This past week has been a busy one on the writing front. It started on Sunday, New Year’s Day. I had gotten up to put the chicken in the slow cooker and feed the cats then found myself with a little time all alone while my husband and the munchkin slept in. I could clean the bathroom? Or start vacuuming the downstairs? Nah.
I sat down on the couch with my lap top and the notes from my writer’s group about the essay I had been working on. It took me longer than I expected to edit but I got it submitted to the Yahoo! Contributor Network. It seemed an auspicious way to start a new year that I hoped to fill with writing.
I waited impatiently for word on whether it was accepted.
Our writer’s group met Wednesday evening at the library. (If you’re not a member of a writer’s group, I highly recommend it. I’ll post about that soon.) There were only three of us that night but we had an interesting discussion about online publishing and I went into my account to check on the essay. It had been declined. I wasn’t crushed, just slightly demoralized. A fellow writer explained that when that happens to him he re-submits for non-exclusive publication then starts submitting it to other sites. I decided to do the same with this essay and see how it works out.
When I got home that night I posted it as a non-exclusive story and was met with a suggestion to submit it to Reddit, Dig and StumbleUpon, if I felt it was some of my best work. Why not? I went in and created accounts with each of them but have only figured out how to submit it to Reddit so far. I’ll have to do a little more looking at the others.
A short story had been germinating in my brain all week and as I read Folly Beach by Dorothea Benton Frank the past few days, little snippets helped inspire my thinking. I expect it will take a little time but I think it will work and, if it does, it will be the first piece of fiction I’ve written since November and the first I’ve completed in it’s entirety for even longer. I finally started typing up the thoughts last night.
WordPress is offering to make this blog http://melorajohnson.com for a nominal fee. I think I’m going to take them up on the offer. I like the idea of having my own web site, after a fashion.
I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot this week and yet there is so much I want to do. The week isn’t quite over yet so we’ll see how far I get. It just feels nice to be able to find the time to write and promote my writing.
Melora Johnson's Muse 