Comments for The Joy Of Writing http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog Sun, 05 Sep 2010 15:05:01 +0100 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Comment on Weekly Flash – and Storyspark competition by Susan http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog/?p=348&cpage=1#comment-204 Susan Sun, 05 Sep 2010 15:05:01 +0000 http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog/?p=348#comment-204 Thanks Bastian. I will try both :) Thanks Bastian. I will try both :)

]]> Comment on Weekly Flash – and Storyspark competition by Bastian http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog/?p=348&cpage=1#comment-202 Bastian Sun, 05 Sep 2010 07:24:39 +0000 http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog/?p=348#comment-202 The whole project is designed as experiment to ideate along the questions: "How can cross-media storytelling look like within the 21st century?" Both stories as well as ideas on how to tell these stories are subject of the competition. The whole project is designed as experiment to ideate along the questions: “How can cross-media storytelling look like within the 21st century?”

Both stories as well as ideas on how to tell these stories are subject of the competition.

]]> Comment on My Story “Identity” to be Published in “Creative Identity” Anthology by Susan http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog/?p=341&cpage=1#comment-201 Susan Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:12:26 +0000 http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog/?p=341#comment-201 afterword, foreword, tomayto, tomato :D yeah I just went with it and it worked - well I was laughing while writing it which passes the test for me even my opinion is subjective! afterword, foreword, tomayto, tomato :D

yeah I just went with it and it worked – well I was laughing while writing it which passes the test for me even my opinion is subjective!

]]> Comment on My Story “Identity” to be Published in “Creative Identity” Anthology by Steph http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog/?p=341&cpage=1#comment-198 Steph Thu, 26 Aug 2010 08:26:07 +0000 http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog/?p=341#comment-198 Two stories are dialogue-centric in the anthology but as you will see, when something works, there is no reason to can it because it doesn't conform to a set of (unwritten) rules. Nik is writing the AFTERword by the way, haha! Two stories are dialogue-centric in the anthology but as you will see, when something works, there is no reason to can it because it doesn’t conform to a set of (unwritten) rules. Nik is writing the AFTERword by the way, haha!

]]> Comment on A Few Announcements by Susan http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog/?p=332&cpage=1#comment-197 Susan Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:42:35 +0000 http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog/?p=332#comment-197 Hi Blanka and welcome to the blog, nice to see the Nature readers, I can tell they are lurking when I see phrases like "Academy of Plant Sciences" crop up on my statcounter! (pun intended). Hope this link helps answer your question: http://www.nature.com/nature/authors/gta/others.html#futures Hi Blanka and welcome to the blog, nice to see the Nature readers, I can tell they are lurking when I see phrases like “Academy of Plant Sciences” crop up on my statcounter! (pun intended). Hope this link helps answer your question:

http://www.nature.com/nature/authors/gta/others.html#futures

]]> Comment on A Few Announcements by Blanka Sengerova http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog/?p=332&cpage=1#comment-196 Blanka Sengerova Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:28:48 +0000 http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog/?p=332#comment-196 Dear Susan, congratulations on the short story in Nature - that is where I have come to your website from, and that section always makes an interesting change from reading the academic journal articles! I was interested on what the procedure was on submitting things for the Futures feature in Nature - their website it full of instructions for authors of academic papers but not for this section. Dear Susan, congratulations on the short story in Nature – that is where I have come to your website from, and that section always makes an interesting change from reading the academic journal articles! I was interested on what the procedure was on submitting things for the Futures feature in Nature – their website it full of instructions for authors of academic papers but not for this section.

]]> Comment on Rejection Should Be Courteous by Susan http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog/?p=329&cpage=1#comment-195 Susan Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:47:16 +0000 http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog/?p=329#comment-195 Hi Richard Re comment notifications, I'll have a scoot around the blog and check out how that can be set up. Wordpress is pretty rich in attributes so I imagine there is *something* that will do the job - if not I can set up a plugin. I'll let you know! (I am sure others would be interested now you mention it.) Laughed at your response to the agency guys :) I'm surprised an agency would shoot themselves in the foot by limiting themselves to the genre of fiction that tends to sell the least. I am sure many other decent agencies will be delighted to receive good quality work of any genre. Hi Richard

Re comment notifications, I’ll have a scoot around the blog and check out how that can be set up. WordPress is pretty rich in attributes so I imagine there is *something* that will do the job – if not I can set up a plugin. I’ll let you know! (I am sure others would be interested now you mention it.)

Laughed at your response to the agency guys :) I’m surprised an agency would shoot themselves in the foot by limiting themselves to the genre of fiction that tends to sell the least. I am sure many other decent agencies will be delighted to receive good quality work of any genre.

]]> Comment on Rejection Should Be Courteous by Richard http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog/?p=329&cpage=1#comment-194 Richard Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:51:29 +0000 http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog/?p=329#comment-194 You can't argue with an editor who's looking for light, though, if your fiction is dark. I sent in a dark piece to a place and made their shortlist, so this year I sent in a very, very, very dark piece and I'll see how it'll do. I also sent my novel off to one agent who came back saying "We're interested in more literary work". Now, that's just not even worthy of argument. There's nothing I can do with that, same as the "Stop wasting my time" argument. Although it's probably just a bit more reasonable. So I did send them a cakebox, in the end, containing an acorn buried in "a lump". I stuck one of those plant labels in the top, and it read "A Mighty Oak", with a note attached saying "Literary enough for you?" (I didn't really. I wanted to.) Your own crits of my work, if any one of them (which I'm reading back on now) had led to a rejection, I would've thought "Fair enough." Just to show how reasonable I am! Also, if you get back to me, is there any way I can see responses or notifications from my mail? Or do I have to come back to the blog? Rich You can’t argue with an editor who’s looking for light, though, if your fiction is dark. I sent in a dark piece to a place and made their shortlist, so this year I sent in a very, very, very dark piece and I’ll see how it’ll do.

I also sent my novel off to one agent who came back saying “We’re interested in more literary work”. Now, that’s just not even worthy of argument. There’s nothing I can do with that, same as the “Stop wasting my time” argument. Although it’s probably just a bit more reasonable.

So I did send them a cakebox, in the end, containing an acorn buried in “a lump”. I stuck one of those plant labels in the top, and it read “A Mighty Oak”, with a note attached saying “Literary enough for you?” (I didn’t really. I wanted to.)

Your own crits of my work, if any one of them (which I’m reading back on now) had led to a rejection, I would’ve thought “Fair enough.” Just to show how reasonable I am!

Also, if you get back to me, is there any way I can see responses or notifications from my mail? Or do I have to come back to the blog?

Rich

]]> Comment on Rejection Should Be Courteous by Susan http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog/?p=329&cpage=1#comment-193 Susan Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:27:12 +0000 http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog/?p=329#comment-193 PS. Eimear I forgot to welcome you to the blog. Hello and feel free to browse! PS. Eimear I forgot to welcome you to the blog. Hello and feel free to browse!

]]> Comment on Rejection Should Be Courteous by Susan http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog/?p=329&cpage=1#comment-192 Susan Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:26:28 +0000 http://www.joyofwriting.net/blog/?p=329#comment-192 Hmmm...you raise a good point there. Personally I'd be wary - because the editor is taking a risk by providing feedback and if he or she is forced into engagement by a response, they might be deterred from providing detailed feedback in future. I get the feeling that by being proved wrong they might not be more amenable to publishing you than before. But that's just my instinct. There have been times when I have not agreed with an editor's decision. One time I got a rejection after they'd debated over it for a while on the grounds that revenge fiction wasn't really their thing. I replied to thank them for their interest and feedback but also added that for me fiction was almost always a mechanism for engaging with the question of universal karma and its presence or absence, and therefore revenge was not merely an attribute for me but part of this universal karma. I did not question their decision but I did feel it was a good time for me to make my own feelings about fiction manifest! Hmmm…you raise a good point there. Personally I’d be wary – because the editor is taking a risk by providing feedback and if he or she is forced into engagement by a response, they might be deterred from providing detailed feedback in future. I get the feeling that by being proved wrong they might not be more amenable to publishing you than before. But that’s just my instinct.

There have been times when I have not agreed with an editor’s decision. One time I got a rejection after they’d debated over it for a while on the grounds that revenge fiction wasn’t really their thing. I replied to thank them for their interest and feedback but also added that for me fiction was almost always a mechanism for engaging with the question of universal karma and its presence or absence, and therefore revenge was not merely an attribute for me but part of this universal karma. I did not question their decision but I did feel it was a good time for me to make my own feelings about fiction manifest!

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