Writing is something I've found I have a passion for, one of the only things I truly love to do.
I have sent in more fiction submissions than I can count and I have gotten just as many rejection letters in return.
Now any book or article you read about writing will tell you to take the rejections with a grain of salt. Of course the people that tell you that are always published writers and authors. Sure they've been there and done that, and I'm sure they know what they are talking about, but it is hard not to take rejection to heart.
I don't suppose that I can complain, many of the rejection letters I've received have been very positive, at least as positive as rejections go. Usually they are along the lines of " I liked the story, but it's not what we're looking for right now" , " strong writing, but we'll have to pass this time", or something similar. Even though I believe that they are genuine in their response it does make you feel like your significant other is leaving you and saying "it's not you, it's me." No matter how you look at it, you're still getting dumped.
While I try to heed the advice I read, being told that what you write isn't what anyone seems to be looking for gets to you after a while. You can't help but start to second guess yourself and wonder if you have any talent at all. You think that maybe I'm one of those people with all the "need" to write in the world, tons of stories to tell, but not the talent. I've read the books and done all the other things unpublished writers are told to do, but still nothing. It is enough to make you want to give up.
Regardless of how it may sound I have no intentions of giving up on my writing, yet. I'll keep sending my stories out there to risk rejection and keep hoping they one day I'll be writing a book or article telling unpublished authors to take rejections with a grain of salt.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
You are how you are pt 2
In my previous post I made the comment that writers are not made they are born and that people can't just become writers if they do not have the drive/need to write. In retrospect, and after reading a few very good articles on the topic, I've decided to amend this comment.
Anyone can learn to write. Anyone who can read a book can master the technical skills necessary to create a readable story, article, or whatever. However, it is the need to write and the ability to become emotionally involved with what you are writing, by putting a bit of yourself into it that truly makes a good writer. I've read numerous stories that honestly weren't technically correct, and I've likely written more than my share, but I still enjoyed them because the writer cared about what they wrote, they were a part of the story. That, at least to me, is the essence of a writer.
Anyone can learn to write. Anyone who can read a book can master the technical skills necessary to create a readable story, article, or whatever. However, it is the need to write and the ability to become emotionally involved with what you are writing, by putting a bit of yourself into it that truly makes a good writer. I've read numerous stories that honestly weren't technically correct, and I've likely written more than my share, but I still enjoyed them because the writer cared about what they wrote, they were a part of the story. That, at least to me, is the essence of a writer.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Who you are, is who you've always been.
I didn't always want to be a writer, although I guess I have always been one and didn't know it.
If you read the countless books, magazines and blogs on the topic you will overwhelmingly find that writers are born, not made. You can't just decide one day that you are going to be a fiction writer and actually do it. You may have the technical skill, and you may have the necessary knowledge, but you may lack the most important element, the need. Writing is something you need to do. You can't quit coming up with stories to tell and you just have to get them out of your head.
Granted even if you have the need, you may lack the talent or you may never take the plunge and actually write something, but somewhere in the back of your mind, the need is there. Maybe you can suppress it and do something more successful with your life, but the desire will always been there in some capacity.
I honestly think that most people are what they will become long before they realize their calling. As a child I wanted to be an aerospace engineer, a superhero, a comic book artist, a psychiatrist, a teacher, a rock star, and a politician. Not once did I ever consider writing as a viable career choice. Granted it still isn't a viable career, but I'm trying to change that.
My mom was a writer and spent years chasing the elusive big book deal. Rejection letter after rejection letter she kept on writing. Why would anyone submit themselves to that kind of punishment? For the only reason there is, she needed to do it.
Whether you attribute it to growing up with a writer as a parent or too much time reading comics books and watching movies, I always had a vivid imagination. There was always a story developing in my head. Sometimes I found it hard to concentrate on such mundane tasks as school work or my job when I had a hero trapped in a volcano that was about to erupt. How could I leave the poor guy just sitting there waiting to die while I did a price check on detergent or took a math test?
The older I got the more detailed these mental movies became, the heroes developed lifelike personalities as did the villains and supporting characters. I not only knew them by name, but exactly how they would handle nearly any situation. Don't get me wrong, I knew they are imagined, but when you pour so much of your time, creativity and personality into them they take on a life of their own. Much like Gepetto's little wooden boy, they become real.
I was in my mid-twenties when I realized I had been a writer all along. Sure I still want to be a musician or a comic book artist, but those are just other ways to do what I think I was meant to do all along, tell stories. I'm a writer, I always have been and regardless if anything I write ever gets published, I always will be.
If you read the countless books, magazines and blogs on the topic you will overwhelmingly find that writers are born, not made. You can't just decide one day that you are going to be a fiction writer and actually do it. You may have the technical skill, and you may have the necessary knowledge, but you may lack the most important element, the need. Writing is something you need to do. You can't quit coming up with stories to tell and you just have to get them out of your head.
Granted even if you have the need, you may lack the talent or you may never take the plunge and actually write something, but somewhere in the back of your mind, the need is there. Maybe you can suppress it and do something more successful with your life, but the desire will always been there in some capacity.
I honestly think that most people are what they will become long before they realize their calling. As a child I wanted to be an aerospace engineer, a superhero, a comic book artist, a psychiatrist, a teacher, a rock star, and a politician. Not once did I ever consider writing as a viable career choice. Granted it still isn't a viable career, but I'm trying to change that.
My mom was a writer and spent years chasing the elusive big book deal. Rejection letter after rejection letter she kept on writing. Why would anyone submit themselves to that kind of punishment? For the only reason there is, she needed to do it.
Whether you attribute it to growing up with a writer as a parent or too much time reading comics books and watching movies, I always had a vivid imagination. There was always a story developing in my head. Sometimes I found it hard to concentrate on such mundane tasks as school work or my job when I had a hero trapped in a volcano that was about to erupt. How could I leave the poor guy just sitting there waiting to die while I did a price check on detergent or took a math test?
The older I got the more detailed these mental movies became, the heroes developed lifelike personalities as did the villains and supporting characters. I not only knew them by name, but exactly how they would handle nearly any situation. Don't get me wrong, I knew they are imagined, but when you pour so much of your time, creativity and personality into them they take on a life of their own. Much like Gepetto's little wooden boy, they become real.
I was in my mid-twenties when I realized I had been a writer all along. Sure I still want to be a musician or a comic book artist, but those are just other ways to do what I think I was meant to do all along, tell stories. I'm a writer, I always have been and regardless if anything I write ever gets published, I always will be.
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