Hey y’all. For those non-writers, have you ever wondered what writers think about? What they worry about? How we talk to one another? If you try a visit to www.magicalwords.net, you can get a crash course and it all very entertaining. Written by well-published, thoughtful genre writers, it is a tremendous resource for those interested in writing or those who want to peek behind the curtain.
Here’s another good blog post by a personal favorite author of mine, Patricia Briggs. She talks about the financial issues of writing and it might surprise non-writers how tough it is and how challenging it is to get published, much less make some money. With a few exceptions, most writers I know have full-time jobs outside of writing.
Publishing is partly luck, skill and craft, but mostly it is perseverance. Every author I have ever spoken to emphasizes this point. No matter how tough it is, you either do it or you quit. That’s it. So when I get discouraged, I just remember that I only have one other option–stop writing, and since that is going to happen, I may as well keep trying.
By now I have one short story accepted to an anthology and another editor who loves a story I’ve submitted and we are keeping in touch to see where it could live. Both of these editors are generous with their time and willing to discuss my writing with me and even review stories before they are submitted to other publications. And I have two professional editors that I can hire to review my work and give me honest critique.
A year ago, I had none of this. So it is good to take a step back and realize that perseverance is making a difference, even if it sometimes seems achingly slow.
So, for my friends who are writers, and my friends who are artists, and my friends who just love good writing, let’s cheer each other on and raise a glass to freedom (oh, sorry, was that a Hamilton reference–why yes, it was)…er, raise a glass to perseverance.
