When you began this journey to Published, did you know what
you were getting into?
Did you expect the way stations and rest stops, the bumps
and ditches that you would encounter?
And the wipeouts. Did you expect rejections?
The first time a person sits down to compose a story, the door of the writing minivan slams shut. You are rumbling down a highway with many obstacles. The smallest juncture of that trip is the actual
manuscript. The hard part comes with editing, finding good critiquers,
research, re-writes, querying and finding an agent.
So, where are you?
- Are you at the street of IamSoGood and MakeABunchaMoney? Or the corner of Realistic and Hardwork?Endlessly circling a cloverleaf? Or at a dead end cul-de-sac?
- Are you in the realm of Research, still intrigued by the workings of the publishing world and discovering the query? Or what a query is? And the mysterious synopsis?
- Do you have self-help books crowding your workstation like On Writing by Stephen King? Or Post-Its with suggestions and reminders stuck to your computer monitor? Are you in the stage of understanding the difference between the ellipsis and dash?
- Have you reached the editing phase, reading out loud all dialogue, and learning. Always learning. Are you a member of a critique group?
- Do you have a polished manuscript ready to submit? Maybe with several mss under your belt all lining the road to Published.
- Are you a published or soon-to-be published author?
I see a long highway ahead of me. It curves out of sight
around obstacles like the washout called Rejections and the steep hill of Hard
Freakin’ Work.
Whether I stop and complain is up to me. Whether I make defeat
into an impediment or an insurmountable barrier is my problem. It is my choice whether to stop and give up. Or go around, over, and bull my way through.
I choose the later. My motto:
Persistence + Humor =
Published
You can’t be in this business without either one.
Sense of humor a must. Can't take it too serious or you'll go crazy.
ReplyDeleteI'm at the 'Dear Lord, how did all of this happen?' phase.
Hope you reach that phase as well!
'how did all of this happen?".
DeleteHard, hard work, I'd say.
Count me one of your biggest fans.
I'm at the the traffic-just-opened-up-in-front-of-me-and-now-I-get-to-fly-down-the-road-for-a-bit phase.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a great phase to be in. I'm at the phase where I've been going for 500 miles, and I just saw the "50 miles until..." sign. I know I'm close, but I still have a decent chunk to power through before I get there.
DeleteNo coffee breaks for any of us! Rest stops are mandatory however :)
DeleteI like the new background and color scheme! It looks great!
ReplyDeleteAh, thanks! Someone commented about my liking for the color orange. Maybe it was the salesman after I bought the brownish orange tile. He asked which pickup to put the tile in and I said 'the burnt orangey one'.
DeleteI'm in the editing phase, but I've kinda passed through all of them along the way - speed bumps, round-abouts, the works. And humor is a must!
ReplyDeleteIt's the research that blew my mind. Wow. I had no idea
Delete"Persistence + Humor = Published"
ReplyDeleteLove that! In fact, it describes what worked for me. Now I'm at the corner of Realistic and Hard Work, because the journey doesn't end at "Published." There's always the next book to write and sell, and there are no guarantees that'll happen again just because you managed it once.
Yup, sadly, getting published doesn't automatically mean a private pool and a cabana boy... *sigh*