Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Miscellaneous Loveliness

What's playing in my head: Poe's Walk the Walk

Ahhh, it's a gorgeous Wednesday here. The sun is shining...I can hear the soft cry of morning gulls just above the lapping waves. I can taste the salt in the air. No...wait...oops, that's all in my head, too. Where am I? Sigh. Back to reality.

So, I received another lovely rejection (see how easy it is to put a positive spin on rejection. Just add adjective and wala!) for a completely different short story. This one is from the Kenyon Review. Here it is: [Personal note: the execution is elegant & sophisticated, but both the set-up and the resolution seem quite tired to us. Sorry we can't keep this one. Best, KG]

I'm getting really good at learning from these things, I think. From this one I interpret that my strength is the actual prose and my weakness is coming up with an original story. Which, by the way, I already know. I blame the whole coloring in the lines thing as a child. Not sure how to fix this. I really think it's just life experience. I'll have to get some more of that.

Meanwhile, I have my first author interview posted here. Warning, I was feeling silly that day...I'm sensing a trend.

I was invited by the lovely (my word of the day) Heidi Ruby Miller. If you're a writer and would like to participate in her Pick Six, then just contact her. She doesn't bite.

6 comments:

B.E. Sanderson said...

Hey, look on the bright side, Kenyon Review at least sent you a personalized rejection. To me, that means you're close. The best I've gotten is their form blow-off. I did get one lit journal to tell me my work was 'well-received' but I think that was a blow-off, too.

Shannon said...

he he. "Well-received" actually sounds like a personalized no, at least. I keep thinking about what Stephen King said (On Writing) that he would hang all his rejections on his wall and eventually he started getting rejections with feedback, which is a huge thing. I'm hanging onto this. I refuse to decorate my wall with rejections, though. I think my family and friends would think I was being masochistic. Which, come to think of it, I guess writers who are actively trying to get published have to be a bit of anyway.

Christa M. Miller said...

Hi there. I'm new to your blog. I have heard that there is no such thing as an original story - only its execution. What your characters choose to do, etc. FWIW! I am definitely envious of that personal rejection. This might sound weird to say, but congratulations!

Shannon said...

Hi, Christa...ah, a fellow writer doing double duty as mom :-) (waving from the trenches)

I really think it's about just not giving up. You only fail when you stop trying and all that.

Shawn said...

I think it's great that you keep on trying. It's hard to find originality in plot since everything possible has been done ... but you'll find the right home for it.

Shannon said...

Hi, Shawn- it does feel like that sometimes, that there are no original stories left to tell. I refuse to beleive it.

By the way, I've bookmarked your blog after noticing you also have one year old twins (mine are boys)Maybe I can learn something from your twin/writing juggling as well.
Thanks for stopping by!