A Writer’s Life
4/17/2018
Writer begins writing a short story while on vacation
He obviously needs to reacquaint himself with the meaning of the words ‘vacation’ and ‘relaxation.’
8/20/21
Writer begins a timeline for a novel
It’s a start.
9/12/21
Writer purchases Scrivener and Plottr software
He’s convinced there’s got to be a better way to keep your plot twists straight.
9/13/21
Writer begins building an outline for his novel in Plottr
So you’re telling me I can add visual reference to my character descriptions? Sweet!
7/7/22
Writer begins first draft of his novel in Scrivener
He gave it the working title ‘Tissue’
10/24/22
Writer rediscovers the story he started four years earlier
After deciding it doesn’t totally suck he finishes it and titles it ‘Pie.’
11/01/22
Writer submits his short story, ‘Pie’ to the New Yorker
… and is deafened by the sound of crickets.
1/10/23
Writer begins a short story titled, ‘The Museum of Bad Luck and Questionable Choices’
The novel gets pushed aside as short stories begin to take over.
2/5/23
Writer begins another short story. This one titled ‘Actuary of the Year’
2/23/23
Writer submits ‘Pie’ to AGNI, North American Review, and Story Magazine
Simultaneous submissions allow you to get more rejections faster.
2/24/23
Writer submits ‘The Museum of Bad Luck and Questionable Choices’ to Black Warrior Review, Carve Magazine, and The Sun
2/28/23
Writer begins another story
It was initially titled ‘Ghost Dog Running,’ then ‘Miracle at 28F,’ then the title was changed to ‘Runner,’ in its final version the story was named ‘Pink Tongue Flailing.’
3/5/23
Writer subscribes to Duotrope
Now he can tell which publications are temporarily closed and which are on indefinite hiatus.
3/19/23
North American Review rejects ‘Pie’
3/24/23
Writer submits ‘Pink Tongue Flailing’ to Granta, New England Review, and The Common
5/1/23
Carve Magazine rejects ‘The Museum of Bad Luck and Questionable Choices’
5/6/23
Writer submits ‘Actuary of the Year’ to The Masters Review, The Georgia Review, and Carve Magazine
5/12/23
Black Warrior Review rejects ‘The Museum of Bad Luck and Questionable Choices’
5/22/23
The Sun rejects ‘The Museum of Bad Luck and Questionable Choices’
Writer decides to shelve this story until it can be revised or re-written.
6/5/23
AGNI rejects ‘Pie’
6/12/23
Carve Magazine rejects ‘Actuary of the Year’
However, the rejection email is very encouraging.
6/15/23
New England Review rejects ‘Pink Tongue Flailing’
6/26/23
The Masters Review rejects ‘Actuary of the Year’
7/15/23
Story Magazine rejects ‘Pie’
7/29/23
Granta rejects ‘Pink Tongue Flailing’
9/26/23
Writer submits ‘Pie’ to Granta, New England Review, and The Sun
Let’s try this again, shall we.
9/26/23
Writer submits ‘Pink Tongue Flailing’ to Masters Review, Story Magazine, and AGNI
Round two.
10/11/23
The Common rejects ‘Pink Tongue Flailing’
10/25/23
The Sun rejects ‘Pie’
12/21/23
Granta rejects ‘Pie’
1/6/24
New England Review rejects ‘Pie’
1/8/24
Writer begins writing ‘Mermaid Hideaway’
1/10/24
Masters Review rejects ‘Pink Tongue Flailing’
1/25/24
Writer begins work on ‘Birding and Nothingness’
1/30/24
The Georgia Review rejects ‘Actuary of the Year’
2/26/24
Story Magazine rejects ‘Pink Tongue Flailing’
3/9/24
AGNI rejects ‘Pink Tongue Flailing’
…but they send an encouraging email.
3/9/24
Writer submits ‘Mermaid Hideaway’ to AGNI, Literally Stories, North American Review, and Story Magazine
3/17/24
Literally Stories rejects ‘Mermaid Hideaway’ but sends an encouraging email
3/18/24
Writer submits ‘Pink Tongue Flailing’ to Literally Stories
3/20/24
Literally Stories accepts ‘Pink Tongue Flailing’
Woot. Woot.
3/28/24
Writer starts revision of ‘Pie’
5/82/4
Writer submits ‘Pie’ to Bellevue Literary Review
5/31/24