One of the best parts about writing is hearing what other people think of your work. Okay, let’s be honest – that can also be one of the worst! But if we assume that we are not always just writing for ourselves, but also to entertain, then hearing that someone has been entertained is always a wonderful feeling.
So, as I mentioned last week, I have been trying to complete work for different prompts – or at least match up existing work to appropriate competitions and submissions. A consequence of having completed work for submission is the wait for an answer: I am now trying not to obsessively check my email, spam box, and the originating websites to see if there have been updates. One example is an ezine which should be published by now – I never received confirmation that they even had my submission and have heard nothing about whether it was accepted. I should probably assume that they didn’t use my work, and just submit it elsewhere, but until I can read the current issue (now overdue) I won’t send it elsewhere – I don’t want to add the confusion of simultaneous submissions to my plate.
I have submitted several pieces of work in the last few weeks and most of the publications / organisers provide dates relating to when an answer might be expected (ranging from ‘the end of August’ to ‘3rd November’ and on to ‘When we have filled the anthology’); many of these dates are in the autumn and my biggest challenge now is the wait.
In addition to the continuous checking of email, I am also tempted to seek out new competitions and prompts and send them off just to get the ‘thank you for your submission’ message which its own small moment of gratification. I currently have a number of short stories and poems out there – how many submissions is too many and really, would sending more work out help with waiting for the answers for the others? Is it a measure of my experience – or lack thereof – that I feel I need this instant gratification, or does the need for immediate feedback never go away?
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