by Milo James Fowler 

Some said it couldn’t be done.

Some said we’d end up sacrificing quality for quantity.

52 short stories written and submitted in 52 weeks? Were we crazy to think it was possible?

Ray Bradbury did it, and for years he’s encouraged others to do the same:

“If you can write one short story a week – doesn’t matter what the quality is to start, but at least you’re practicing. At the end of the year, you have 52 short stories, and I defy you to write 52 bad ones. Can’t be done.”

But I’m no Bradbury.

I knew that going into Write1Sub1. At the time, I had only 5 stories published and a growing mound of rejection letters. I was a full-time teacher. How would I manage to write, edit, and submit a story every week and hope for an editor’s second glance? Was I out of my freakin’ mind?

If so, I was in good company.

Over the course of Write1Sub1Year1, we had more than 150 writers join up, and by year’s end, over 40 of our participants saw more than 500 of their short stories and poems published by over 140 different markets! 15 of my own short stories found homes last year, and two of them were with markets I’d wanted to break into for a while: Daily Science Fiction and Shimmer.

None of this would have happened without Write1Sub1.

The challenge kept us writing and submitting consistently, and the community of supportive writers kept us inspired throughout all the rejections, revisions, and resubmissions. In the process, we grew as writers, and our writing improved immensely. I guess there’s something to be said for practice.

“I know you’ve heard it a thousand times before. But it’s true: hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice.”  - Ray Bradbury

But here’s the best part: Write1Sub1 isn’t over. In some ways, we’ve just begun.

Stop by Write1Sub1 today and join over 200 writers dedicated to honing our craft. We have a weekly (52 stories a year) and a monthly (12 stories a year) participation level, and it’s never too late to join.

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 Milo James Fowler is a junior high English teacher by day and a writer by night. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Daily Science Fiction, Shimmer, and Macmillan’s Criminal Element. In his spare time, he collects rejection letters. Stop by anytime: http://www.milo-inmediasres.com/