The other day I was talking to an old blogging pals (old, as in I knew her before I published, way back in the day when I used to blog daily about how Battlestar Galactica was ruining my life because THE DRAMA! WOE WOE! and how saddened I was when Buffy was going off the air WOE WOE!) and we got on the subject of writing, publishing, etc. I ended up spewing word vomit all over her as I shared some of the things I’ve dealt with/had to realize in my quest to publish.
Now, I’m going to share them with you.
(And, yes, some of these are of the common sense variety. Sometimes the easiest things are also the hardest.)
Don’t give up. If this is what you want to do, keep trying. With the way publishing evolves and changes, WHO KNOWS what next year will bring. (Honestly, this applies to everything in life, doesn’t it? If you want something bad enough, DON’T GIVE UP.)
Start building your platform now. Let people know you’re an author. And -TRUTH- if you’re writing, you are an author, you just aren’t published yet. Let people know you’re working toward that goal. Sharing your plans sometimes gives you that extra push to finish what you’ve started.
If you don’t have a website under the name you’re going to write with (I use a pen name, so I snapped up KellyApple.com as soon as I settled on it), get one. Then, start blogging about writing. Share any goals you set for yourself. Talk about writing. Talk about reading. Talk about accomplishments. (I’m the type of person who does much better when other people know what I have planned. For me, it’s a lot harder to quit when you know you’re letting people down. I wonder what that says about me.)
Find someone you trust to give you feedback. Someone who can say things the way you’re comfortable hearing it. That sounds funny, but I work a lot better with someone who says “This doesn’t quite flow with the previous section…” as opposed to “This is a mess! You need to fix it!” They might be saying the same thing, but it’s all in the way they say it.
Grow a thick skin. Not everyone will like what you write. Period. Accept that and move along.
Typos happen. No matter how many times you look over a story, a manuscript, an email, a blog post… TYPOS HAPPEN. I used to be terrified of sharing my work because it wasn’t perfect. You know what? NOTHING’S PERFECT. Do your due diligence. Do what you can to catch those errors, but don’t let fear of putting out something imperfect stop you in your tracks.
There you have it. Advice from someone who got bit on the butt last weekend by her nephew. So, you know, take it as you will.
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