Perhaps I need a swift kick in the rear?

[Meerkat]

So, when I quit my office job six months ago, I set to editing and revising my "good" stories. I had finally collected what I considered ten publishable short stories.

Then I set to looking up markets for these stories. I found markets for all of them.

Then I set to coming up with a pen name. I came up with one I love.

But have I submitted any of them? No. I have not. Once again I have a block.

I'm not sure if it's the cover letter aspect (oh, how I hate cover letters) or my fear that if I actually start submitting, I'll find out how bad I am. (I've been both rejected and accepted sporadically in the past, but nothing in a sustained streak.) Right now, I can imagine that I'm decent, but if I start getting rejections on a regular basis, I'm worried I will be demoralized.

Has anyone else experienced this fear?

 

[Jason Byrne]

So, when I quit my office job six months ago, I set to editing and revising my "good" stories. I had finally collected what I considered ten publishable short stories.

Then I set to looking up markets for these stories. I found markets for all of them.

Then I set to coming up with a pen name. I came up with one I love.

But have I submitted any of them? No. I have not. Once again I have a block.

I'm not sure if it's the cover letter aspect (oh, how I hate cover letters) or my fear that if I actually start submitting, I'll find out how bad I am. (I've been both rejected and accepted sporadically in the past, but nothing in a sustained streak.) Right now, I can imagine that I'm decent, but if I start getting rejections on a regular basis, I'm worried I will be demoralized.

Has anyone else experienced this fear?

I wouldn't call it a fear in my case, in the same way I don't call it writer's block. I finished my book, went on the the second, and started in on the third, and book 1 sat for four years unsubmitted. I read books on agents, publishers, and query letters, but never sent the letters out. My thought was — and this is the same one I have when the writing just doesn't come out — that "when it is time to do it, I will do it." I even finally had my query letter ready, and all my notes and records prepared, but it wasn't time yet. Then one day in March I started sending them out, and haven't stopped.

That dictated when I found and joined Litopia, which I can only conclude was at the correctly-appointed day and date.

No, it's not weakness delays you, and a gruesomely-positive attitude (and Litopia) will stay demoralization (for the most part). Also alcohol! Rejections don't mean you're a bad writer. They mean you haven't submitted the story to the right agent in the right iteration yet.

 

[Nicole Wilson]

I haven't had this specifically for writing, but I have encountered this in my regular boring life If you live in this "limbo land," people can't tell you it's not good. They can't tell you to go back to your day job.

BUT. If you stay there, they also can't tell you how great of a writer you are or how much your stories impacted them. You can't be accepted by those magazines/agents.

It's a hard place to be, worried about the outcome of something you cannot predict. Sometimes, that means you ought to stew on it for a little while. Other times, it means close your eyes and click the "send" button.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

I sense you know there is a decent job done here, but somewhere there is something yet to be done. There are still wheels turning in your mind. You haven't quite identified what it is yet, that is almost there but not quite, but you sense it, so you can't disengage and let go.

 

[Jason Byrne]

I sense you know there is a decent job done here, but somewhere there is something yet to be done. There are still wheels turning in your mind. You haven't quite identified what it is yet, that is almost there but not quite, but you sense it, so you can't disengage and let go.

Exactly — KTLN puts it quite well.

Every time I've set writing aside for a month and a half — or a year and a half — I've been overjoyed that I did so, because at the end of that hiatus I always have a spectacular idea, that would never have made it into the manuscript had I been chugging along consistently at so many words a day, and completely blown past my stop.

When it's time to do it, you'll do it. But when that times comes, don't hesitate.

Oh, and I didn't see the title of the thread until now, sorry. **Kicks Meerkat in the rear**

 

[Karen Gray]

So, when I quit my office job six months ago, I set to editing and revising my "good" stories. I had finally collected what I considered ten publishable short stories.

Then I set to looking up markets for these stories. I found markets for all of them.

Then I set to coming up with a pen name. I came up with one I love.

But have I submitted any of them? No. I have not. Once again I have a block.

I'm not sure if it's the cover letter aspect (oh, how I hate cover letters) or my fear that if I actually start submitting, I'll find out how bad I am. (I've been both rejected and accepted sporadically in the past, but nothing in a sustained streak.) Right now, I can imagine that I'm decent, but if I start getting rejections on a regular basis, I'm worried I will be demoralized.

Has anyone else experienced this fear?

It's not something I've ever experienced except in the split second before I pressed the "publish" button. Perhaps it's just that this industry is so big and your work means so much to you. Perhaps it's the fact that your job as an editor is to constantly question if it's really ready. Perhaps it's the negativity toward and from the industry in general that is subconsciously affecting you.

It's possible to over work a MS. Like a scone, too much work and it won't rise

Take a deep breath and let it out. Think about how many people have read it for/with you. How many of those are your target audience? How many are other writers? How many aren't your target audience but were hooked regardless?

If not many people have read and given you feedback, then that's possibly a next step. If you have plenty of feedback then I'd say take the plunge. If you don't you'll never know. We are all behind you and if you get rejected at times, it's no biggie, just keep trying You have to let it wash past you and stand immobile on the sand while the waves crash past, then hopefully the tide will turn and you will be able to wade out further while still not being out of your depth. Know what I mean?

We're all here to help and support each other, and for each other's help and support xxx

 

[Jason Byrne]

It's possible to over work a MS. Like a scone, too much work and it won't rise

Mm... Safeway blueberry scones... I should have brought some to work from home...

Coffee is not a lunch!

 

[Marc Joan]

In my opinion...

 

[Marc Joan]

...because, having seen your work, there is no doubt it is publishable. It is rejectable as well, of course, and you will get rejections, but that's almost irrelevant, because all work is rejectable in the sense that there is always somebody who won't like it. We don't need to reiterate all the anecdotes of famous novels that racked up ridiculous numbers of rejections before ebing published. So, in my opinion, you should just keep sending stuff out. Some stories might never find the right home. But some will (and then you'll then regret publishing them, because you'll think 'if I'd just changed that, it would have been better'). In the end, unless you are only writing for family and friends, you have to put it out there, and you have to accept that it won't always get accepted -- but that doesn't mean it's bad. Might just mean that the editors have different tastes to you -- and that's OK!

 

[Jason Byrne]

...because, having seen your work, there is no doubt it is publishable. It is rejectable as well, of course, and you will get rejections, but that's almost irrelevant, because all work is rejectable in the sense that there is always somebody who won't like it. We don't need to reiterate all the anecdotes of famous novels that racked up ridiculous numbers of rejections before ebing published. So, in my opinion, you should just keep sending stuff out. Some stories might never find the right home. But some will (and then you'll then regret publishing them, because you'll think 'if I'd just changed that, it would have been better'). In the end, unless you are only writing for family and friends, you have to put it out there, and you have to accept that it won't always get accepted -- but that doesn't mean it's bad. Might just mean that the editors have different tastes to you -- and that's OK!

The man knows what he's talking about.

 

[Alistair Roberts]

Had a busy day yesterday, so I'm slow catching up. But no, I haven't had that fear, and yet self confidence wasn't my strong suit, although it's better these days. They say you should face your fears, hence I'm still breathing! But I'd point out, if you don't start submitting, you'll never get what you want. Yes you are going to get rejections, probably hundreds of them, but that's a normal part of the process. The longer you delay, the longer your wait for success

 

[Marc Joan]

So, when I quit my office job six months ago, I set to editing and revising my "good" stories. I had finally collected what I considered ten publishable short stories.

Then I set to looking up markets for these stories. I found markets for all of them.

Then I set to coming up with a pen name. I came up with one I love.

But have I submitted any of them? No. I have not. Once again I have a block.

I'm not sure if it's the cover letter aspect (oh, how I hate cover letters) or my fear that if I actually start submitting, I'll find out how bad I am. (I've been both rejected and accepted sporadically in the past, but nothing in a sustained streak.) Right now, I can imagine that I'm decent, but if I start getting rejections on a regular basis, I'm worried I will be demoralized.

Has anyone else experienced this fear?

By the way, I don't think cover letters should be such a big deal. I have a standard cover letter: Dear Editor, Please find attached my short story [title]. For your interest, [a little bit about me], Yours faithfully. I use it for everything, with occasional updates. Lazy but efficient.

 

[Emurelda]

So, when I quit my office job six months ago, I set to editing and revising my "good" stories. I had finally collected what I considered ten publishable short stories.

Then I set to looking up markets for these stories. I found markets for all of them.

Then I set to coming up with a pen name. I came up with one I love.

But have I submitted any of them? No. I have not. Once again I have a block.

I'm not sure if it's the cover letter aspect (oh, how I hate cover letters) or my fear that if I actually start submitting, I'll find out how bad I am. (I've been both rejected and accepted sporadically in the past, but nothing in a sustained streak.) Right now, I can imagine that I'm decent, but if I start getting rejections on a regular basis, I'm worried I will be demoralized.

Has anyone else experienced this fear?

Yep - I was hesitant and wondered how I would take it. But have your read that book 'Feel the fear and do it anyway'?....basically just go for it.

My motto in life is to rather regret something I HAD done than something I hadn't. So just press that submit you never know.

 

[Jennifer Stone]

In my opinion...

Not too sure how this will help, but I'll give it a go. Where can I find a bishop this time on a Saturday?

 

[Marc Joan]

Not too sure how this will help, but I'll give it a go. Where can I find a bishop this time on a Saturday?

. Good old Father Ted.

 

[Meerkat]

Hmm . . . I think Katie-Ellen might be right, and also Karen. Every time I read one of my stories, I find something else to fix.

On the other hand, I honestly don't have many people look at my stuff. I have one friend who reads everything I write, but he isn't a writer, so he never has constructive criticism. I sometimes read my stories to my husband, but he is also not a writer (nor into literary fiction, which I write). So, honestly, maybe I really don't know if anything I write is good enough to publish, other than the few that members of this forum have looked at.

(Gulp) I guess I need beta readers. That alone is a terrifying thought.

 

[Alistair Roberts]

Nothing terrifying, just difficult to get a reasonable number.

 

[Karen Gray]

Well then Beta readers is your first port of call. It's not as scary as it seems. We are all here trying to get to the same place xxx