Nick Petrou Copywriter

Fortnightly update 45: 16.08.2021 to 29.08.2021

In this blog series, I share my fortnight-to-fortnight triumphs (and failures) as a writer. Despite all the ups and downs, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Short fiction

I’m currently submitting short fiction, mostly flash fiction and short stories, to online magazines and such for publication. It’s been quite slow for the past few months, but I think it’s because I’m more picky with my stories and also with the publications I submit them to. I did manage to draft a fantasy epistolary short story, and I absolutely love it. Epistolary is, in many ways, liberating; the story’s existence is warranted in-universe. Probs gonna submit that one this coming week!

Here are this fortnight’s stats:

Submissions: 2
Pending: 7
Rejections: 1
Acceptances: 0
Rejections 2021 (from June 8th): 8

Other projects

Last fortnight, I mentioned my grandad’s memoir, a story of his childhood in Macedonia and how it was affected by the Greek Civil War. I made some great ground with that this fortnight and am ready to have another sit-down with him and get the next chapter happening. I’m enjoying it more than I thought I would. My family’s history is far more interesting that I thought it was.

I also finished beta reading that novel for my friend this fortnight. It was a lot of work, but I definitely learnt a thing or two about my own writing, and also that I’m nowhere near ready to try my hand at a novel.

Frontier Media

I write scripts for Frontier Media, a media production company specialising in YouTube. Our two largest channels are The Front and Geetsly’s, and while I’ve written a little for Geetsly’s in the past, I mostly write for The Front and our new, smaller channel The Braved. Four of my videos went live this fortnight, including my 100th for The Front! That’s something to be proud of.

And here are my total stats:

Videos for The Front: 100
Videos for The Braved: 31

Twitter

I write 280-character stories and poems using various writing prompt hashtags, mostly #vss365, on Twitter. I wrote just three this fortnight, but I’m pretty happy with them all, especially the first one.

#search

They were about to turn the helicopter around and give up the search for the day when, through the red desert sand, they spotted the skull, as big as a house and befitting to one being and one being only: God. They returned with machines, and they buried him deeper.

#history

Why did I have to delve into my family history? Why didn’t they bulldoze that ancient house? Why did I have to take that book of skin from the basement? I could keep asking myself all this, or I could just take my knife and get on with it, adding my page to the count.

#shallow

My friends say I’m shallow, but you’ve gotta draw the line somewhere when it comes to dating ETs in 3021. Felinae — sure, hot as hell. Cephalopoda — maybe. But Crustacea — no, uh-uh. I mean, we’ve all heard that story about the man and his wife with the giant crab claw.

Conclusion

This fortnight was nice and balanced. I managed my time super well and came out with a bit of time to spare for boardgames and other activities that recharge my creative battery. That’s all for now.

Thanks for reading <3