Yes, You Can - Writing Challenge Day 7

In reviewing the potential sources for my article it appears that it should be written within a 500-800 word count maximum. That let me know how detailed I can be.

I've written up my story and given it to two people to review and give me their feedback. I got one back with just minor changes, did a rewrite, and sent it to a second reviewer. I am now putting together a sidebar of facts to add to the story and a short puzzle to go with it. These will also be sent to the magazine.

An additional note from another book I am reading...I just ran across the term "The rule of 12" which relates to the concept of having 12 pieces at any given time in submission somewhere. In checking on my submissions, I discovered I currently have 7 pieces out. I will work to have more outgoing like this story to get it up to 12 pieces. And that doesn't count having someone critiquing my stories!

The other rule that I really need is "The rule of 24." This rule says that you should always wait an additional 24 hrs after you've done your final edit to review one more time before sending it out to an editor. This is critical to me as I get so excited about writing that I want to send it out immediately. By having that additional time to review my story one more time, I have found an error that needed correcting or a better way to get my point across.

Yes, You Can - Writing Challenge Day 3

I am using this book to help me focus. I get so excited about writing that I jump from one idea to another. Then I don't know which to work on. This dovetails somewhat into the idea that Nancy suggests in her book. This is to turn your weaknesses into strengths. But how do you turn a weakness of jumping about from one story idea to another into a strength? That she doesn't address.

So I will focus on what she does suggest. As an example, if you love to read books then use that love of reading to see if you can do a book review. That sounds doable to me. As I read lots of children's books I could see about doing a book review column. I have sent out queries to 6 ezines with that suggestion. Next I will try some local sources. What I am learning here is that writing entails research for not only your ideas but new sources where they can be placed. It is getting me to think outside the box as to other ways of writing.

The Benefits...This is getting me to focus on writing the dreaded "query" email. I re-wrote it three times from the first email to the sixth one. I also discovered there are a lot of ezines out there that already have book reviews, but that isn't stopping me. Even if I don't get a column I can still write reviews on Amazon and other sources. This will continue to hone my writing skills.

Finding Humor

Being a writer I am constantly looking into writer's guidelines of all different sources. Who knows where I might find a niche for my writing. It is also fun to find out new writing sources. Sometimes I can read a story that is not my writing genre but can inspire me to write something that is.

Today I looked into Clarkesworld Magazine for their guidelines just for fun. If you want to learn more about their guidelines or read some sci-fi click here. Though I am a fan of Arthur C. Clarke, Asimov and Heinlein, I can't imagine writing science fiction in that style. Got a kick out of their please don't send ideas...

• stories where the climax is dependent on the spilling of intestines
  
• (What if those intestines contained the secrets of solving global warming?)
• stories where the Republicans, or Democrats, or Libertarians, or the Spartacist League, etc. take over the world and either save or ruin it
  
• (We have enough politics on the news or pretend news)
• sexy vampires, wanton werewolves, or lusty pirates
  
• (Are there others out there also waiting for the end of the vampire and werewolf madness?)

Getting More from your Library

I am an avid reader and though my budget doesn't allow me to buy all the books I would like to own, I can enhance my book supply temporarily by using my library card. At times when I have checked my local library to see if they have a book I would like to read, I have been disappointed that it wasn't stocked there. My friend and mentor, Nancy Sanders, recently wrote about how to get that book to your library and it doesn't entail buying and donating it. You can request it from your county library system.

I've often used this idea when I am buying an item from a store and they are out of stock but can have it shipped in from another location. It's wonderful to know that this can be done with libraries as well.