Monday, February 15

See What Things I Have Wrought

Posted by Shelly Holder


I'm pretty much the poster girl for anal retentiveness when it comes to writing and tracking submissions. As you can see above, I have a fairly extensive Excel worksheet that should intimidate the hell out of me, but instead soothes me with all the clean, laid-out precision. Color-coding is one of my favorite pastimes, and inventing more categories (see that I have both a date created and a date finished column) is no chore either.

So, if you look closely, you can find evidence for my hard work this weekend. The poems highlighted in green are the ones I submitted to the Prague Summer School scholarship. Then I submitted six poems to a campus newspaper creative writing contest, and five more to an undergraduate journal. Some to the journal don't quite fit the requirements, but the Paternal Voice told me a while back that I should always submit the maximum number, even if they don't fit, because you never knew. And he's right. So a total of 16 poems, out into the void. Crazy, and I probably just depleted half of my poetry reserves, but I'd rather get them published than hoard them, so out they went.

This year feels good. I'm doing stuff, and I'm working multiple avenues, all in pursuit of a career. Nothing directly has to do with school, this is all my own will power. It somewhat amazes me, and secretly fills me with great pride. I can achieve things without someone looking over my shoulder yelling at me, and I never really felt that I could. Even after college, it was more deadlines than preparedness that made me work. But knowing that these submissions were all sent out without prompting really makes my self-confidence grow. Even if I get rejected, I won't feel bad, because I submitted them in the first place. Mlle Diabolique keeps telling me that I'm working at achieving my dreams, and I can finally accept that I am.

I am working like a professional.

Right now:
What I'm listening to: "White Flag" by Dido
What I want most: coffee ice cream

2 comments:

Scott Lorenz said...

Great job on keeping things organized. Its the hallmark of successful writer. There's too much to remember with a system like yours. Keep up the good work.

LeisaHammett said...

Spread sheet: impressive! Funny "about" column!