Writer, Tailor, Rejection Getter

Foreward

The title of this post came to me in a flash and immediately reminded me of "The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker..." from the Rub-a-dub-dub nursery rhyme. When searching for content related to the rhyme, I came across this video which I will share with you mostly because it will be your WTF of the day:

​Another reason to love the internet. 

Palate Cleanser

Okay, now for the matter at hand...

Tailoring to the Audience

Last summer, I submitted two short stories for the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. The publication has a rolling submission model in which their website posts topics for upcoming publications. The two topics that interested me were called "Dreams and Synchronicities" and "Teachers".

I challenged myself to write these stories because I needed to force myself to submit my writing to a formal publication, sort of like entering a 5K to make yourself start a running program. I read several examples of published stories to get a feel for the style they were looking for. I knew right away that I would have to tailor my innate writing style to fit the mold, but I saw this as a challenge. 

I struggled to write the story in the confessional style so prevalent in the Chicken Soup series and found myself sliding into the highly descriptive fiction I am used to. After several reads and edits, and several attempts to dial back the illustrative language, I submitted the story. I didn't hear anything within the 6 week time frame they suggested, so I assume that silence equals rejection. 

But that's okay. Of course I would have been happy if they had accepted the story, but I don't see it as a loss. Nothing that forces me to write is a loss. I learned that I don't enjoy changing my writing style because it takes a lot of work to write within someone else's parameters, something I don't have to do when writing my novels. 

I will continue to check the Chicken Soup website for submission topics and write stories for submission. Today, I share with you my submission for "Dreams and Synchronicities". The description of the topic was about exploring an actual dream that came true, or a dream that foreshadowed events in your life to come. In the spirit of the topic, I can attest that the story I wrote is 100% true.

You can read my short story,When the Crowd Parted,  here.

Next week, I will share my submission for "Teachers".