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….
Hoover's Corner 