I used to tell a young friend interested in writing that there’s no right or wrong way to do it. While I write in some form every day—lately it has been non-fiction—I have been wondering if I go about my fiction the right way. I wonder this because I keep a spreadsheet. This spreadsheet contains information about every submission I’ve made: the date sent, to which magazine, word count, and response. I color-code everything so I can tell at a glance if a story’s still awaiting a publisher or not. While looking at this spreadsheet recently, I noticed that it had been two or three years since I’d tried to get any fiction published. Well, apart from my novel (which is also on the spreadsheet); I sent it to an agent who turned it down earlier this year. What I noticed about my submissions is that they tend to happen in June. I’m not a student and I’m no longer a teacher, so June has no special connection with free time. I do, ho...
Blog of a struggling writer.