I've recently managed to put the finishing touches to some pieces that been hanging around too long (the result of attending some inspiring workshops, I think). I've also written some 100-150 word micros (the result of a workshop that analysed micros - I can see more in them now). I've even written a poem in 2 days (only the 4th poem this year). So I've been sending things off. I feel calmer now that I have over 30 pieces out again. No simultaneous submissions - most magazines allow them nowadays, but they're an admin overhead for both me and the magazines, so I avoid them if possible.
I tend to stick to magazines I've sent to before. I don't send to magazines until they've already published 2 or 3 issues, and I read the author bios as well as some content before deciding whether to submit.
I've had no poem accepted written after January 2024, and no prose accepted written after July 2024.True, I've often been editing/submitting older pieces, but all the same, it's a trend I need to keep my eyes on.
In 2025 I've written a piece a week on average, and I've had an acceptance a month. This has been at the cost of short-story writing - only 3 pieces are over 1,000 words long, and none are over 2,000. I aim to write at least 1 proper story by the end of the year. And I really should try to write a proper review.
My story collection "By All Means" (ISBN 978-0-9570984-9-7), published by Nine Arches Press, is on sale from 
My poetry pamphlet "Moving Parts" (ISBN 978-1-905939-59-6) is out now, on sale at the 
You and I have been at this game a while now. I gave up trying to work out how my writing worked or attempt to control it. It takes care of itself. I didn’t write a poem for three years once and pretty much thought I was done with writing for good and then I wrote two novels back-to-back. I mean where the hell did they come from? Same when I was stalled with my third novel, one day I got an idea for a short story and pretty much wrote one a day until I had enough for two collections and then that was me done and back to the novel. The poems come and go as they see fit but no one could’ve prepared me for what happened in my sixties. I think of last month as a bad month when I wrote more poems in that month than I used to write in a good year, in a very good year. And yet it could all dry up tomorrow. And I’m fully aware of that. If I wrote a piece a week for the rest of my life I’d be happy. Hell, I’d be happy with a piece a month. As for the publishing… It’s nice to get a few pieces accepted here and there—this year’s acceptances are just silly numbers—but I still don’t get that much of a kick out of it. I’ve never understood why editors pick the poems they do. I mean I know why they do but I still don’t get it.
ReplyDeleteSame game, but I don't recall us ever appearing in the same issue of a mag. It would be nice to have more control over my output, to have something (e.g. train journeys) that's guaranteed to get me writing, but it doesn't work like that. Holidays, births, and deaths take months to have an impact, if ever. I'd be useless on a creative writing course having to churn out something each week - "sorry, couldn't do a story but here's a sonnet. Is that ok?"
ReplyDeleteBut that's the thing, I'm just like you. With the exception of the poems for Heron's Tree I've never been able to sit down and make myself write anything. I mean I can but it's never any good. I've joked about me having a brain tumor to try and explain the ridiculous output of the last few years butI really I have no explanation and the subject matter is all over the shop too. Have a look at today's conversation poem on Facebook though. These have been a lot of fun to write. I call it a poem but it could easily work as a flash piece.
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