Dorothy Parker was once asked, what do you say someone who
wants to write. She said "Oh I discourage them and I urge you to do the
same," so I feel obliged to do just that. If you feel that you want to
write, run away quickly because if you catch the sickness you will never be
free again. On the other hand if you already have said sickness which I assume
you have since you are reading a blog about writing, there is nothing in the
world that can discourage you. That being the case sit down at your desk,
writing table, computer, or whatever your chosen literary weapon and get at it.
Don't talk about it just sit down and write.
Above all, if you are going to write for publication don't
be discouraged. You will get rejects by the ream. I personally kept my first
thousand rejects, then I have decorated a thousand more trash piles around the
world with thousands more. You must toughen up and remember that that reject is
of the work not of you personally. That is hard to remember when someone tells
you your baby isn't pretty enough to get published in their anthology, magazine
or as a novel. Writers succeed by being too damn dumb to quit. And who knows,
you might get lucky. Submit everywhere, even to places that seem dumb. Some
small publication from Toolieville Montana might just have more power than you
know. You are after publication. Money would be nice, but publication is the
most important. You gotta get your name out there, but don't be afraid to aim
high too. Again what have you got to lose? What are they gonna do reject you?
Then you can say "I was rejected by_______" fill in the blank.
There are resources out there to help you too. A major one
for me has been Duotrope.com They send out a news letter once a week with a
list of open paying markets of Anthologies and book publishers. I have had a
good deal of success submitting to the publishers Duotrope has listed. There
are other resources as well. Writer's Digest is still a good mag with good
articles and markets. I find their markets a little stale compared with
Duotrope and a couple of others but they always have interesting and useful
articles.
I hesitate to add this one but I feel I must. Find yourself
a critique group and join it. A good critique group can help you take a mutt of
a manuscript and curry it into a show dog. But this also requires your having
to refer back to the reject advice. The critiques aren't about you. They are
about your work, and if they are about you, leave that group immediately. No
need to have your heart cut out once a week or once a month if you aren't
making any strides in the writing department. But being a part of a critique
group will certainly bring you closer to other writers, which is a good thing
though writers are a pretty strange bunch. The old saw about writing being a
lonely profession isn't wrong, but it helps to have friends who know what you
are talking about when you say, "That transition is kicking my____."
I'll end by repeating Dorothy Parker's advice. Run away, but
if you can't sit down and go to work.
GIVEAWAY
