It's Really Not the Hardest Part
So, the deadline for Machine of Death Volume 2 entries has come and gone (you sent yours in, right? Weren't you listening to me? Why don't you listen?) and now comes the waiting. That's the theory, at least, but in reality sitting around hoping I beat out approximately 1500 other entries is exactly the opposite of what I should be doing. Whether or not I make the cut this time doesn't matter - no, wait, that's wrong, it totally matters - but as far as making sure I keep writing on a regular schedule and keep producing, the results are inconsequential right now.
I've had limited success as a author, so my words should be taken with enough salt to de-ice your driveway in January, but being a writer is like being a shark - you have to keep moving forward, keeping chasing your goal, and be able to forget about failures or you're going to drown. Being published in MoD didn't keep me from immediately getting a rejection slip on the next thing I sent out, but that's okay. That's the way this fiction thing works for those of us who aren't Gaiman, Rothfuss, etc. Again, that's fine. It's okay to fail as a writer. Over and over and over. It's not like you're playing baseball, where you'll forever be stuck with a terrible batting average. It's based on success. People who requested that I sign their books didn't ask me how many times I'd been rejected before finally getting through (okay, one guy sort of did, but he was an odd duck). Submit to the right places and even if you don't get accepted, your rejection can even come back with helpful comments or encouragement (a caveat: perhaps the most crushing rejection slip I ever got started with a single word, underlined: Almost. Ugh). Pay attention to what they say, because if they cared enough to comment on your work, it appealed to them in some way. When i was thirteen I sent a story to a small magazine that was exactly what you'd expect from a thirteen-year-old. The editor rejected it, of course, but sent the slip along with a handwritten page full of suggestions and comments on what he liked and didn't like. That was an extraordinarily cool thing to do, and I've never forgotten it.
So, if you did submit to MoD2, good for you. I hope our stories are right next to each other and that you get Aaron Diaz for the illustration and I get Brandon Bolt. In the meantime, don't sit around refreshing the site. Go play with that idea you've been toying with. Keep submitting. Keep honing your craft and having people help you (my first reader is invaluable and my writing, such as it is, wouldn't be half as good without her insight and critique). Keep writing.
I've had limited success as a author, so my words should be taken with enough salt to de-ice your driveway in January, but being a writer is like being a shark - you have to keep moving forward, keeping chasing your goal, and be able to forget about failures or you're going to drown. Being published in MoD didn't keep me from immediately getting a rejection slip on the next thing I sent out, but that's okay. That's the way this fiction thing works for those of us who aren't Gaiman, Rothfuss, etc. Again, that's fine. It's okay to fail as a writer. Over and over and over. It's not like you're playing baseball, where you'll forever be stuck with a terrible batting average. It's based on success. People who requested that I sign their books didn't ask me how many times I'd been rejected before finally getting through (okay, one guy sort of did, but he was an odd duck). Submit to the right places and even if you don't get accepted, your rejection can even come back with helpful comments or encouragement (a caveat: perhaps the most crushing rejection slip I ever got started with a single word, underlined: Almost. Ugh). Pay attention to what they say, because if they cared enough to comment on your work, it appealed to them in some way. When i was thirteen I sent a story to a small magazine that was exactly what you'd expect from a thirteen-year-old. The editor rejected it, of course, but sent the slip along with a handwritten page full of suggestions and comments on what he liked and didn't like. That was an extraordinarily cool thing to do, and I've never forgotten it.
So, if you did submit to MoD2, good for you. I hope our stories are right next to each other and that you get Aaron Diaz for the illustration and I get Brandon Bolt. In the meantime, don't sit around refreshing the site. Go play with that idea you've been toying with. Keep submitting. Keep honing your craft and having people help you (my first reader is invaluable and my writing, such as it is, wouldn't be half as good without her insight and critique). Keep writing.