Alice Buell Lawrence

Sorry to be gone for a bit. I’ve had my head down and been plowing through some work. Here’s what I’ve been up to:

I did not, in fact, win the Freewrite 500. To be very clear, I did not expect to place in that contest: flash fiction is not something I’ve really practiced, and to just show up and sparkle would really be amazing. I think I put in an honest effort, and I’ll post my entry later today so you can read it if you like. I’m not going to pursue its publication anywhere else.

I also received a very nice rejection, which fills me with such conflicting emotions. While I get plenty of rejections—I’m a writer, after all—this one had a note appended to it letting me know that they liked the piece and that it made it to the final read. Thanks! Short of being published, I’ll take that. I have another piece that is going on to final read with another publication, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I’m entering another competition this week, too.

The piece I’ve been working on editing the past several weeks has me so far outside of my comfort zone. It’s the one I’m going to submit for the competition, and it’s very plot- and action-heavy, something I don’t normally do. My writing is much more shoegaze, but this one is like a film plot delivered in 2500 words. That has thrown off my drafting a bit, but I’m getting back into the swing of it there.

I’ve made some new friends who are reading work for me, which is incredibly kind of them. They’re all notably different readers, so the spectrum of perspectives is so helpful. And they are all really good people. I’m grateful.

I have been coming into work notably early the last couple of weeks, trying to buy myself some time to write. I managed to write an entire story yesterday morning, and this morning I worked on drafting a piece that’s proving difficult to produce. It’s getting there, but it needs a lot more in drafting, and editing will be extensive. That’s okay. It’s what I do.

I have started to edit my novel as well. I have most of a short story collection assembled, and I want the novel to be much closer to ready to go, too. You know, in case this submission process starts yielding results. I feel like I’m closer, like my writing is where it needs to be. We’ll see, I guess.

Thanks for reading. Me or anyone.