It's Not a Hobby

Writing.  What other hobby can make you feel so good and so bad at once?  None.  But it's not a hobby.  Writing is something you do because you know you can do it.  You may even be so flamboyant as to think it'll be published.  One thing I've learned though, is to separate the two aspects of writing, the putting it all down on paper and the submitting.  There have been a very few times when I've written something that actually made me tear up with thoughts that "this is good.  this is really good."  There is no reason to give myself that feeling then check the status of submissions at my submission email address.  There isn't a reason to check my Submittable to see if something that once made me feel like crying for joy now makes me feel like sobbing for other reasons. 

My story "A Patch of Earth, a Spot of Sky" is one of those such stories.  I wrote it, felt all gooey inside after doing it, then sat on it forever.  I looked at it again and still thought, it's pretty damned good.  I edited it, changed some things around, then felt all gooey--gooier even.  I sat on it some more.  Finally, I sent it off.  First to one mag, then a bunch of them.  To date, it's out there in the writing ether.  Imagine my disappointment when I got the first rejection.  With no comments.  But it's only one.  And it's been out for awhile.  I'm curious to see if this story that I'm so close to, that I've totally departed from my more traditional style, is as good as I think it is.  But if it isn't, eventually it will be.  And I'll get that gooey feeling again, that pretentiousness that prompts me to submit it.  I've made it a rule to not check for these submissions statuses until after a couple hours of writing.  If I feel the writer's high, to heck with checking it.  I'll ride this feeling, then check later.   

Now, about my book I need to submit...