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YOU
HAVE TO WANT
IT BAD
by Susan
Taylor Brown
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There are two kinds
of writers: those who want to write and those who want to have written.
Let’s talk about the second group first.
People who
want to
“have written” tend to hang around with writers and talk about the big
plans they have after their book hits the bestseller list. They join
critique groups but don’t share their work, or if they do, they don’t
take any constructive criticism to heart. They plan to write “someday”
when they retire or their kids are raised or they win the lottery and
build that big office on the hill facing the ocean.
What they don’t do
is write.
The first group of
writers wants to write and publish so bad they can taste it. They eat,
drink, and sleep words. They hear voices — the voices of characters
demanding the chance to tell their stories. They watch life play out in
front of them and wonder how they can use it in a book. They take
classes, join critique groups, get up early and write before work or
stay up late to write long after everyone else in the house has gone to
bed. They write, rewrite, and then write some more.
Which group are you
in?
With writing, as
with most things in life, you have to put yourself into it before you
get something out of it. That means giving up some of that time you
used to spend watching television, playing games, sleeping late, or
even hanging out with friends and family. Because get one thing
straight right now: Writing is work. It means realizing that the first
or second or third or maybe even the tenth version of a story still
might not be ready for publication, and it means submitting rejected
manuscripts again and again until they find a home.
Perseverance wins.
Think about your
most well-written manuscript at the moment. Have you sent it out yet?
How many rejection slips have you collected on it? Two? Three? Ten?
Not enough.
Robert M.
Pirsig's bestselling book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance was rejected more than 120 times before being published.
To Think That I Saw
It on Mulberry Street, by Dr. Seuss, collected 29 rejection slips
before it found a home.
Stephen King
received 84 rejections for a short story that eventually sold to
Cavalier magazine.
How many rejection
slips are in your bottom drawer right now? Why aren’t those
manuscripts back in the mail already?
Thinking about
writing isn’t writing.
Talking about
writing isn’t writing.
Dreaming about
writing isn’t writing.
Only writing is
writing.
Millions of people
dream of publishing a book someday but that’s all they do about it
—dream.
You might not have
any control over whether or not an editor buys your work, but
you do
have control over finishing your manuscript and getting it into the
editor’s hands.
Writers love to
procrastinate. We can find 101 other things to do instead of write,
even when we have an idea nagging at us, begging to be put down on
paper. If you want to write you have to sit down and write. If
you want to be published, you have to send your words out into the
world and take your chances with the rest of us. It’s as simple, and as
difficult, as that. The more you write, the better you get and the
better your chances of actually being published.
Exercise your
writing muscles.
Put in the time to
learn your craft and realize that yes, you will have to pay some dues
along the way. Little girls practice for years before they become lead
ballerinas. A football team practices for hours every day before the
big game. Musicians expect to play a lot of scales. Yet many new
writers balk at the thought of putting in the same amount of dedication
and determination to become better writers. Just because you learned
how to write sentences in the first grade doesn’t mean you already know
how to write. Do your homework, practice, and read, read, read.
If you want to
write a mystery, read mysteries. Lots of them. Are short stories for
the Christian market your thing? Send for sample copies of the
magazines you want to write for and read the stories. Want to try your
hand at a self-help article in the women’s market? You know what to do
— read.
Writing takes work.
Hard work.
It takes
perseverance. It takes believing in yourself and in your right to
write, even when no one else seems to care.
"Take chances. You
will succeed if you are fearless of failure," says author Natalie
Goldberg in her inspirational book Writing Down The Bones.
So you want to be a
writer? Great! But remember, you get out of your writing and your
career what you put into it. There's no shortcut.
You have to want it
bad. Bad enough to do the work, and then work some more.
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