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Question one: Do you make yearly writing goals? Monthly goals? Are goals measured by word count, story count, or something different?

Louise Marley: My goal is to write every day.  Even on vacation, I typically spend some time each day on the current project.  As I plan my schedule, working in exercise and household commitments, I try to set aside a block of completely unencumbered time each day when I can eliminate all distractions and concentrate on the novel or story I’m writing. Distractions, I’m convinced, are the greatest enemies of creativity.  In the world of the 21st century, we have an abundance of them:  internet, TV, radio, cell phones, and so forth.  My best work gets done when there’s no interference by any of these things, and the only person who can turn them off or tune them out is ME!

Lavie Tidhar: I’ll aim for a minimum of 1000 words a day, but obviously some days you end up not writing anything, or falling short, and some days you get all your work done before 11am in the morning. My goal for 2012 is just to finish a whole bunch of half- or third-completed projects. Generally I like to alternate, and to work on more than one thing at a time. But I take a fairly relaxed approach to goals. I don’t really think in terms of years or months or even know what I’ll be working on, exactly. As long as I’m enjoying myself–and as long as I do complete things! –I’m quite happy.

Lisa Mantchev: I usually measure my goals by project. “Need to draft a new novel. That’s about 75,000 words,” or “Have a story due for an anthology, about 8,000 words.” I like writing at least one new novel and a handful of shorter pieces every year.

E.C. Myers: These days my goals are purely based on deadlines. Having a contractual obligation to deliver a manuscript by a certain date is a powerful motivator! But left to my own devices, I’m fairly focused on project-oriented goals: to complete another novel revision in X months, to draft a new short story for the next writing group meeting, to submit three short stories to markets. I find word count and story count to be good markers of progress and productivity, but not necessarily goals in themselves. As long as I’m writing and have concrete measures of success, like a completed draft—and, of course, as long as I’m happy with the work—the work takes as long as it takes, and it’s as long as it needs to be… Unless I’m falling behind on those deadlines! Then I’d probably better set some kind of schedule, and stick to it.

Jay Lake: I make yearly goals these days. Essentially, I plan out what I intend to write for the year, in a fairly high level way, and assign a production calendar. It might say something like, “Jan-Feb, draft novel X. March, work on short fiction. April, revise novel Y.” I also have goals for individual projects. For example, when working on a first draft of a novel, I try to write 2,500 words per day. When working on a revision of a novel, I try to do at least an hour a day on the project. I do track these, and self-report, to keep myself honest. Also, I allow myself up to two days off a week for brain breaks or dealing with life’s inevitable interruptions. At other times in my career, I’ve had other kinds of goals. For example, from 2001 to about 2005, my practice was to finish a short story or novel chapter every week, all year long. As I shifted more heavily into writing novels, that stopped being practical, but it served me well at the time.

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How do you structure your own writing goals? What goals have you set for 2012? Leave us a comment! Next Wednesday, we talk about the “typical” writing day. Is there any such thing?

Interested? Here’s what it takes:

Selecting Ore

You’ll carefully pore over the mountain of submissions, looking for gems. For each story, you’ll decide whether to pass the story up for further consideration, or gently reject it. The job generally takes less than five hours a week, once you get rolling. It requires consistency, alignment with the editorial team’s taste, and compassionate communication. We’ll also ask you not to submit your own fiction to Shimmer while you’re on staff.

Being a Shimmer reader means you’re part of a thriving and beautiful publication, working closely with a team of smart, fun people. If you’re a writer, you’ll learn a hell of a lot from the slush pile about what works and what doesn’t work. The position pays in glory, copies of Shimmer issues, and drinks if our paths ever cross at a convention. (But mostly glory.)

To apply, download the electronic version of Issue 10. (Get it free, here.) Then tell me which story you liked the most, and why? And which story you liked the least, and why? It’s not about the stories you pick as much as it is about why you picked them. We’re trying to get a sense of whether our tastes are in synch.

Send your response to beth@shimmerzine.com no later than the end of the day, January 31, 2012.

Shimmer Issue 14

Over at Locus Magazine, Lois Tilton has her usual rundown of recent and current short fiction, including Shimmer #14! Of our ten stories, two are recommended reads.

“A nice issue of this little magazine, with several stories more science-fictional than fantastic.”

ISSUE #14

Shimmer Issue 14

Food My Father Feeds Me, Love My Husband Shows Me, by A. A. Balaskovits

Chinvat, by Sunny Moraine

Made of Mud, by Ari Goelman

This House was Never a Castle, by Aaron Polson

Minnow, by Carlea Holl-Jensen

Trashman, by A.C. Wise

We Make Tea, by Meryl Ferguson

Bad Moon Risen, by Eric Del Carlo

Some Letters for Ove Lindström, by Karin Tidbeck

Gödel Apparition Fugue, by Craig DeLancey

Shimmer Issue 13

ISSUE 13

Bullet Oracle Instinct, by K. M. Ferebee

Labrusca Cognatus, by Erik T. Johnson

Gutted, by L. L. Hannett

Frosty’s Lament, by Richard Larson

All the Lonely People, by E. C. Myers

Haniver, by J. J. Irwin

Dogs, by Georgina Bruce

Barstone, by Stephen Case

A Window, Clear as a Mirror, by Ferrett Steinmetz

Four Household Tales, by Poor Mojo’s Giant Squid

Malcolm Gebrowski returned from his job at the stamp factory to discover his wife had left him for a magic portal. He stared numbly at the linoleum floor of his apartment’s walk-in kitchen, all scuffed up with hoofprints, the smell of lilacs gradually being overpowered by the mildewy stink of the paper plant next door. All that was left of eight years of marriage was a scribbled note on the back of the telephone bill.

He’d crumpled the note in his fist without thinking. He smoothed it out against the refrigerator to read Julianne’s last words again:

Malcolm,
Remember when I said you could sleep with Dakota Jewel if she ever dropped by? I sure hope so. ‘Cause if you had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sleep with the most beautiful movie star in the world, I’d want you to take it. And remember when you said that if I ever found a magic portal, I could go?

Guess what? A magic portal opened.

Numbers

Shimmer received approximately 2400 submissions in 2011–which seemed big, but when I looked back at 2010, with 1800 submissions, seemed even bigger! Of those 2400, about 6% (136) were passed up the editorial chain for further consideration.  We accepted eight out of those 136, a smaller number than usual (and split between issues fourteen and fifteen). Six stories were from women, two from men.

It’s much harder to break down overall gender stats, but a glance at the reams of email looks to be about 500 male submissions for every 300 female submissions.

Accomplished

Our blog became a regular thing in 2011, with the addition of the Advice for Newer Writers feature. We hope to take that to the next level in 2012, pushing you beyond the basics. Do you have a topic you’d like to see us tackle?

In March, we were part of #zinechat on Twitter, with editors wrangling questions from writers and readers. This lead to a great conversation about exactly what Shimmer wants in its stories, as well as our next themed issue which is still in the planning stages. Want to follow the Shimmer staff on Twitter? You can start with @bethwodzinski and @ecthetwit and go from there!

World Fantasy Con saw a Shimmer reading and party! Among those in attendance were: Beth Wodzinski, Sean Markey, Keffy Kehrli, Grá Linnaea, Ferrett Steinmetz, Nicole Taylor, Cat Rambo, Vylar Kaftan, Caitlyn Paxson, M.K. Hobson, Shweta Narayan, and Marissa K. Lingen!

We released two issues in 2011, lucky #13 and #14.

Staff

There were some changes to the staff line up, most notably Beth shifting her role and handing off senior editing duties to me. (And what is there to know about me? I like the Oxford comma, I appreciate cupcakes, and have fallen in love with Gabriel García Márquez.)

Grá Linnaea and Keffy Kehrli were promoted to full-blown editors, the talented Sandro Castelli joined us as Minister of Art, and Matt Barron as Minister of Layout! We gained Associate Editors Shalene Gupta and Josh Vogt. Associate Editor Sophie Werely leaves us as the year winds down and while we will miss her smiling face, we know she’s destined for bigger and better things.

Goals for 2012

Three issues of Shimmer! Shimmer for your eReaders! A themed issue? More cake! More monkeys! Maybe we’ll finally get our very own TARDIS… There will certainly be more conventions, and parties, and readings.

Thank you

Thank you for being part of Shimmer this past year. We can’t do what we do without you. Publishing is constantly changing, but our goal remains the same: to bring you amazing fiction that stays with you long after you close an issue. If we did that this year, we were successful! Onward to the next.

We all agree that bees rock, so what’s your favorite kind of honey?

BW: Any kind that causes botulism in infants in a dystopian future. You just can’t win in a dystopia, man. (Fictional infants! Fictional!)

KK: I don’t actually know anything about bees. Therefore, I would have to say that my favorite kind of honey is the kind that has been harvested, packaged, and is on sale at a supermarket near me.

SM: Cinnamon

SW:  Wildflower! Bees actually need lots of different pollens and nectars to create honey that’s complex in its nutrient content. Clover, almond, orange blossom, and other single-flower honeys might actually stunt the health of a hive. Buy wildflower honey! Support your bee-buds!

GL: Clover! No, Blackberry! Wait … Mesquite!

 What’s the last book you bought? What’s the last book you read?

BW: The last three books I bought are: Dan Wells’s serial killer trilogy; George Martin’s Dance with Dragons; Joan, by Donald Spoto. The last book I read was Scott Westerfield’s Midnighter trilogy.

KK: The last book I bought was Stina Leicht’s Of Blood and Honey. The last book I read was Cat Valente’s The Grass-Cutting Sword, which is placed somewhere on the intersection between poetry and prose. It’s about ancient gods, eight daughters and a monster. Beautiful language.

SM: The last book I bought was The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  The last book I read was The Magician King by Lev Grossman.

SW: The last book I bought was The Complete Pelican Shakespeare. For college. The last book I read was Across the Universe by Beth Revis.

GL: I just picked up Boarding Instructions by Ray Vukcevich, who’s amazing. I just read The October Country by Ray Bradbury. I guess I’m having a Ray week!

You have before you three items: a black and white striped umbrella, a pair of red shoes, and a packet of seeds. There is a rabbit somewhere nearby (or possibly a zombie, one never knows). What’s the first sentence of this story?

BW: “Dorothy,” said the White Rabbit, “I’d like you to meet Alice. Now come along!”

KK: What’s the sound of one hand clapping? Oh, that’s right, kind of a sad flapping noise.

SM: I’ve heard it’s bad luck to open an umbrella inside the house, but when you suspect your house is infested with zombies, you already have the worst kind of luck.

SW: Plants vs. Zombies, the VR REAL-D EX edition, was the only thing that Mom told me I was not allowed to the install in the LiveScreen.

GL: “The rabbits came for her monthly, when the moon was but a sliver.”

Next time: What’s the last book you read? What’s the last book you bought?

And have a cupcake for those of us who can’t attend, eh?