Yesterday I went to work as usual, checked the overnight sale, found there were just two, and decided to catch up with some writing admin that needed doing. On an ordinary evening I have seven hours to do this and haven’t managed to do it. Yesterday, with 30 minutes to spare, I managed to get it all done. There’s something about time and pressure that makes me a lot more industrious.
I go in about an hour before I’m due to start, in case you are wondering about me skiving – it’s the time I get to work after dropping Julia off. It’s not terribly convenient, but it’s hard to do anything useful in that time when you’re worrying about getting to work on time, or worrying about getting a parking space, so it’s easier to go to work. I give them a few hours a week extra, but I don’t feel guilty if |I need an hour here and there for medical reasons and vaccination.
The same applies to submissions. I can, on a slow month, spend weeks getting round to it and then, as this month, do three in two nights when the end of the submission window starts to loom.
I still have one set of submissions, possibly two, for the end of this month, but I’m nearly there with one set and have to decided if I’m going ahead with the other.
Half of me says I should have ago. The other half says that it’s a new editor and I don’t want to send in something that might not be 100% right. I’m in possession of three halves again, I must stop doing this. The third half has just cut in and pointed out to me that it’s never 100% right anyway and one of the editors I’m submitting to this month never takes anything anyway. We don’t seem to be fated to work together. It’s like thee is some cosmic mismatch. Or, to be more sensible, he has an idea of what a haibun should be, and I fail to match it. He has even told me, several times, why he has turned something down. I struggle to understand why he thinks I’m missing the mark. I read the magazine intently looking for a clue, and as far as I can see, many of the accepted submissions aren’t hitting the mark either. One day, with persistence and experience, I will get one in.
Anyway, time for work now. Eighteen minutes and I have written a blog post, something that took several hours last night, including playing games and staring at the ceiling. Time pressure is good for me.
Having said that, I just realised I wrote the post as a new page rather than a new post. Another senior moment…
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
<3
Time is something we are all good at filling, I think. Hence, during lockdown I have been highly unproductive.
Anyway, yes, persist with this editor. That is possibly what those published did to get anywhere.
🙂
Time pressure is the only pressure that works.
True! 🙂
I wish you luck with your next submissions. I suspect you leave most of your writing until evening when you are too tired. It takes me ages in the evening to read through all the posts of people I follow because I keep falling asleep!
That is corect – I really should break the cycle and try to write every morning.
🙂
I also admire your persistence. Sometimes things have to wait until an editor retires, takes another job, etc. Keep going!
I am planning on another few attempts, followed by a charm offensive and, id that fails, waiting for him to move on.
I admire your persistence. An important trait to have for any endeavor, but especially for writing.
🙂 Indeed it is.
Maybe you are a morning person. Is that editor by any chance a dead horse?
A morning person? Ha! The editor may well prove to be a dead horse but I will give him a few more tries yet. I sense he is warming to me… 🙂
If an editor is taking his precious time to give you suggestions, it’s because you are almost there. He’s putting time into you because he believes you can do it. 100% take those suggestions to heart. Submit to him your best stuff and keep at it!! This is wonderful news.
Yes, that is true. I am going to keep trying for a while longer.