Friday, January 29, 2016

Sending Out Stories

I started submitting short stories to online contests and magazines on January first. Not really a New Year's resolution; that was more of a coincidence.

This was a big step for me because, with the exception of very few people, no one but myself has read my work since I was maybe thirteen. I know "being a writer" means different things to different people, but for me, part of it means being able to say that my work appears somewhere in the world - print, online, podcast - that I didn't put it. That someone else said I was good enough.

I currently have 14 stories trying to make it in that big, scary world beyond my monitor. I've received three rejections, all of which I'm saving in a special folder titled "Most Cherished Rejections". Because they are. They're proof that I'm doing something, that I'm trying and that people are actually reading the words I've written. And that's the only way to get published - to put yourself out there no matter how much that scares you.

And it scares me. A lot, sometimes.

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