle. Time to let it sleep. ;)

I saw a World War story in Fantasy magazine this year or last year. Masks of War, I think it was called, by J Kathleen Cheney. That might be a market for you. And it's pro.

Re: PS namelessarchon May 17 2009, 17:36:27 UTC

J. Cheney... can she have any more success *eye roll* :)

Thread 5

bogwitch64 May 17 2009, 18:00:44 UTC

Sometimes, trunking a story is just the right thing to do. Reworking something written during those days when we still had a lot to learn is often like going backwards. The story is what it is, and if it's not good enough to sell, then it's at least a bit of the learning process every piece of writing becomes part of. No regrets. Much love. Rest in peace, Mr. Story. Your work is done.

theladywolf May 17 2009, 20:32:55 UTC

:D That's how I felt too. The annoying thing is that it's just a hair's breath away from being really good. But I can't make it good in the length allowed by short story markets, and it's a bit of a strange genre anyway, magical realism for serial killers. It's a bit dodge. :D

bogwitch64 May 17 2009, 20:56:08 UTC

Do you need a new set of eyes to take a peek?

theladywolf May 17 2009, 21:31:52 UTC

I don't know. To bring it out of retirement after it's only had a little nap. I'm not sure. I'll have a think on it. Thank you very much for the offer. :)

Thread 7

kara_gnome May 18 2009, 11:00:53 UTC

It feels weird, trunking stories that you've worked so long and hard on, and believe in so much, isn't it? That's one of the very weird things about writing. You start out with nothing and create something and then somehow turn it into nothing again.

Sort of a pre-experience, experience, post-experience thing, I guess.

Imo, I think writing long is a pretty good thing, too. Maybe, someday, that story will work as something even longer than it is; you'll have a new book with a lot of the work done already, maybe :)

theladywolf May 18 2009, 18:25:58 UTC

You start out with nothing and create something and then somehow turn it into nothing again.

Isn't that exactly it. Dust to dust kind of stuff. :)I've had a little rethink. Bogwitch volunteering to have a look at it made me think again. I may be able to salvage it, but it's going to take a bit of work. Do I have the strength, I ask myself. Having said that, it's my only serial killer story. I'm reluctant to just put it in the trunk. :)

bogwitch64 May 18 2009, 18:29:43 UTC

You start out with nothing and create something and then somehow turn it into nothing again.

Beautiful--really beautiful.