Five Minute Rant

Hmm, just got a note from F&SF, the same wording as usual, and that was a better story with better writing than some of the others Scott has seen that I sent in lately but that is to be expected, he knows good writing when he sees or he wouldn't be working for Gordon.

Second-round rejection from Daily Science Fiction, which in itself wouldn't sting quite so much if it hadn't taken them 60 days to do it. At least this was the first market for this story. Plenty of other places to try.

Haven't felt the need for this thread and this isn't really a rant--well a tiny one.

Got a rejection from Stephen at F&SF. Wonder if he has been there the whole time I've been getting rejections from Scott or if he took time off to do something else?

His rejection was normal for him. I sent in a very short story and kinda hoped someone would say something like good story but way too short. But not even the too short part.

Well, my Q3 finalist got a lightning fast form reject from F&SF. I figured they wouldn't want it because its rather long (and would be expensive for them to buy) but really, that was a FAST rejection. Rant over. Back out it goes...

I actually prefer fast rejections. The best markets are Lightspeed and Clarkesworld for that very reason. They are far more considerate than the rejections in which a magazine holds your story for 5 months (and has the arrogance to demand that you submit it to no other markets) and then rejects it with no explanation or apology.

Rant done.

Well, my Q3 finalist got a lightning fast form reject from F&SF. I figured they wouldn't want it because its rather long (and would be expensive for them to buy) but really, that was a FAST rejection. Rant over. Back out it goes...

I actually prefer fast rejections. The best markets are Lightspeed and Clarkesworld for that very reason. They are far more considerate than the rejections in which a magazine holds your story for 5 months (and has the arrogance to demand that you submit it to no other markets) and then rejects it with no explanation or apology.

Rant done.

I agree!!!

Rant! Daily Science Fiction rejected my story today. And it took me so long to figure out how to get the formatting right too....

Ahhh well, already sent it some place else.

Rant! Daily Science Fiction rejected my story today. And it took me so long to figure out how to get the formatting right too....

Ahhh well, already sent it some place else.

Yeah, I know the feelings...of course they didn't know that but many times even when the reason for a delay is on their side they still don't admit to it. Usually--a couple markets have apologized for taking longer.

Almost forgot.

Scott P at F&SF does have more than one phrase for stories.

I received a new one today "the story did not captivate me" .

Not sure if that story got further than the previous ones or not as far, as it seems to be the case.

I had thought about ranting a tiny bit that BCS was taking so long.

They sent one today though. They might be right about one thing, the writing being a bit rough.

Came here to rant at myself.

I seem to have lost last week's rejection from F&SF.

I have to skip this week because the story isn't ready but I was thinking about a story I got ready last week--couldn't remember if I sent it out so thought I could send it tomorrow in the place of the one I'm working on. However all signs say I sent it after all. Can't find the rejection however.
So did I not put it where I usually do or did I not get it? I kinda of remember getting it--another self rant. Too many rejections from F&SF, I'm having problems keeping them separate in my mind.

Of course if I didn't receive it that doesn't mean anything except my memory.

Almost forgot.

Scott P at F&SF does have more than one phrase for stories.

I received a new one today "the story did not captivate me" .

Not sure if that story got further than the previous ones or not as far, as it seems to be the case.

I received this one too, and when I asked my more experienced writer friends, they said it was equivalent to the "didn't quite work for me" i.e. they read the whole thing.

Came here to rant at myself.

I seem to have lost last week's rejection from F&SF.

I have to skip this week because the story isn't ready but I was thinking about a story I got ready last week--couldn't remember if I sent it out so thought I could send it tomorrow in the place of the one I'm working on. However all signs say I sent it after all. Can't find the rejection however.
So did I not put it where I usually do or did I not get it? I kinda of remember getting it--another self rant. Too many rejections from F&SF, I'm having problems keeping them separate in my mind.

Of course if I didn't receive it that doesn't mean anything except my memory.

I realized I may not have received it yet, it depends on who looks it over. Scott P takes a few days longer than Stephen does. Or that what's her name did. Couldn't find a rejection from her to remember her name. But I can still rant about my memory

Almost forgot.

Scott P at F&SF does have more than one phrase for stories.

I received a new one today "the story did not captivate me" .

Not sure if that story got further than the previous ones or not as far, as it seems to be the case.

I received this one too, and when I asked my more experienced writer friends, they said it was equivalent to the "didn't quite work for me" i.e. they read the whole thing.

Thanks.

But Scott has been around long enough to for your more experienced friend to know how he works?

So got the response I thought I had already.

As it turns out I was right, I had received it already. It was just like last week's except for the title of the story. Scott didn't think much of either story, he left the space for a comment blank.

That leaves still Asimov's and Analog. Is Sheila waiting for Analog to send out rejects so they both will have the same response time?

And that leaves Daily SF. I'm pretty sure I changed the E-mail address for Daily but maybe it didn't take.

Another rant on myself.

Four out of four critiquers think the opening for my longer story is lousy. I thought I was doing it the same as the openings Dean liked during the workshop but I totally blew it somehow. But that's not unusual. I wouldn't be where I was with my writing if I didn't keep blowing it.

As of last night neither asimov's or analog had gotten to my story yet.

And I have no idea about Daily SF. I tried to find the confirmation E-mail but either I missed it or I deleted it already. That could mean they rejected my story and I just plain forgot. I went to their web site to check but couldn't find any where to check the status. Maybe they sent the rejection just before I changed my E-mail address there.
But that doesn't help me figure it out.

I marked it rejected and will send another soon.

I seem to be the only one with a rant these days, well a short rant-there could be longer ones not posted here.

Either way pardon another one form me.

Latest F&SF rejections. Thought this one was better then the last one I sent so I was half expecting another comment. But nothing Scott left that line blank again. So he must have though it was low quality. Lower than usual that is.

my rant is directed at my total lack of patience and my constant disappointment at not being Stephen King or Philip K. Dick. I sent off my first (very) short horror story a few months back and was convinced that I was going to win. I mean I was 100% sure this thing was genius and I was going to win top spot (fame and fortune soon to follow). So after some agonizing weeks of waiting for the results, I pop up the website only to discover that I didn't even make the top eight. I was devastated and took it very personally....Because of course the judges were totally out to get me. So to console myself I picked up the short story in question (I hadn't read in a few weeks) and looked it over again....and what do you know? it was crap after all! lots of ranting at myself soon followed. I'm guessing I'm going to have to get used to that.

But there is not a lot of point in entering unless you believe that you will either place or learn by the experience. It is not very likely that your story actually went from wondrous to woeful. You may well have discovered mistakes that you missed at first, but that is a good thing, isn't it? Put them right and try again.

The remarkable inability on the part of editors and judges to see the genius of our work when it is so obvious is part of the vicissitudes of trying to be a writer. So is seeing inferior work prosper. A period of starving in a garret is apparently a compulsory component of artistic success.

One of the most valuable experiences of all however, in my opinion, is learning from others who are trying to be better writers too. You know when you are getting better. My work has made great strides since I joined the forum. Now this doesn't mean I don't have a long way to go yet, but it does feel a lot better when I look back at my earlier stuff and know that I wouldn't make those same mistakes again.

Not only must you not allow yourself to be ground down by others, you must avoid grinding yourself down too!

I totally agree Ishmael. I think confidence in your work is important but I also need to stop being too hard on myself and just accept that rejection is just part and parcel of things ...and to grow from it. Just being on this forum and seeing the experiences of other writers has helped immensely, even in such a short time. Which was a really pleasant surprise.

The mistake I made with my first short story was it was all flowery wording with no original content or definitive structure. That's what made it bad (it really was but I'm ok with that now). And when I realized that it was almost a relief. It wasn't the end of the world after all. So the next short story I wrote concentrated on the things that one had been missing. I'm still not there yet... I know that... but with each story I will learn from my mistakes and get a little closer to something I really can be truly happy with...And hey its still fun!

I agree we do need confidence in our own writing, so we do send them out.

Of course there's something to be said for sending things out out of habit or just because that is what writers do.

Learning and working on our weaknesses is what we do too.

Ranting though is also what we do....

Can be good at times unless it's all we do.

[quote="Thomner_69"It wasn't the end of the world after all. So the next short story I wrote concentrated on the things that one had been missing. I'm still not there yet... I know that... but with each story I will learn from my mistakes and get a little closer to something I really can be truly happy with...And hey its still fun!

Sounds like you're well on the way to success, with this kind of attitude.

(On a gloomier note, I just got a form rejection from Clarkesworld on a piece I still think is solid. Bummer!)

Sounds like you're well on the way to success, with this kind of attitude.

(On a gloomier note, I just got a form rejection from Clarkesworld on a piece I still think is solid. Bummer!)

thank you!..and hey I'm sorry you got a form rejection. I'm so new to all this but I cant help thinking it really is a turkey shoot a lot of the time. The mood of that one person reading your story on that particular day; their history, likes, dislikes etc...talent is a big part of it (obviously), but so is luck. With that in mind, I'm sure your story has a home with someone else who can see how great it is. Lots and lots of luck!

Sounds like you're well on the way to success, with this kind of attitude.

(On a gloomier note, I just got a form rejection from Clarkesworld on a piece I still think is solid. Bummer!)

thank you!..and hey I'm sorry you got a form rejection. I'm so new to all this but I cant help thinking it really is a turkey shoot a lot of the time. The mood of that one person reading your story on that particular day; their history, likes, dislikes etc...talent is a big part of it (obviously), but so is luck. With that in mind, I'm sure your story has a home with someone else who can see how great it is. Lots and lots of luck!

It will surely have a pleasant and well-appreciated home... on my hard drive.

(Uh-oh, people are going to start getting on my case about self-deprecating in public here, if I'm not careful.)

It will surely have a pleasant and well-appreciated home... on my hard drive.

(Uh-oh, people are going to start getting on my case about self-deprecating in public here, if I'm not careful.)

oh yeah my hard drive is a long term rest home for the under appreciated

Sounds like you're well on the way to success, with this kind of attitude.

(On a gloomier note, I just got a form rejection from Clarkesworld on a piece I still think is solid. Bummer!)

thank you!..and hey I'm sorry you got a form rejection. I'm so new to all this but I cant help thinking it really is a turkey shoot a lot of the time. The mood of that one person reading your story on that particular day; their history, likes, dislikes etc...talent is a big part of it (obviously), but so is luck. With that in mind, I'm sure your story has a home with someone else who can see how great it is. Lots and lots of luck!

It will surely have a pleasant and well-appreciated home... on my hard drive.

(Uh-oh, people are going to start getting on my case about self-deprecating in public here, if I'm not careful.)

That was too low of a level of "self-deprecating in public".

However they ignore it when I do it so it can't be that bad.

Or than again maybe Mother just loves you more.

It will surely have a pleasant and well-appreciated home... on my hard drive.

Mine too, 130 some stories--make that 160 some--sitting in communal joyous celebration on my hard drive.

On a gloomier note, I just got a form rejection from Clarkesworld on a piece I still think is solid.

I got one too - "isn't quite what we're looking for right now" is very polite though!

15 day form rejection from F&SF.

RANT! RANT! RANT!

Off to Duotrope!

This is not a rant, but me being amused. My expected form-rejection for Tor.com (60 days, for those counting), has the following at the bottom:

Best,
Tor.com Submissions Staff

(BS)

Now, I'm ASSUMING those are initials of the person who sent the letter. But, all in all it looks like something else...