Ouch

I just this moment received a rejection back from the general submission slush pile for the Dark Glass anthology which makes me think it'll have no hope in the competition side of things either.

It was quite unapologetic in it's efforts to call my story crap. Taking a line from the middle of the rejection letter - "There's nothing really new here, and the characters seem thin." - left me wondering if I can actually write.

This story has passed through a number of beta readers, and others, and has attracted better feedback with each revision cycle - and yet now it has been broadsided with labels of 'standard' and 'better avoided'. (Actual words used in the rejection letter)

I haven't done a lot of writing over the last couple of weeks: less than 2000 words on AKL and one short at 3600. Add in a couple of assignments and I get a total of around 7-8K in two weeks. I've done a bit of reading but in general, I seem to be winding down.

Now this could be due to the fast approaching holiday period. I have two days of work left, and then 12 days of relaxation. First family holiday where we are going away for a long, long time. I'm seriously looking forward to it.

Or it could be because in the last few days, I've had rejections on a couple of pieces I thought were good, or at least some of the better stuff I'd written so far. The insecure writer in me has taken this pretty badly. I understand that and intend to simply keep trying, but I am worried that a lot of my work seems to come back from paying markets with comments seriously down-playing my ability to form all the components of a good story.

Am I just a cliche writer? Can I not come up with something new, or at least something with a big enough twist on it that someone would want to pay me for it?

I have these doubts, and then I read some of the crap that is being published and writers are getting paid for, and I go into this spiral of envy and whining bullshit which disgusts me, and makes me feel somewhat worse than a gynaecologist who misses the mark by just that much. (Sorry, I watched Knocked Up last night - funny.)

I guess this is all part of the learning process, and the heavy payment of dues we all must put into the coffers at some point. Personally - I think it blows the big one.

Now I wait in expectation for another hammer blow from the Devil's Food antho, and then Apex can drive in the final nail by rejecting the previously short listed Dreaming with a "sorry, what were we thinking" type of rejection.

Sorry - just venting.

I'm revising a couple of stories at the moment. I'll wait until I have confirmation from the PARSEC contest before I do anything with Swirls. I still have some market work to do for AHWA which I'm hoping to get onto today.

As for the next week or so: I'll post a couple more times over the next day or two and then I'll be slipping off the radar until after Easter - or there abouts. So have a great and safe Easter. Drive carefully, and best of luck on your egg hunt.

And I wish you all the very best with your Easter writing endeavours.