Just a thought / on writing

To submit or not to submit..?

Chris Hall14 Comments

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Over the years I’ve had sporadic attempts at getting some of my short stories and flash fiction pieces published in various magazines and journals. Each time, after a series of rejections or silence, I give up for a while.

Rejection is a bit disappointing but it’s not the end of the world. Winning a prize, any kind of prize, would be lovely. A cash prize especially!

I’m still awaiting the outcome of a short story submission to a competition run by Mslexia, a UK magazine; whether or not it appeals to the judges remains to be seen. 

Either way, is it time to have another go? Well, yes, I think so. Coincidence is a wonderful thing and a couple of weeks ago I went to see a production of the longest-running ever play, Agatha Christie’s ‘The Mousetrap‘ which was playing at the Theatre on the Bay in Cape Town. It was really good and of course, I can’t tell you ‘who dunnit’, but it did get me thinking. Perhaps I could write a detective story.

And I was still thinking the following day that perhaps I should have a try.

The next day I received an email from Support Indie Authors with an invitation to participate in a Short Story Contest for a Murder Mystery. So I thought, why not?

This will be a totally new challenge as I will have to plan the story properly. No seat of the pants stuff. But I’ll see how it goes and let you know.

And, whilst we’re on the subject, this article from ‘A Writer’s Path’ happened to drop into my inbox last week. It’s in interesting little piece on submissions: How Fish Eggs are Like Fiction by Richard Risemberg

Time to have another bash…

How about you?

P.S. 31 January 2019. This arrived:

0 the irony

Hey ho…sigh!

 

 

14 thoughts on “To submit or not to submit..?”

  6. Go for it! I have enough rejections to fill a book lol. The whole process seems so RNG (random number generator). I stopped really caring if I get rejected or not. If something I wrote was rejected, I just post it on my blog for others to read – it still gets read either way lol. Paying market would be very nice though! Crossing my fingers for you 🙂

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  7. I think you should definitely try it! On the subject of rejections, when I was in elementary and junior high school my goal was to be an author. I wrote stories constantly and still have most of them in a box (in the sewing room😬). Then we went on a field trip to hear different children’s authors speak. It was called Author’s Day. I was so excited to go. But when the speakers told about how many rejection slips they got, I said to myself, “Rejection? Well forget that…” and I kind of gave up. Not on writing, just on being published. Who would have thought Authors Day would dissuade a would-be author. LOL that’s why I like blogging so much I guess😊

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    • What a shame about the Authors’ Day. You can obviously write, and write well (with a little help from your furry friends, of course LOL). I bet your stashed away stories a worth revisiting too!
      I think I’ve got over the rejection thing. In fact, after yesterday, I’m sure I’m over it. I don’t know if I tempted fate, but not just one, but two rejections arrived in my inbox. One I’d forgotten I’d entered! Blogging remains the best 😉

      PS – just popped back to say I’m still giggling from reading the stories about your lovely new red chair, especially what you found under the dresser and who the chair’s really for LOL!

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