My Writing Wrapped

This year has been the first year of my life where I have submitted my work to magazines, competitions, anthologies or anything writing-related. I decided that it would be fun to make a wrapped version of my writing, with a matching infographic. I've been looking forward to seeing the final outcome of my writing this year.

Over the course of 2024, I submitted 23 pieces (13 unique pieces) across 18 platforms. The first submission was on the 13th February and my last for the year was on the 13th November. I had a total of 6 poems, 2 flash fiction pieces, 4 short stories and a script. My highest month in terms of submissions was March with 6, and my lowest was a tie between January (before I had even thought about submitting) and August with a whopping 0 submissions. Out of those 23 submissions, I was rejected from 12, accepted by 3, still awaiting to hear from 7, and never received a response from 1 who has since shut down (I like to think that it was my writing that did that, but I guess I'll never know). My first success was with my flash piece 'The Heaviness of Sleep' (inspired by a painting with the same name by John Armstrong), which found its place in the National Flash Fiction Day 2024 Anthology 'Tiny Sparks Everywhere'. My second success was with my script 'Lobotomy', now at home in The Third Bullshit Lit Anthology. My final success of the year was awarded to my short story 'Stanley', who now lies on the autopsy table in The Morgue Mag's first issue 'Autopsy One'.

Obviously, the rejections massively outweigh the acceptances, and that is not a bad thing. It's so often taught that rejections are a good thing; they are a sign of progress and more importantly, a sign of trying, a staple of a writer's journey. Despite this, rejections still hurt, they still make you doubt not only your work, but yourself. This year my writing has shown be both sides of submitting my work. I've criticised myself and nit picked every failure, but I've also grown a lot because of it. My heart still pounds when I see a response in my inbox, but it no longer deflates at the sign of a rejection.

I hope this has given you an insight into my writing this year (however measly it may be), and I hope that your own writing is going well.

All the best,

Talia

P.S. Please enjoy the below graphic. As you can tell, graphic design is my passion.