Some may wonder how my writing is going, since I’ve been working part time for the past few months in an attempt to create some space for this creative endeavor. In a nutshell, I’d say it’s going ok, but not quite as I had expected.

To illustrate, here’s a snippet of my “writing life” from a couple weeks ago. All this happened in one day, not a bit of it involved actual writing, but it all (even the stalls and the rejections) felt like an odd sort of progress.

  • Received by email the revised manuscript of a short story due to appear in a forthcoming anthology. Very exciting!
  • Followed up on a wedding-themed submission to a local magazine and was told they’d get to it “next week” but were still possibly interested. (As a follow-up, I heard from them again a few days ago. They liked the piece and are definitely interested – as long as they do a wedding issue in June. Yippee! Even with the caveat, huge confidence booster.)
  • Followed up on a submission to a travel anthology and was told by Out of Office message that the editor had left the company. Contacted him directly (he’s a personable guy who I’ve met) and found he has to shop around for a new publisher but would be happy to hold onto my essay in the meantime. Hmmmm.
  • Got word that a second personal essay was rejected by an online magazine. Have a feeling it just wasn’t a good match.

In December I had an incredible burst of creative productivity, due partially to feeling healthy again but mostly to some very real deadlines: I wrote over 20 (first draft) pages of my novel and worked on character development with the support of a workshop, and I completed an essay around the theme “the trip that changed my life.”

These days I continue to refine my characters and write short sketches for my novel, while also trying to put my completed work out there as much as possible. I think I’ve been in the corporate world too long. It’s all a much slower process than I ever expected! The good news is that, ironically, this alleviates some of the pressure and allows me to let my creativity work at its own pace. Ok who am I kidding… a deadline is always the most successful motivator!

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