Postby LDWriter2 » Tue Apr 10, 2018 7:31 pm
Been while since I have been here. I have been busy with Indie publishing books and writing them. And writing a few very short stories to pictures. All are under 600 words but many are 200 to 400 words. A couple around 100.
Anyway, still learning to write and all that, which brings me to something I badly need to rant, or vent on. If you read this and or comment Wait to I get to the end. The what might surprise you.
I have taken what is, I think, my third online workshop from Dean Wesley Smith. Second for sure. This one is about writing and selling short stories. I learned more than I expected because it included a lecture series by Kristine Kathryn Rusch on short stories. We had to write a total of four short stories as if we were writing for an anthology. So they each had a premise, 3,000 to 6,000 words, in by each Sunday, and had to be professionally formatted. Dean read them and Kristine read at least some of them. He explained what he liked or what he did not like about them. Why he stopped reading etc. He read each of mine all the way through, made some very complimentary comments Told me-almost commanded me-to send the Urban Fantasy story to a fantasy market. And he ended the last one by saying that he enjoys reading my stories. He started reading my stories for Strange New Worlds way back when and has read a few complete stories and a few openings along the way. Starting with the last two SNWs he has said good things about my writing.
Okay, now we reached the point of my Rant.
Snarl, He. Is. The. Only. Editor. Who Likes. My. Work. And he is not buying! He describes how editors start noticing certain writers and even start to look forward to read stories by them even though they are not quite good enough to buy. By nice if some of that would show up. I can't even get the few editors who write more notes than usual, to say anything. Well, Sheila Williams did say once she didn't mind reading my stories. I am upset and feel like roaring. But since I have been learning and since I have a couple of fans for those picture stories, maybe these will be better received. I do need to get back in the habit of sending out stories. I could probably send out 12 to 20 if I got on the ball.
So now I have four stories that need to be sent out-actually around seven all together. But one thing he doesn't do is notice certain things, like off grammar and typos that most editors demand. So I figure I better get mine grammar checked. Nothing else just that. I have asked about four of then, in a couple of places. So, I have stories that might attract the attention of an editor. I know where I will be sending most of those stories. I need a market for a thriller type though, but they are just sitting there waiting.
