Hello,
I have taken on board advice and entered my ghost story into 3 different competitions now. I can't stand the waiting around for results and the sinking feeling I get when I receive the results and realise I've neither won nor been shortlisted etc. I understand that writers have to put up with rejection but it really makes one want to give up altogether.
I've submitted my story to editors and I've always received great feedback, one of which gave me such hope and made me feel like I was actually good at writing.
I'm just wondering what more I can do with my short story. Do I keep entering competitions or is there anyway I could try and get published?
Any ideas... Thanks in advance.
Nothing you write is ever wasted, Catherine: it's all part of honing your craft. So long as you make sure every word counts, you're learning as you go.
Competitions are great for giving you a theme and a deadline; if you really want to win, you make sure it's the best work you can possibly produce.
The downside is that there can only be one winner. The odds against winning vary according to the number of entrants, but they are there every time. Not winning is hard: it's demoralising, and it can result in a total confidence crash.
However, the other thing to consider is that every competition is judged by an individual, and they judge by what they like, and what appeals to them. Just because that person on that day doesn't decide your story is the best of the lot doesn't mean it's bad or poorly written (unless it is): it means your story is not what they were looking for.
Try looking for magazines that publish your kind of work, Catherine. Get hold of a copy of Writing Magazine, which has pages of articles on mags, online or paper, that are looking for submissions. Do your homework. You'll have a better chance of breaking into print if you find somewhere that is willing to accept new work. Try Scribble, if your story meets their brief. http://www.parkpublications.co.uk/ - they run comps all year.
Above all, never give up. If writing is what you need to do - if it's a part of you - then write. You've had good feedback already: believe in yourself!
Lorraine
Edward,
Thank you for taking the time to reply. Your answer has helped and I appreciate any advice. Your so right about making your own luck. I do think that it seems some people are born lucky. Not sure I'm one of them. I will keep writing and hoping. Many thanks.
Catherine
We have all travelled this road. The real answer is to carry on writing more and more stories. When you have twenty of thirty in circulation you will start to pick up successes – it’s the law of numbers. The more you put out into the market place, the more chances you have of success.
To change the phrase; Rome was not built with one brick.
If your ghost story sells, or if it doesn’t, is not the point (though it would be nice if it did sell); what matters is that you have it, and if it isn’t a success you still have it. It may appear again (perhaps in slightly altered form) in that book you are going to write in ten years time.
I have made it a rule never to destroy any manuscripts – however small or large, for who can tell what the future holds?
Your ghost story may yet be a runaway success, but only after several of your novels have been published.
You will know the old saying; ‘Do not put all your eggs in one basket’. The same goes for pinning your hopes on one story. Spread your production as far and wide as possible.
I hesitate to wish you ‘Good Luck’, for there is another saying that is vital for writers, it is; ‘You make your own luck.’