Research Time

Confession: I have the tendency to hide my failures and expose my successes. And then I have the nerve to wonder why people act like I succeed effortlessly. I can't have it both ways.

Reading:

• Master of the Cauldron, by David Drake
• 2008 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market, Lauren Mosko, Editor

Writing:

• "Ferian Fetlock Cures a Horse"

Revising:

• "Dolly Hobbles"

"Ferian Fetlock" is a comedy. Since the news yesterday of my grandmother's passing, I haven't been in what you might call the right frame of mind to do humorous writing, so after a nice long thoughtful blog yesterday, I'm going to regroup by doing some research today. I have purchased a bright shiny new copy of a book I should probably have just checked out from the library (if I didn't already have four items past due).

For someone who loves books as much as I do, I hate checking them out from libraries. The problem is that they make me give them back.

Today, I get the chance to put my metaphorical money where my metaphorical mouth is. I claimed on my previous post that I would accept comically low pay and copies in returns for publication. Well, my wish might be granted. This year's guide has a nice little section of small circulation publications that offer just that. Although not as well recognized or lucrative, they offer a better chance for new writers to get published, and build up that all important resume before aiming for the big leagues.

I have no problem with starting small, so that's what I'm going to work on today. I'm going to compile a list of magazines, along with their submission requirements (or where to get them). And as I get stories ready for submission, I'll pick the best and get it out to them.

You've got to understand that I think of this as work, as opposed to writing, which is fun. (Revision is about halfway in-between.) But it furthers the writing, and what better activity to engage in when my mind is not in a writing kind of place?

Before I start on that, though, a note on "Dolly Hobbles." It was written for that same 24 Hour Short Story Contest that I've mentioned several times in the past. It won honorable mention, a fact of which I was quite proud. But this is the first time that I've tried to revise one of those stories out of its churned-out-in-an-afternoon roots. The length of time that it takes to write a story means nothing outside of the context of the contest, and if it's a story worth salvaging, it deserves a long-term polish.

The trick is that the structure of the story was determined by a word count that also no longer applies. So this will be good practice at a different kind of revision--starting at the structural level and rewriting perhaps the entire story to fit that new structure. I get the feeling that when I finally make a serious attempt at a novel, that will be a skill that becomes very, very important.