Performing that Ritual
January 11, 2001
7:20 a.m.
I'm pleased to report that I received a contract for "The Vacation" yesterday from Future Wars," another Larry Segriff, Marty Greenberg anthology. I wrote the first draft of this story back in LA a year + ago, and though I've refined it for readability a bit, the story itself is pretty much untouched. You'll find my thoughts on it back then if you go to my archives for September 20, 1999. It's been receiving uniformly kind and pleasant rejections since--not many, given the turn-around time at most magazines these days. But I've been confident about this one since the day I wrote it. It's a good story. I did what I set out to do. I'm proud of it. And I knew that this one was just a matter of finding the right editor. So, the WotF workshop strikes again. When you include Amy Sterling Casil's "Mint" story at F&SF, at least two stories written during the 1999 workshop saw their way to print. Could even be more--I just haven't heard back from the others, yet. There were certainly at least two others that I thought were almost ready for editors. Given this, I've gone through all the rituals. Moved files, updated records, and marked off submissions. These things are important, I think. These things are my validation. They give me closure on the events of this story. As I moved the folder with my older drafts into the "sold" drawer, I remembered the two older ladies that served as the impetus of the story. I thought of their questions, of the way they bandied barbs back and forth. There was nothing sacred between them but their friendship. Somehow, this seems an appropriate thought at the "end" of a story. I tussle with my words while I'm yanking them out--I work with them, and hate them, and scuffle as need be. Sometimes I play dirty--sometimes they snooker me. But by the end, I know the story, and in some strange way, the story knows me. So this ritual lets me look more closely at those times, and realize that they--like all the other events that make up life--are what make the process worth accomplishing. It lets me give my respect to the tale that somehow makes me feel better about the work I'm doing today. It's kind of like sitting on a summer porch and swapping old tales with your family, you know? Somehow, it just makes everything seem just right.   Have a great day.  So, tell me about this novel thing Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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Even though so much of my writing time is stressful and disheartening, I carry a secret sense of accomplishment around with me, like a radium pack implanted near my heart that now leaches a quiet sense of relief through my system. Anne Lamott (on publication) |
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