Jennifer Jordan

This blog post is the second in a series where I am sharing advice with some of my graduate students in a creative nonfiction workshop. One outcome of this course is that students develop an essay they have revised at least three times in a semester, and as part of a final project, they will send out their work for publication.

My first three tips included 1) getting organized with a spreadsheet, 2) researching magazines in literary magazine databases, and 3) writing a cover letter. I also shared a couple of rejections and an acceptance in last week’s blog post.

This week, I would like to focus on a few steps you can take while you are anxiously waiting to hear back from a literary magazine about your writing submission.

Step Four

Get some perspective about where you are and keep moving forward. Sending out your work for publication can take several hours. That’s why I count the time I spend submitting my work for publication–the research, the cover letter writing, and every publication-related step–as writing time. This helps me to not feel overwhelmed about my goals for being a writer.

Writers in my class are required to keep a treadmill journal. It’s a journal where they can keep track of their writing time: 1) when they worked, 2) what they planned to work on, 3) how long they worked, 4) what they actually got done, 5) what they’d like to do next, and 6) when they plan to do it. It’s a method of planning that you create and stick to in order to reach your goals. Getting into the habit takes some practice.

A common gripe I hear about keeping a journal to track your time spent writing is that it takes a lot of time. I agree. It’s hard to find time to write about your time spent writing and then make time to write. It’s not creative time, but it’s time I’m spending dedicated to my life as a writer, that’s why it goes in my treadmill journal.

I also like to take some time to feel proud of myself for sending out my work, furthering my career, and doing something for myself. Submitting your work for publication is part of the slog of being engaged in this specific literary process. But if you’re doing the work, take some time to feel good about your progress and don’t beat yourself up about not receiving an acceptance yet. Have patience.

Step Five

Don’t obsessively check the submission manager. Don’t wait to see when the editors have opened your submission, and don’t start counting the days since your submission has been opened. Don’t compare yourself to your other writer friends who have received acceptances. Don’t think your writing career is over after the first twenty rejections. Don’t give up hope. You might need to submit your work 28 times. And that’s okay because no one sees all your rejections except for you, unless you are like me, and you post them on your blog for anyone to see.

Publishing is a fickle industry, and what gets published changes for so many different reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with you. Don’t get me wrong. Junk gets rejected, but junk also gets published. So while you are waiting to hear back on your submission, why don’t you read what’s being published right now instead of torturing yourself? You can find litmags and even filter by genre on the Poets and Writers Literary Magazine Database. Here are a few good litmags I plucked from the top of my head to help you contemplate your craft. They serve up some nice creative nonfiction.

• Atticus Review
• Brevity
• Diagram
• Hayden’s Ferry Review
• Missouri Review
• Ploughshares
• Seneca Review
• Split Lip Magazine
• Sweet: A Literary Confection

Step Five

Keep writing. Take the inspiration you received from step four and reading what’s being published right now, and work on the next thing. Open your journal or your laptop and start writing.

If you’re stuck, think about craft in a particular story you’d like to write, and reflect on how other writers hone their craft. Brevity magazine has a searchable index of craft features. Brevity also has teaching resources that you can use to help yourself think about writing while you wait to hear back from that literary magazine. Assay is an amazing creative nonfiction resource to help you think critically about writing and analyzing other writers’ craft. And you can also search individual teacher’s class websites for ideas and inspiration. This blog from Professor Marissa has great writing prompts. I found her site while searching Assay’s syllabi bank. The work on her site is licensed openly, so if you re-use it for teaching, you need to attribute her.

Step Six

Somewhere in the neighborhood of one to twelve months (usually, but it could be longer), you will receive notice of your publication status from the magazines you submitted your work to. You might receive form letters. You might receive an oddly cryptic response from an editor who said your writing gave him a chuckle, and that’s all you get. A chuckle.

Here’s what you do next. You’re allowed to feel sad. You’re allowed to be disappointed. You’re allowed to feel your feelings. Maybe you’d like to understand the outcome more, so you could read this essay by Brenda Miller that can help you get perspective on why your essay was rejected.

Then take the essay that’s been rejected six times, and work on it again. Take the skills you’re honing as you read and you write, and apply them to a revision. Ask your friends to read your work and give you feedback. And be specific about the type of feedback you’d like. They can’t give you helpful info if they don’t understand your audience or your intention. Then revise some more. And send that puppy out to six more magazines.

Unless.

You received an acceptance. Here’s what you do. Scream at the top of your lungs, maybe skip through your house, tell your best friend, thank the people who helped you revise, and MAKE SURE to withdraw your submission from any other magazines that might still be considering your work.

Then wait impatiently for the piece to come to print. Also, milk it. Celebrate with your significant other(s) and have a nice dinner. Don’t forget to celebrate when your work is public. Share your work on social media with your #writingcommunity, and post your work once it’s out in the open.

And start the whole process again.

Unless.

You are working on a book-length project. Then your next steps will be a little different, though reading, writing, and journaling will likely be in that scenario. I will write that blog series once I get my dagnabbit manuscript off my cloud drive and into your hot little hands.

Thanks and feel free to share any tips you have for sending out your work to literary magazines down below.