Group Lanuch and More Rejection News

Serif's first meeting was Monday night. It went pretty well and much quicker than I anticipated. However, no one really had any questions so it was mostly just me talking. I think most people were excited about it, besides the one person who did not seem to be taking a valid interest. But perhaps he/she already submits enough on their own and thought this was a different type of group. Well wishes to them and I hope to expand the group's vision eventually but starting out I think its important to be narrowly focused. Baby steps. We have our next meetings set and I gave everyone homework. It is really something everyone should be doing anyways, I asked that they bring in a literary journal to the next meeting. I wanted everyone to suggest different magazines to submit to and use it as a launching pad to great discussions and decisions about what their focus is going to be this semester. The turnout was very good too. I think it was about 12 people give or take those who could not make it or stay the entire time. I am feeling pretty good so far and excited to get to work!

Now the second part of my header today. Today at work I got my self-addressed envelope back for my poetry submission. I did not even feel like opening it. But I did! Just in case my assumption was wrong and it was a great welcome to the published world packet. Though I had high hopes I pouted for a half a second and then became excited to turn the poem around to another magazine. What magazine you ask? TBD. Perhaps I'll use my group to get the poems back out there. More to come later.

Lastly, a brief morsel about my first class this semester. The program has now hired two new fiction professors, finally! Not that I do not value the fiction professor I have taken for my last two fiction classes, but I am ready for a new perspective. And may I say I am tickled about their selection. (Well one half of the selection - to be fair I've only met one of them) Professor Levin is a quality addition to the program. He is serious, tough, and has high expectations. This is not to say he is not delightful either. He began class by matching our names with our faces he Internet stalked (self admitted). He also set some very good ground rules to our semester workshop I believe these rules will make this workshop one of the best I have taken at RU so far. First, everyone must read every piece twice one for enjoyment and one for line editing. Second, everyone must have something to say in workshop and not just "I raised my hand and spoke, now I can pretend not to listen." But he insists what we say is composed of quality, thoughtfulness, and aimed at bettering the overall piece. These all may seem very natural and expected requirements of any workshop taken, but is often not expressed out loud. It is rather left to be assumed by all involved. Needless to say, I am looking forward to the class. I am not however, excited that I have to submit the first week. Between working overtime for the past three weeks, moving, and barely sleeping, producing a quality story in one weeks time is stressful. I gave myself a 500 word count goal each day, starting yesterday, to get it finished in time. Day one - success! Day two - I am distracting myself from getting started. But I must make it!

New Endeavor

Big news. Well maybe not big but feels big. I have an active mind that keeps me wake late into the night all too often. I have started a new student-run organization called Serif. (Thank you sis for the name) It is a group focused on submitting original works frequently. Or rather, helping students to dive in and sink into the writing lifestyle. People go to grad school for all types of reasons. I went to grad school because I knew I needed structure, deadlines, and consequences to help me reach my goals of what I wanted out of life. I wanted to be a writer. But I lacked the discipline to make the time to consistently sit down and write. Grad school also gave me inspiration and information on how to and when to submit. Yet, all the presentations in the world did not help me revise with publishing purpose or get my manuscripts in the mail any faster.
So after I slapped myself on the hands for the last time, I made a plan. I wanted to create a forum where we as students can hold each other accountable for making it as writers. When one of us succeeds its good news for all of us! Plus, if more of the students in the program start submitting the chances of publication increases and so does the credibility of the program. My goals here are far reaching for everyone. Because if nothing at all comes of this the students in the program have another outlet for community building. The initial response of interest is slow coming. However, kingdoms weren't built in one day. I am happy to have some very good people in place to help me and the support of my family and friends in my endeavor. I will know if I truly succeeded in a couple years if this program is still in operation long after I have gone and if more like it have sprung up. The first meeting is Monday, January 25th at 5pm. I will be back with updates!

Round two

I've recently submitted again. Which is very exciting for me because I switched genres this time. I chose to submit four different poems I originally wrote a year ago. That kind of time in between revisions truly lets a writer get down to busy fast. All the initial attachments to the work is gone and I can see the lines, words, and images as a first time reader might. This also enables me to have a fast turn around. This might be the way I work best - fast turn arounds. All that pressure to meet the deadline narrows down and makes me expect serious results from myself. There is no "I'll get to that part tomorrow," or "I'll come back to that when I think about it more." This submission is different from the previous because it is requested to be done through ground mail. Thus, requiring a cover letter. I am not a fan of cover letters. True I am a writer and should be able to handle this without much distress, but the truth is quite contrary. It's almost as nerve wrecking as revising my work. A poor cover letter practically ruins your chances before the editor reads your work. I just keep mine very simple and to the point. One paragraph and I am done. Hopefully, that encourages the editor to jump straight to my work.

I am pretty optimistic about anything in life and so it is natural for me to feel pretty good about this submission. I am not positive about the response time, but hopefully I will be so involved in finishing my thesis I forget all about it until the good news circles back around. Cross your fingers for me.

"Did I work Today?"

Today is a rough day. It is one of those days I am reminded that I am not anywhere near where I thought I would be in life. This of course is a good and bad thing. Bad because I feel deflated and like I am running in place. Good because the playing field is still wide open and has many paths to choose from. But I still feel a little down. Then I found an old handout from one of my workshop professors Joshua Henkin entitled "Letter to a Young Writer." The letter is mostly comprised of his Ten Commandments to young writers but also gives honest advice and perspective. It reminds me to remember that any serious attempt to live and work as a writer is a very tough and beautiful thing. That the only question worth asking each day is "did I work today?" This is important because there are many days that I can't answer that question in the affirmative. That is my only failure. Where I am in life compared to where I thought I'd be will very rarely match up. However, if I can work everyday at where I want to be then I am successful. I am successful because by making time everyday my end goals can only be closer to being reached. Thank you J. Henkin. And yes, today I put in work.

First Submission and First Rejection

I submitted a fiction piece for the first time ever at the end of October. I knew there was still work I wanted to do on the piece, but then I remembered a quote from a past workshop, "When does revision ever truly end?" So, knowing the faults in the piece I chose to submit it anyways. Of course I dreamed of the slight possibility an editor would accept my story, flaws and all. But I wasn't surprised either when I received the rejection email. The submission was for a contest by Narrative magazine. It was easy and took very little time to complete. The perfect combination for this virgin submitter. Now, with my first rejection out of the way I feel eager to welcome more. Let me explore that last statement more. I am eager to begin submitting more and paying the necessary dues of receiving "a certain amount of rejection" until that first ACCEPTANCE letter. I've already reworked the piece I submitted and feel very positive about its next submission.

Computer vs Notebook

Many writers, especially the new or young, try to devise plans of action to ensure they are constantly writing. This is important particularly for the writers that have many competing activities for their time (and honestly who does not fall into this category). In the world of wireless connections and the all-in-one computer (the cellphone), writers have many choices to pick from when trying to get their work down. I argue the biggest debate of this process is what is more productive, using the computer or writing it all out by hand? I am torn on the subject. I love the computer for its easy edits, clear legibility, and ease of structural changes. Yet, the computer can be just as distracting as my own life. The Internet is always trying to seduce me to a new Google search, my cluttered desktop begs to be cleaned, and perusing through a photo slide show is always a tempting trip.
So then I scream, just give me my paper and pen and I will produce pages! This too has its perks and downfalls. The blank (or lined) page is a refreshing return to the basics. The tools are more portable than computer cases and power cords. And there are fewer distractions within the tools themselves. It is the outside distractions that seem to take over. I also find it hard sometimes when returning to write, not to reread and edit what I wrote before. Most distressing is the ease with which the creative pages once created can be lost forever. The notepad has not evolved a "save" button just yet.
Therefore, what is the better medium for writing? The obvious answer is it changes with each individual. Everyone has their own "in-the-zone" environment, but it's important to be open to others' suggestions. As we change as writer's so does our own tastes and productive capabilities.
Personally, I work best with a pen and legal pad. I often prefer to write small segments of my work over a longer period of time. I need the chance to get the piece out in as many ways as possible to find what it truly wants to be. For example, I worked on a short story all summer never writing more than three pages, but I wrote them in over ten different points of views, tenses, and structures. I believe I needed to do this in order to narrow down my own style of writing. Too explore the different techniques available to me as a writer and which ones work best for me. The goal being the more I write the easier it will be for me to discover my own voice. And as of today it is the pen and pad that helps me on that journey.

Balance

Shame on me. It has been over a month since my last update. The true nemesis of the writer is every writer's day job. I admit for the past month I have been a slave to mine and only found reward in the paycheck received at the end of each week. The real life reminder of what I am working towards one day with my writing - money! But of course there are tons of mental, mind stimulating satisfactions to feed my gratification appetite until that day arrives. However, what is the best way to combat a rising up in the day job duties? The setting aside of time is the most common and obvious answer. Yet, that does not always prevail when the day job is taking up more than its set aside time physically and mentally. Hence the silence. It reflects very ill on my dedication to live the writer's lifestlye. I can only be glad the busy season at work last at most one month and not months. Now I must gather all my unfinished threads and begin again down the path of a successful writer. With some of my motivation lost I spent the day reading the last book of my summer reading list, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera. Though not as promising as I originally expected I am enjoying it as a different take on the concept to laugh and forget. Look for a review soon on my main page www.brittanyturski.com. Having actually reached the end of my summer reading list I hope I am reinspired to aggressively chase after the other goals I began about a month ago. I will do better to keep you updated on that progress and check my day job back into balance.