After a month of work, the second draft of my short story went in for critique! It was a good feeling finally having the story at a point where I felt comfortable handing it off to a group. I knew it wasn’t perfect (not even close), but I got a few great suggestions from my fellow writers.
I wasn’t able to get as much feedback as I’d have liked because I hadn’t yet been added to the Facebook page. It turns out I should post the story about a week or so before we meet for a more in depth critique. But now I know for next time! I’m still grateful for the advice I got though, the story already flows better. I do think that I’m going to let the story sit for a week or two before I come back to it. After a while, I struggle to really see the story and what it needs.
Some exciting news, one lady who read my story at the meeting is part of the Utah Horror Writers, and she invited me to submit “Night Watch” once it’s been through a few more drafts! Turns out that the story fits perfectly with the theme of the anthology coming out next year. I have until this Halloween before submissions close. Although that’s four months away, I’m still panicking a little bit. I still have to trim off 770 words before I can send it in. No pressure! After the meeting, a teen girl who loves horror came up to me and told me how much she liked the story and the characters. I’ve never had someone come up to me and tell me that they like my writing before (other than a critique group), but I really appreciated it. It’s those little boosts that keep us writers writing.
As I’ve written, I’ve noticed that nothing goes quite as expected. I wasn’t expecting a way to publish “Monsters in the Woods” to appear (through NULC), and I wasn’t expecting to get an invitation to submit to an anthology I hadn’t heard about. Not to mention all the twists and turns the writing itself takes once the characters come alive. I only hope that pathways will continue to be cut before me as I try to find homes for my work.
Between all of LUW and other readers who read “Night Watch,” I feel that it was well received. Obviously it needs more work, but almost everyone told me that they felt compelled to read to the end. To me, that’s half the battle.
Of course, for all of my excitement, I can’t forget that “Night Watch” may still be rejected from the anthology. I try not to let this dishearten me and remind myself that there may be another home for Bakko and Kiri. My goal is to write one to two more drafts of this short story and have it submitted early, that way I can start submitting to other anthologies, magazines, and other publications if the anthology doesn’t take it. Updates to come!
As I let “Night Watch” sit for a bit, I’m getting back into Chasing Freedom (that’s the working title)! I’m so excited to get back to the settings and the characters! Believe it or not, I’ve missed them. Over the past month I’ve been taught a lot of ways to make the story even better than I had initially imagined. I will have to kill some of my darlings, but I know that it will be for the better.
In spite of all that I’ve learned and my excitement, I do feel some trepidation. I’ve been away from this story for so long, part of me is afraid that I won’t be able to get back into it, feel the same way about the characters, or be able to give the plot what it needs. I think I’m worried that I won’t have the same enthusiasm that I did before. However, I’m not going to let that stop me! I’m going to go in with fresh eyes and a plan! I’ll be writing updates on this project as well.
In any event, there is still lots to do this summer, other than get togethers and the like. Let’s see if I can keep a decent schedule and continue to be productive before the new school semesters starts.