The OMG-I-won-something edition

OMG! OMG! OMG! It’s happened!

Wins!

As the title of this blog puts it so eloquently, OMG I won something! I’m stunned and completely buzzing that my short story was chosen as the winning one for the New2theScene Members summer competition earlier this week. As Richard, the stellar guy – and I’m not just saying that because I won – who runs New2theScene said, it’s…

a darkly comic tale of frustration, identity and transformation, where one woman’s carefully controlled world begins to crack – and something unexpected emerges.

So come on over and read it here! And, whilst you’re at it, give New2theScene a like / follow on Instagram – they’re superb at promoting emerging writers, and there are some excellent pieces on their site that you might just enjoy too.

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Another win is that I’m now over a quarter of the way through writing novel #3 and I’ve come up with a final twist to tie two characters together… I had my second coaching call with the brilliant Kate Davies at The Novelry this morning and that’s also given me a massive confidence boost that the idea of this book is solid, so now I just need to get on and write the rest of it, suspenseful twists and all! Oh, and here’s to writing in yet another genre…

Rejections

This week I received my first ‘revise and resubmit’ on a non-fiction piece I’d pitched to a literary journal. Clearly this isn’t an out and out rejection, but something in me still felt it as such for the first few days… Then I got a grip, read the feedback, replotted it, and yeah… I can see that the editor had a point. The structural changes she suggested are certainly going to improve it, so now I just need to get out of my own way and write the thing.

And of course I’m now worried that my second attempt will be rejected with no resubmit option, but that’s a me problem for a future blog.

Learnings

There’s been a lot in the news recently about AI in publishing, much of which is provoking and worrying. Not only is the vulnerability of authors in the face of AI accusations so apparent, but it’s clear no one in the publishing industry can define how or when AI usage is acceptable (or, crucially, not). And, at the same time, AI usage is becoming commonplace and sometimes actively encouraged in publishing’s own workplaces. It seems bonkers that the only way authors can protect themselves is to simply have evidence of their own writing i.e. handwritten notes, voice memos, and all the previous versions of a book in a gazillion Word documents. Rather than, you know, policies.

For what it’s worth, I don’t think a writer should ever use generative AI in their work.

If you can’t have an original thought and express it in your own words then… go do some other job.

On a more positive note, if you fancy a laugh about how unlaughable the whole AI debate is, check out this article that poses all the tough questions in the style of a noughties teen magazine quiz.

Readings

Just finished: Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. This was so much more readable than I’d expected. Some of the prose does get a little involved later in the story, but that matches the state of mind of Esther, the main character, so it does feel logical. I can sort of see why this book was only picked up posthumously – it’s very much about existential angst and, whilst there are some more specific triggers early in the story, I didn’t find the lead up to Esther’s suicidal ideation all that believable. Which, sadly, means the whole set up to the story really does take on a different significance after Plath’s own suicide.

Currently reading: Kate Davies’ In at the Deep End. Complete vibe shift with this one – let’s see how it goes!

Musings

This week, I’ve found having multiple side projects whilst writing novel #3 extremely helpful, even though it seems to go against the standard wisdom. Dipping into a piece with another purpose / tone / genre / voice is refreshing and motivational when in the depths of a novel, and the compulsory day trips to unexpected places and compulsory fairy cake-baking and -eating that comes with having a three-year-old don’t hurt either.

Till next time,

Vicky