I have my monthly writing/submission stats for both December and all of 2009.

First, December:

• 8,400 new words of fiction written this month. ¹
   
• 21 first drafts currently in progress. ²
   
• 5 first drafts currently "ripening" before second draft. ³
   
• 3 second drafts currently in progress
   
• 0 second drafts currently in the hands of "trusted readers."
   
• 3 third drafts currently in progress.
   
• 0 third drafts currently awaiting polishing.
   
• 1 fourth draft in currently in progress.
   
• 2 rewrite in progress of stories previously sent out, based on comments from friends.
   
• 2 rewrites (at request of editors) currently in progress.
   
• 8 stories currently submitted to markets⁴
   
• 1,000 words in shortest story currently submitted.
   
• 8,700 words in longest story currently submitted.
   
• 1 offer of publication received this month.
   
• Longest current wait without response: 139 days.
   

¹ More than usual, if far from a record. I turned out a new first draft and did about 1,500 words of arguing with myself on paper about a new story I’d like to write.
² I always have a lot of first drafts "in progress," until one of them really grabs me and I work on it obsessively.
³ I employ a six-week "ripening" period for first drafts. The one in the incubator now is the aforementioned fantasy-horror story.
⁴Actually I have two more in the queue, but I’m waiting for a couple of markets to open up for submissions.

Now for the annual stats for 2009:

• 101,000 words of new fiction written.*
   
• 25 first drafts completed.
   
• 20 final drafts completed.
   
• Longest story written: 7,700 words.
   
• Shortest story written: 20 words.**
   
• 33 different stories submitted to magazines.
   
• 77 total submissions overall.
   
• 6 offers of publication.
   
• 4 stories appearing in print or online.

* Not nearly as much as I’d like, but I’m still proud of myself. I’ve written the equivalent of a draft of a novel in one year, same as last year. This figure excludes the 30,000 words of critique I wrote while at Clarion.

** Some of my stories (including two of the sales) were twitterfics, 140 characters long.

All in all, not a bad year, and I think I see some slow improvement.

Categories: Uncategorized

Tagged as: annual tally drafts markets monthly tally publication revision submissions

kenschneyer