Now I know what you're thinking, "Jen, what's so bad about writing new stories for specific markets?" Well, I'll tell you. It took me away from my old stories that needed words, work, love, and polish. I definitely fell into the "Oh, shiny!" rabbit hole looking at all of the new and exciting places to publish. Now, I am back to writing and working on my old stories and finding it more difficult to take hold of the old story threads. I'm not saying that taking a break from your novel, etc. and writing some other stories is necessarily a bad thing, but I am cautioning writers to be careful not to get caught up in the new and leave the old dusty and neglected on a shelf. Finishing your big projects is key! Try to stay focused. I am of course speaking mostly to myself here, but hey maybe it'll help you too.
In completely unrelated news (*wink*), I will now be posting some of my work on the Mid-Michigan Prose and Writing Group blog starting next Saturday (2/15/2014).