It’s a term we used to use about new albums from favorite performers that took a while to grow on you. Get it? Because the singer or band is a particular favorite, you give them a few extra chances. Came to mind in relation to Paul McCartney’s new album. I really liked his previous record, Chaos and Creation, but Memory Almost Full didn’t grab me on the first listen. Underwhelmed, I said. Then I let it repeat a couple of times and listened to it while I exercised at the gym. I still don’t think I like it as much as Chaos and Creation, but I’ve grown fond of some of the songs. Just had to give it a chance.
I wrote the first draft of my Storytellers Unplugged essay yesterday and also did an editing pass through the section of the new short story I had written. Experienced another one of those situations where I had to keep getting out of bed to make notes last night—I figured out the ending and how to get there, but I kept composing sentences in my mind that I thought I needed to preserve lest I forget them by morning. I finished off the story during the morning session. It came in at 3500 words. I did another editing pass through the entire thing during lunch hour, then sent it off to someone else to read. The deadline is Saturday, so I may have to forego any external review and stick the thing in the mail by the end of the day tomorrow since the market doesn’t take e-mail subs.
I have six or seven stories on my circulation list that I want to read over and get off to markets. A couple of them require some review; the others I just need to research some good possible homes. I know I’m setting myself up—if I get all 21 stories on my list out the door, I’ll probably get 21 rejection letters all on the same day, and won’t that be a fine one.
