My writing challenge is going well. Two weeks in and two short stories written. I'm worried that I may run out of ideas some time soon but I've decided that I need to complete the challenge more than I need to worry about the quality of what I write. Things can be tidied up later!
Now here's the question: do I publish my stories on my blog? I'm only recently feeling happier about sharing my work so part of me wants to take every opportunity to share what I've written. But here's the thing: if I do share here I can't submit the work elsewhere. Many publications and competitions won't consider anything that has been published on blog so by popping my story on here I take it out of circulation. It's something that I'm struggling with - to publish or not to publish.
As a fairly new writer (obviously not that new ;-) but new to considering myself a writer and sharing my work) I'm not sure how to decide whether a story is worth keeping for possible submission or whether it's ok to pop on the blog. I know there's no magic formula so I'm not looking for that but I'd like to know how other writers decide what to do with their work.
I've decided to keep the second of my short stories on the hard drive for the moment rather than share. It may have a life somewhere else and I don't want to lose that opportunity. But I'm also mindful that it may end up on the blog if I can't find an alternative home for it. So keep an eye out for it!
This is something that I've wondered about too in the past. Personally I think I shared too much during my uber creative period and now have very little to submit because it's all already out there! I think go with your gut and if you think something has legs hold it back. It is nice to share some stuff though and I found it really helpful in the early days when sharing things terrified me - if got me past the fear of people reading my work! I look forward to reading some of your stories on your blog and hopefully some in other publications in the future! Thanks for linking to #WhatImWriting xx
ReplyDeleteWhat Maddy said! I only share stuff if either that was what was always intended or if I can't find a place for it elsewhere.
DeleteI've come up against this myself, and have decided not to publish short stories on my blog because of it... best of luck with whatever you decide!
ReplyDeleteI think it's about not letting them sit on your hard drive, unread, forever. I don't tend to want to enter short stories for things, so it's an easier decision for me, but maybe give yourself a deadline - I'll keep it for 6m, or a year, and then if it hasn't been entered into something remember to share it!
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has self-published, I don't have this problem. I don't intend to send anything out for outside publication. I'm hoping to get some kind of short story schedule going which I will post on my site. If I ever get round to it ... *sighs*
ReplyDeleteMaybe the ideal solution would be to sit on the stories for a few months and if you haven't got round to sending them out (for whatever reason) then upload them to your blog :-)
#WhatImWriting
This hadn't even crossed my mind until a few people commented on my spoken word piece last week, wondering if I was avoiding writing it out in words (instead of recording it as a spoken word) but it makes sense to hold something back. You could always read them out onto a soundcloud or make a video of you reading them like I'm doing. Not for everyone but does get round the 'not previously published' issue. Good luck with what you decide. #whatimwriting
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