Writers' Bloc - Creative Writing Off Topic Thread

Also in progress here when I checked; I dunno how that app might work.

I'd like to think whoever designed Submittable wasn't so crass as to have a series of status badges where one of them being a big, red "Denied". I've heard judges can be quite Draconian though, often by necessity due to the sheer volume of work they have to read. It's possibly more manageable for Short Stories though, especially ones around 2,000 words.

I have stalled hard on the Moth competition; just not loving my idea enough to get the story kicked into gear; while 5,000 words feels quite daunting against something I don't particularly like.

km85264 wrote: »

It’s very difficult to produce stories to order for competitions. Some of my stories have taken over a year from first ideas to final draft. My New Irish Writing story was in its 4th year of development when published.
The better thing is to keep working, write every day, even if only a very little, but just keep it flowing. Once you have a good story, keep it moving to next competition or magazine submission when it fits the ask.

True, though this idea is kinda stalled in the crib so may try to find another idea and then come back to this one. Just can't find interesting people to fill the idea with. Happens a lot with me, have the place, concept or conceit down but struggle to populate it with characters worth a damn.

Insect Overlord wrote: »

I've been feeling very strange these last few days. It's not like Writer's Block, exactly, but something equally deep. I fear that the vast majority of my writing has been rendered utterly irrelevant by recent developments and current affairs.

All of my worries and heartbreak seem so insignificant in a post-Covid19 world, where people of colour in the USA are fighting for fair treatment that should have been normalised aeons ago, while the rest of the Western world realises that they're not so perfect either. I don't feel drawn to big political issues when I write, and I don't want to engage with them out of tokenism or hypocrisy, so instead I worry about being forgotten altogether.

Selfish, I know, but that's where we are now.

Sounds like primarily you need to step back from social media and exposure to current affairs. It can be overpowering and is shown to develop depression. All hobbies are ultimately trivial or ephemeral but that shouldn't stop you doing what you enjoy. Be it writing, painting, gaming, whatever

If writing brings you joy, relief, satisfaction, a channel for emotion or sense of accomplishment, then do it. It's even more important, when the world feels brittle, to hold onto your sense of happy. There shouldn't be amy compunction to match the zeitgeist and personally? It's hard not to read this outpouring of support as borderline histrionic. America's problems are 100s of years of systemic dysfunction and won't be cured by Instagram slacktivists posting black squares.

If you feel moved by the scenario though, the best response is to donate money to good charities or causes whose focus is combating prejudice. That's a quantifiable, worthwhile response to a real world problem. It'll give you a sense of actually helping. But don't stop your hobbies, they can coexist and are important to your own mental well-being

Getting off social media at the apex of CoVid helped cope though. Don't discount the pressure of our "always on" life styles. It's not healthy. Personally speaking it made a big difference and have only returned to outlets recently

Das Kitty wrote: »

I can't say where yet, but it's called Magnetic and it's full of riding. :pac:

I had 18 submissions in a row that came to nothing before this one. I haven't had anything published since June two years ago. Keep on plugging away, you just need the right person to read it.

This "new" story's first version on my laptop is dated March 2013. It's been driving me bananas for 7 years.

A short story right? "Full of riding" hehe; I have at least one immediate request for clarification ...

So do we have a timeline of when we might expect? Think we'd all like to know when to rush out any grab a copy 2013 though, wow. As you say, you gotta plug away at an idea, keep chipping away.

Congrats again!