Good Work Habits

About two rejection slips back, I decided that I would make a new simultaneous submission every time I got rejection, in addition to resubmitting the piece that came back. Therefore when I got one back this morning, I resubmitted the piece to another journal and will make an additional simultaneous submission as soon as I post this. It will bring my total up to ten pieces under consideration at fourteen publications. Since July 24th, I’ve made 24 submissions, including today’s. Makes me feel like putting in one more just so the tally will be 25. Something to celebrate over the weekend along with the changed political climate.

I’ve started getting my postal submissions returned too—my first one for the year is pinned on the wall nearby. (From Ninth Letter, durn it.)

Before I started this current program of submissions, I collected almost 100 rejections and published five pieces over a period of eight years.

Earlier this year, before I really got rolling, I was talking to a writer friend—a much more established writer, with a very enviable bio even though he still doesn’t enjoy a lot of name recognition. I mentioned Steve Almond’s complete publications list, since it was still up on his website at the time, and expressed amazement at the sheer number of pieces he had published in ten years. My friend looked at me as though I were crazy, and just said: “Well, if you keep finishing pieces and sending them out, then after a while…” and he changed the subject. Of course he was right, and it is self-evident and hardly worth discussion; my failure to publish up to then simply represented a failure to apply myself consistently to the problem.

I’m reading a book called Taking the Leap, a book about career development for visual artists. (It’s research material for my novel.) In the introduction she writes “I have seen artists do well with nothing more than meticulously applied work habits.” The three qualities she lists as critical for success are curiosity, comittment, and good work habits. This applies just as well to writers, obviously.

And while I’m on that subject: I’ve completed the first 3,000 words in the novel. It is now perfect and readable from the opening page through page six or so. This approach is slow going, but it’s worth it since I won’t have to touch those pages ever again—I’m genuinely content with them, and can’t find anything else to alter that would improve them.

posted: 06 November 9
under: Open Folio