End of the Month Report: May 2013

Submissions: 6
Rejections: 4
Acceptances: 0
Published: 0
Stories out in the wild: 8
New stories completed: 0
Mood:  Feeling much perkier after this past month of medical crap and ready to seriously hit the old writing keyboard again. I've been slowly getting back into the submitting game this week, and am presently rereading and mulling over the readers' feedback - which is always much appreciated and seriously considered - from the traditional Friday night rejection I received yesterday for a short story (2110 words only) that I'm particularly set on getting published some time this millennium. The first reader enjoyed this very much. The second reader reported that It's a great concept and the writing is brilliant - very clear and I got a real sense of the characters and the world they inhabit. liked the POV, but wanted more conflict and drama. The third reader started with An ambitious idea for a short story.  but, as the least enthusiastic of the group, then wanted more back story for the second non-POV character and possibly to make that character the "real story" rather than the old gent I have telling the tale, and was quite insistent that I provide a more in depth explanation of a certain belief system. 

So should I expand the story? Change the focus? Change the POV? Add a few dreaded infodumps? Whip up a religious thesis? Slip in some hand to hand combat and a spot of gunfire? Regale at length about my characters' lives up until the point where they meet? Have them argue more? Take another look at the ending? There's a line I could add that might ratchet up the tension... 

Hmm, things to ponder and honestly weigh up, always remembering, of course, that you can't please everyone, so ultimately...

But that will have to wait until tomorrow. Right now, there's a Dr Who Season 7: Part 2  Episodes 6-13 box set waiting for me in the lounge room. And the 2012 Christmas special, which I haven't seen yet because my ABC reception has been atrocious out here in the country ever since we went digital. Yay!