The writing " process " is never done

As I blog about this, its over midnight. Well, my husband and my dog are here with me, but I’m the only one awake. Okay, I’ll admit it, I don’t like to be awake on Sunday nights…especially because of Monday morning blues. I don’t.

But this is different than any other night, because of two main reasons:

1. I love talking to you this way and I missed you guys here last week.

2. I’m this close to finishing my revision. A few more story lines to add, a few left to tighten, some to tweak…and it will get there! Yay! I’ve been scrambling the last couple of weeks with a total revision throw down on my children’s story and the manuscript has gotten a heavy makeover so far.

On that note, here’s what I’m going to do this summer week:

**Chill out**

And btw, if you’re a poet, writer, blogger or even if you just love to scribble, here are some events to spice up the month of August for you.

Sounds like fun? Join me here:

1. August Postcard Poetry Fest

a. Where you need to be: Anywhere in the world
b. Link : http://www.poetrypostcards.blogspot.com/ or
http://www.concretewolf.com/august/

2. 3:15 experiment

a. Where you need to be: Anywhere in the world
b. Link : http://www.315experiment.com/

3. PNWA Conference

a. Where you need to be: Seattle
b. Link : http://pnwa.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=5

See you next!

-Suma.

Report on Ehsaas 2009 published in Narthaki

I have some exciting news to share with you.

Arpan is a performing arts organization in Seattle. On June 12th, the Arpanites put up a colorful show of Bharatanatyam ( A form of Indian Classical dance) called Ehsaas 2009 at the Town Hall in Seattle.

My report on Ehsaas 2009 by Arpan is published in Narthaki, an online journal focused on Indian Dance forms.

The report is titled “Ehsaas 2009: A realization through dance”

Here’s the link and happy reading!

http://narthaki.com/rindex.html

For more information about Arpan or Ehsaas or to support them, please visit: www.joycekpaul.com or http://www.joycekpaul.com/Ehsaas2009/index.htm

Dealing with rejections

How emotional the writing business can be. Like everyone else, we writers are sensitive to a review of our work of “art” no matter how valid the criticism is.

Rejection letters haven’t slaughtered me so far, but each one of them has provided some interesting possibilities and opinions.

Now, why am I talking about this to you?

Well, I've had a story come my way on the rejection front.I received my critique letter from the PNWA literary contest yesterday. It stung me and my first reaction to it was emotional and defensive.

An hour later, when I read the letter again, I realized that I loved my story to an utterly freaking high scale when it actually deserved revision and re-writes.

I’ve decided to file the letter and here onwards, keep a record of the rejections I’m going to receive. It’s “my pride file”.

It’s not impossible to develop a thick skin and emerge from it, in order to make it to the other side.

The good news is :

I’m not alone.

I’m on the right track.

I have a chance to improve my manuscript for future publication.

I have another story that I’m working on right now to keep me distracted.

I have a fabulous critique group.

I’ve moved one step forward on the publishing road.

I do see hope ahead.

For inspiration this week, here’s a video from Author Magazine with tips from published writers.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1h4rm57UIg

How about you? Did you have any kind of rejection experience lately? How did you handle it?