by Theresa Garee | May 3, 2025 | Blog, Uncategorized
By Jen McConnell
jenmcconnell.com
When I’m writing—whether starting something new or deep in the frustrations of revisions—I think about how much easier the business side is: submitting stories to literary magazines, researching publishers, applying for grants, etc.
But then when I’m in the throes of the business side, I lament that I’m not writing.
At least when I’m writing, I feel like I have some control.
On the other hand, once I’ve sent a story out or submitted a grant application, it’s out of my control.
I know it’s a privilege to have this problem, but the balancing act is still tough.
My second book of short stories, Current Disasters, was accepted for publication last summer by Roadside Press. I’m excited to say it will be out in just a few weeks!
I have spent the months in between squarely on the business side of the writing/publishing process.
Because Roadside Press is a small independent press, nearly all of the marketing and promotion falls to the authors.
I have secured blurbs for the book jacket, proofread the manuscript ad nauseum, applied for (and received) a grant from the Greater Columbus Arts Council, created social media posts, redesigned my website, arranged a launch party and readings, and more.
Receiving a grant from GCAC for marketing materials is awesome, but it leads to more work: I designed and printed postcards, submitted the manuscript to professional book reviewers, and created a paid advertising plan for social media. And there’s more to do.
I’ve also been pitching reviewers and literary festivals since last December. It’s paid off: I’ll be at the Ohio Authors Book Fair in May, reading at the Word is Art stage during June’s Columbus Arts Festival, moderating a panel at this July’s Columbus Book Festival, and presenting a workshop and a reading at the Lit Youngstown literary festival in October.
All of this to say that between all these tasks, a full-time corporate job, and my family, there hasn’t been a lot of time to write.
And the grass is always greener: when I’m writing, I’m anxious to be done and send it out. When I’m working on admin tasks, I want to be writing.
I have to remind myself that this ebb and flow is how it goes. And so I make sure to schedule in time to write.
Nothing as structured as a daily word goal or writing morning pages but just blocking out time a couple evenings or weekends a month.
Knowing I have these sessions set aside reassures me that, no matter how busy I am, I have made the time and space to keep moving forward with my fiction.
Balance is a fallacy; it’s more of a see-saw.
I work on the novel I’ve started; I work on my book’s marketing plan; I revise a short story; I send out a piece of flash fiction; I post to social media; I get a rejection; I write the novel.
Bottom line: If one of your goals is to publish your writing, you have to give the business some attention. It’s not always fun or glamorous but it’s important.
(This is a paid guest blog post. Please give the author a follow! https://www.facebook.com/BreathingWordsBlog)
by Theresa Garee | Jan 12, 2007 | Uncategorized
That’s what Tom Gerace, chief executive of Gather.com called the writing contest sponsored by Touchstone books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
Alas! If only I had a novel stashed in the bottom drawer of my desk!
Here’s the deal. First-time authors can enter for free by submitting a manuscript for a full-length work of fiction. The first chapter of each submission (hence the contest’s name) will be posted on Gather.com. Members of the site will vote on the chapters.
For more information, surf to http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976883192
by Theresa Garee | Dec 20, 2006 | Uncategorized
According to Ohio State University English Professor, Lee K. Abbott, “You’ll need to write as much junk as you are tall before you’ll ever produce something that somebody will want to read twice.”
I’m 5’6″ and shrinking. I’ve probably written twice my height in junk so perhaps my day is coming.
For more perspectives on the writing life, tune in to interviews with Professor Abbott and many other writers including Alice McDermott, Tim O’Brien, Michael Connelly, Jeanette Walls, Rick Moody and many more on The Kacey Kowars Show.
by Theresa Garee | Dec 3, 2006 | Uncategorized
First, the good news. The semester’s over. Aimee Liu, my Advisor in the Goddard College low-residency MFA program in Creative Writing, accepted the second draft of my second attempt at a short critical paper (my first attempt she rejected offhand). She also approved the eleven annotations I wrote on the (more than eleven) books I read. I’m allowed to go back to Port Townsend, WA for the next 8-day residency in February. In the meantime, I can relax – sort of.
This leads me to the bad news. The book’s not done. And it looks like it’s not going to be done for awhile.
I started writing this book during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November of 2004 and hoped to complete it within 9 months. Those initial 50,000 words flowed so effortlessly. I had no doubt the rest of the book would follow in the same manner. But then came the gargantuan task of rereading, editing and expanding those original 50,000 words. Even NaNoEdMo (National Novel Editing Month) in March 2005 didn’t help.
So I did what every aspiring American writer would do. I took a class. Or rather, I took another class. In fact, I took two more classes before applying to graduate school. In these courses I learned about dramatic tension, pacing, dialogue, characterization, and plot. They showed me how to weave several stories together to make a book have more depth. They gave me a structure and support to help me pull together a complete first draft. And that’s what I brought to the MFA program – in the words of Anne LaMott, “a shitty first draft.”
From the folks at Goddard (and especially Aimee Liu), I’ve learned to go deeper and push myself harder. Aimee asked tough questions. “Why should we care?” and “Who are these people?” and “Why did you do what you did?” She poked, prodded and interrogated, not allowing me to gloss over anything. As a result, my second draft is much less “shitty” than before. But it’s not done.
The moral of this story (for mustn’t all stories have a moral?) is that a book has it’s own time line. This is my first book and it will take all the time it takes. I’ve tried to move it along more quickly, but I can only write at the level where I am. Perhaps I’m lucky an editor isn’t (yet) emailing me daily asking for the next draft. This way the book can mature as I do. And when it’s done, it will be my best work – the best I can produce at the time.
Nita(read no line before its time)Sweeney
©Nita Sweeney, 2006, all rights reserved
by Theresa Garee | Nov 27, 2006 | Uncategorized
On Saturday, I sent my last packet of writing to my Advisor concluding my first semester in Goddard’s low-residency MFA program in Creative Writing. It felt anti-climatic. While the book is much further along than it was when I started the semester, it’s not done.
The last few weeks I kept myself focused on the non-book reqirements by telling myself that I’d have plenty of time to focus soley on the book once the semester ended. Now that it’s over, all I want to do is sleep. I gave myself the weekend to play. Hubby and I drove to Granville to see the Alligator Indian Mound, eat at the Buxton Inn, and hang out at River Road Coffeehouse (one of my all-time favorites). But Monday morning was bound to roll around.
This mood reminds me of childhood. All summer long I bugged my parents to take me to the zoo. “Can we go today?” I cried day after day. In mid-August when the magic day dawned, we’d pack the car for the hour-long drive to Columbus. By the time we arrived, I was tired and cranky. I knew better than to say it, but I thought to myself, “I’m tired. I want some ice cream and I want to go home.”
So this morning I’ll give that little girl who still lives so vibrantly inside me a pep-talk. We’ll head over to Colin’s Coffee (formerly Brewster’s) and get a large decaf soy extra-foam one-sweet-n-low latte. Then I’ll begin to re-read the letters from my MFA Advisor, taking notes on the changes I need to make. Once we get started all will be well.
