IWSG: Lumps & All, Mni Wicon, Stats, Links

It's the first Wednesday of January, which means it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, created by Alex J. Cavanaugh.

The purpose of the IWSG is to talk about our doubts and insecurities, as well as to support each other. We post the first Wednesday of each month, and anyone is free to join. Go to the link above and enter your name on the linky, then jump in!

Our co-hosts this month are Eva @ Lillicasplace, Crystal Collier, Sheena-kay Graham,Chemist Ken, LG Keltner, and Heather Gardner! Be sure to drop by and say hi to them, and thank them for all their work.

This month's optional question is: What writing rule do you wish you'd never heard?

I can't list just one. My problem isn't with any one writing rule. However, when you attend workshops and conferences, read craft books and blogs, and otherwise study the craft of writing, it's easy to stagger under the inundation of rules. For me, I had to find a happy medium between learning to hone my craft and leaving myself free to write. Otherwise, I end up overthinking my writing, and I don't think that makes it stronger. Not for me. There are more introspective writers who gain something by over-analyzing their writing, perhaps, but I'm not one of them.

Writing is a creative pursuit. Like anything else, it has rules, but when creativity is the goal, I think it pays to break rules much of the time. Being a grammar nazi, there are rules I obviously think it pays to follow unless that inhibits the story, but the rules I'm talking about are those generalities that impact story lines and plots. I'm sure we'll see tons of those in posts today! For example, show, don't tell, can tie someone up mentally if they're focusing too much on that rule instead of their writing.

Having said this, I believe it still pays to learn from those who know more than we do, to attend workshops and the like, to continue honing our craft. It's just that I also believe it needs to be mitigated, and that we need to carefully riffle through the things we learn to pick out the gems, while discarding the aspects that won't help us, and being careful to use it as an aid, not as something that kills our creativity.

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Before I get to this month's stats, I'd like to announce that the Mni Wicon Blogathon I posted about here has been extended, courtesy of the holidays! A lot of people were out for the month, so we've added a week. It will now be ending on the 7th of January. Full details can be found on my previous post, but here's a picture of one of the prize packs that will be issued to a random winner.

If you'd like to see examples of letters to the banks, Nicole has posted at The Madlab Post.

We'd love to see some folks letting the banks that bankroll corporate greed get an earful.

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My stats for the month of December were as follows:

2 pieces published in magazines!
5 submissions
4 rejections
9 pieces currently on submission

I'll recap my stats for the year in a post next week.

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Now for some links!

Bear in mind that I'm not endorsing these, merely passing them along. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.

Accepting Submissions:

Three Drops From a Cauldron is open for poetry and flash fiction submissions for A Face in the Mirror, A Hook on the Door. Urban legends and modern folklore. Pays in a percentage of profit. Deadline January 30.

Chicken Soup for the Soul is open for submissions with the themes Demons, Premonitions, & the Unexplainable; Stories About Cats; Stories About Dogs. Up to 1200 words. Pays $200. Deadline January 31.

Pen and Kink Publishing is open for submissions of vampire romance for Triskaidekaphilia Book #2 - Ravenous. 1000 to 15,000 words. Pays $10. Deadline January 31.

Martian Migraine Press is open for submissions of short stories dealing with possession, whatever your definition of that might be. 1500 to 7000 words. Pays $.03CAD/word. Deadline January 31.

Nashville Review is open for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Up to 8000 words. Pays $25/poem, $100/short piece. Deadline January 31.

Recompose is open for flash fiction and poetry. They want you to walk the line between literary and speculative fiction. Up to 1000 words. Pays $.06/word. Deadline January 31.

Kristell Ink is open for submissions of short speculative fiction for several anthologies: Infinite Dysmorphia, Terra Nullis, and Holding On By Our Fingertips. 6000 to 10,000 words. Pays 10. Deadline for all January 31.

The Cantabrigian is open for submissions of literary fiction. 800 to 8000 words. Paying market, but does not give specific payment amount. Deadline January 31.

Hyperion & Theia is open for submissions of fiction, poetry, and art. This year's theme is Saturnalia. They take poetry, short stories, novelettes, and novellas. Word count varies by type. Pays $.01/word. Deadline January 31.

Grivante Press is open for submissions of erotic horror. Up to 5000 words. Pays up to $30 depending upon length. Deadline January 31.

What are your insecurities? What writing rules do you hate? Will you be participating in the Mni Wicon Blogathon? Any of these links of interest? Anything to share? What did your December stats look like?

May you find your Muse.