2024 Recap

Thomas Ha is one of my favorite writers, and one thing he does that I love is provide a end-of-year-recap of his acceptances, rejections, publications, and just general thoughts about the year. So I’m going to try to do the same because I think it’s a wonderful idea and a way to just focus my thoughts.

This was the year I started writing short stories. Well, that’s not exactly true. But it is the year I started to put far more effort into writing short stories and doing so more consistently. In the past, I’ve written a short story when the mood sort of hit me, but I never really took care to study the craft or the publications. That changed. This year, I wrote about 10 pieces (I say “about” because there’s still so many half stories just laying around that I abandoned). I had around 60 submissions, 3 acceptances, 2 publications, and 47 rejections. Two pieces were published this summer and fall. Another is forthcoming in Fusion Fragment this coming February (very excited about that one). A few pieces are still pending at various publications (though I’m only slightly hopeful a couple of them will be picked up). Several stories I wrote have made all the rounds they can make and are going in the graveyard. Live and learn.

My goal with writing short stories has been to discover what kind of writer I am. It’s been a mission of self-exploration for sure, one that I still don’t have many answers to yet. What I know is that the stories that tend to do well are the ones that come to me quickly. It seems the more I languish on a story and force it, the more the wheels start to pop off. But that’s more anecdotal than anything. And I want to be careful not to write-off a story too early when the going gets tough.

On a more personal front, this was a big year for me. After a bit of a difficult pregnancy, my second son was born this December. And he is very healthy. I’m back to sleeping a lot less with a newborn! But he’s been such an immense joy to our family. Another big change is that I started working full time this September. I certainly enjoyed my part-time lifestyle, which allowed me to focus on writing and fixing up the house. But the job is terrific (though demanding at times).

Looking at 2025, it’s hard for me to come up with a plan, but I do have some loose goals. A big one is breaking into a qualifying professional publication. Another is to see more consistent publications. A third is to chill and be patient. There are some minor ones too, but these are the ones I feel most worth mentioning.

I still have a lot of growing to do. I learned so much this year. But I’m learning so much more all the time! And I’m excited to see what 2025 brings.

Here’s to a new year. Good luck to all those writers out there.