look, i can't think of a title, right?
i'm rejected! (critically)
Posted 19th October 2009 at 11:00 AM by chopper
Tags rejection
Oh well, it was going to happen sooner or later. The good part of this is that constructive criticism came back with the rejection, so Cold Snap, just like Steve Austin and Jamie Sommers, can be rebuilt, stronger and faster than ever before.
Can't it?
Oops, perhaps not. Still, you don't know until you try. Let's see if the SSFFWG make of it - Cold Snap was one of the stories they haven't see yet. Then we'll prod it out from the nest again.
Meanwhile, Hub have announced the winner of their short story competition and... it's not me. No surprises there, seeing as that was an SF short as well. Maybe I should stick to fantasy? (Still waiting to hear on The Winter Road, by the way, which got submitted back in June.)
And, to cap it off, I made the interviews for assistant manager, but - once again - hit my head on the glass ceiling of previous experience. Ouch.
Still, Malessar's Curse is on 70k now. Onwards!
Can't it?
Quote:
I found the central dilemma here interesting, but I'm sorry to say that it felt a little contrived to me -- I kept thinking there must be alternatives. For example, they could avoid that particular cavern, or build their engines in another cave system (they presumably have the whole planet to work from), or they could delay the long-term terraforming project for a month while xenoarcheologists come in and deal with the site, or .... I'm sure you could add reasons to the story why each of these things wouldn't work, but I don't think that would help; I think that would make the situation feel more contrived to me.
Meanwhile, Hub have announced the winner of their short story competition and... it's not me. No surprises there, seeing as that was an SF short as well. Maybe I should stick to fantasy? (Still waiting to hear on The Winter Road, by the way, which got submitted back in June.)
And, to cap it off, I made the interviews for assistant manager, but - once again - hit my head on the glass ceiling of previous experience. Ouch.
Still, Malessar's Curse is on 70k now. Onwards!
Total Comments 7
Comments
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Hiya,
I'm the ******* that won it, (yes, I was googling to see how far my fame has now spread. Not far). Reading this post, it sounds to me like your faith might be faltering. Indeed, you sound like I did only a few days ago. I have some things to say that might change your outlook.
So far, I've hit two big dissillusionments with writing. The first, early one, comes when you get the honest reaction to your early work, which you thought was brilliant, but you now discover that you'd got no idea what an apostrophe was for (I never even realised I was basically placing them at random). However, one gets over that one quite quickly, because the problems are normally pretty obvious and easy to fix.
The more dangerous disillusionment comes later, when you're sending stuff off that you *know* is good, not just think, this time you're sure. And it gets rejected, rejected, rejected, and you just can't figure out why, or what to do about it.
Well, guess what? That story I sent to hub had been rejected lots of other places before I sent it there. I don't really know why I sent it in to the competition, because I'd already concluded that it must be unpublishable. When the "you've won" email came, there was something in me that was a little offended, because it felt "Oh, this doesn't make any sense now."
This:
I'm sure you could add reasons to the story why each of these things wouldn't work, but I don't think that would help; I think that would make the situation feel more contrived to me.
Sounds rather familar to me. Someone said much the same about my story (betraying that they'd not been reading very closely). Just because one editor thinks this, doesn't mean they all do, or that they are right. There is a tendancy in the writing world to forget that most editors are just people who one day said "Hey! I'll start a zine!", no one voted for them, they didn't have to pass any exams, they didn't have to face off in brutal gladiatorial combat with other wannabe editors. So, why is their word gospel? What one editor likes, another won't, it's very much about finding the market where you fit.
So don't give up on your SF, just because it's not getting the right reaction at the moment, it could just be you've not found the right market for it, or that it needs to marinate in your mind for a bit longer, or whatever. It seems that, even when your work is good, a lot of people are going to reject it, probably because most editors are overworked, and have to skim.
ColumPosted 19th October 2009 at 07:50 PM by Colum Paget
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Commiserations, Chop. Can't say I know how you feel about the unsuccessful submissions (having never actually, you know, finished anything, I can't say I've submitted anything), but I do know your pain on the work front. Lost out just a week or so ago on a higher position for lack of experience. Experience it's hard to get without having had a job like the one I missed out on.... Oh well, gotta keep moving forward.Posted 20th October 2009 at 04:49 AM by Culhwch -
Well, Chopper, if it makes you feel any better I've recently discovered I didn't win that Hub competition either. In fact I've discovered it just now.
Well, wasn't like I had my fingers crossed or anything. Rejections part of the game, as I'm sure you know. To be honest, there's this masochistic part of me that actually likes it. For a start, it gives me an excuse to treat myself to chocolate or even a swift pint.
It takes Clarkesworld about 48hrs to reply, so by my calculations I'll be down the sweetshop in about six hours. Yum!
But anyway- don't take it hard. They sent you a helpful crit so you must be getting most things right. Just a matter of tightening up them screws.Posted 20th October 2009 at 09:40 AM by J-WO -
Colum, congratulations! It's a fine story and deserves the light and glare of publicity! That aside, a good night out with the SSFFWG has also helped get me back on form, and both tales are back in the ether even now.
J-WO - you're absolutely right. At least it wasn't a form rejection. Good luck with Clarkesworld, too.
Onwards!Posted 20th October 2009 at 11:21 AM by chopper - Those SSFFWG guys ans gals have really got their act together, alright. We're trying to get something similar rolling in Leicester but its early days.Posted 20th October 2009 at 06:01 PM by J-WO
- all we need now is a decent name. SSFFWG doesn't really trip off the tongue, y'know?Posted 21st October 2009 at 12:23 AM by chopper
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Depends on the shape of the tongue, really. ^^
Had a couple of rejections myself recently, but barrelling on with the big literary project in lieu of being maudlin. I can be maudlin when *that* gets rejected everywhere instead.
Posted 3rd November 2009 at 01:16 PM by mygoditsraining
