In a couple of months, I’ll be giving a talk about the ways you can go from unpublished to published. It’ll include things to look for that will let you know that you’re getting close. I’m not going to go through everything that I’ll talk about…mainly because I haven’t written my speech yet. *g* That said, I would like to mention the most important thing that ANY writer can do to tip the scales in their favor. What is it, you ask?
DECIDE TO TAKE THE WRITING SERIOUSLY.
Simple, isn’t it? You probably thought I was going to come up with something profound. Okay, those of you who know me probably didn’t. *ggg* I’ll have no comments from the peanut gallery.
You’d be surprised how many people haven’t taken that final mental step. I hear writers talking about everything from blogging to starting multiple stories. I listen to tales of woe over their inability to finish a manuscript. And let me tell you, they have some whopper good reasons. But here’s the thing, you will never become published until you make a conscious decision to take the writing seriously. Never.
Back in 2001, I was attending an online romance writing class at Gotham Writer’s Workshop. (My dh had talked me into it.) Up until that point, I’d only dabbled in writing. I’d attended classes on and off for years, but never stuck with it long enough to see if I had any real talent for it. I was still a senior flight attendant, working for one of the domestic carriers. Everything was going well. I was having a great time. I even took a trip to New York in July of that year. It was a beautiful city. Still is.
I returned home and a couple of months later the world as I knew it ended. Now I won’t go into specifics. Let’s just say that flying stopped being fun for me after 911 and leave it at that. We all have been changed by that tragedy. Some far more than others. The one major thing that changed for me was the shift in how I viewed my writing. Before that fateful date, I was playing at being a writer. The day after, I decided life was way too short to keep putting off my dream. Someday had suddenly turned into now. In that moment of utter clarity, I made a conscious decision to take the writing seriously. The second I did, something inside of me shifted and locked. I can’t explain the sensation. It was both freeing and terrifying all at once.
I knew being a writer was what I wanted to do with my life. I also knew that I wouldn’t let anything prevent me from obtaining my dream. On that day, I chose to become a ‘real’ writer. No longer would I be someone who dabbles and never finishes a manuscript. I wouldn’t complete one book, then never write another. No, I was in it for the long haul. That decision changed everything for me.
A year and two contest finals later, I sold my first manuscript. If I can do it, anyone can.
Have you made the conscious decision to take the writing seriously? If not, why?
No related posts.
Thank you for this post.
For me, I always knew in the back of my mind I wanted to be a writer, but I never made the conscious decision to write until my soon-to-be husband asked me: “If you could do anything you wanted with your life, what would you do?” After hemming and hawing about this and that, I admitted I wanted to be a writer. He told me if I wanted to write, then write. Simple statement, but it had a profound effect on me. I’ve been writing ever since.
Wonderful post.
I wish someone had made that very basic principle real to me thirty years ago.
My own decision point was not as moving as yours, but it was similar in nature; linked to my own mortality. I turned fifty. For the first time in my life I suspected that the years ahead of me might be fewer than the years behind. I realized that though I’d always wanted to be a writer, I was running out of chances to become one.
The effects of that epiphany is reflected in these numbers (and part of what follows is a copy-and-paste from an entry in my Live Journal about this very subject):
Word counts:
1,000,000 years BC – 2003 = not worth counting.
2004 = 118,000 words
2005 = 220,000 words
2006 = 163,000 words
These are not words I’ve written.
These are words mailed to professional markets.
(About 48,000 of the words listed from both 2005 and 2006 are in the form of various original short stories currently in the mail to markets or on editors’ desks.)
My production for 2006 fell short of the goals I set for myself in two respects.
First, the raw word count is 27,000 words short of my objective.
Second, and more important, there’s a disturbing number of unfinished projects in the 2006 inventory. Three original novels, in fact. Though I realize this reflects my uncertainty in entering a new era of unexplored territory as a writer, I’m disturbed about what this indicates about my sticktoitiveness.
My word count goal for 2007:
Complete one original novel.
Mail an additional 180,000 words to paying markets.
(Any media tie-in novels will count against the 180,000 words, BUT it will not count as the original novel.)
Write, mail repeat.
I also see several of my friends with wonderful talent held back only by their lack of confidence. It’s not an ‘emotionally ready’ thing. That’s a maturity issue. Their stumbling block is FEAR. The hard part as a friend is that I can’t defeat that dragon for them. Only they can.:sad:
Ah, yes, the infamous, “Am I going to do this as a hobby or am I for real?” question. Mine wasn’t as dramatic as yours, but it came about after my father’s death at the age of 40. I was a freshman in college and after that I started writing heavily, but still not with “serious” intent. I just worked enough to finish a novel. I was recovering from the traumatic event. But once I’d settled as much as anyone settles from an event like that, I had the pivotal moment. Entering grad school, I literally sat down and asked myself whether I intended to do this seriously, to actively seek publication, or whether I’d just continue writing “for fun.”
Obviously, I chose to be serious about it.
BTW, I’m here courtesy of our mutual agent. In case you were wondering who the hell I am.
A few years before “retiring” from corporate, when I was trying to figure out what to do next, I entered a romance writing contest (Ponder Publishing, remember them?) and placed second. That gave me the first inkling that I could write professionally.
But it wasn’t until I switched to having summers off between contract gigs that I committed heart and soul.
Hi Jordan.
I seem to be bumping into you in different venues — wonderful post, great advice.
It may sound strange, but I actually had this “confirmation” moment after I’d sold 6 books, LOL. My path to being a fiction writer has been highly irregular — I never planned on being here. I was teaching college and had re-educated, and was looking for environmental jobs a few years ago. I wrote a book just to see if I could, and as luck would have it, there weren’t all that many environmental jobs available in my area, and my book sold… soooo, dh and I decided I should give the writing thing a shot.
So I did — and 6 books in, I had a bad year — you know, the ones we’ll all face with rejections on top of rejections, being in between contracts, no ideas working, etc. The rug gets pulled out from underneath.
I wanted to quit, and did, for about 12 hours — but I woke up the next morning and that was when I chose to be a writer, for real.
Life being life, people get laid off from companies they’ve worked for for 25 years or established publishers and lines close in the wink of an eye, so I think it’s fair to never feel too secure in this business, and to have other options. However, it did change everything in my life and my writing when I actively committed to being a writer. I was happier for one thing, and more determined to make it. I had purpose.
For me it had nothing to do with dallying. I’ve never really been a dallying type, which is why I finished my first book and sold it, and the 5 consecutive ones after it — finishing tasks wasn’t a problem — but really commimtting mentally, making that decision to work through the hard times and not give up when there was no money, no contracts, no love, LOL, THAT was what choosing to be a writer meant to me. Because those are the things the established writers live through (over and over again, it seems). You don’t give up, unless they throw you out, and then you still keep going, if you can.
Sam
Yes, it’s ye olde ‘if you treat it like a hobby, that’s what it’ll always be’ idea. Quite true.
I know people who’ve spent YEARS talking about writing. That’s what a lot of people do. Talk about it. If even half of that energy was spent doing the actual writing and putting it out there, I think they’d be surprised.
My moment came after the sniper attacks here in the DC area. Like 9/11, it shook my world and made me realize how fragile life is. If someone could get killed from doing something simple like pumping gas, then what was I waiting for? It was time to take action.
I wrote my first book On the Run in less than a year. I treated it like a part time job and would write in the evenings after my day job and on the weekends. I didn’t stop until I finished. Then I started the next.
I wasn’t sure how to go about getting my books published until I was encouraged to submit On the Run in a contest. First prize being a contract from Linden Bay Romance. Well, I won and the rest is history. I keep writing (although I’ve lost some of that discipline I had with On the Run) and as long as people are reading what I write, I’m happy.
Great post Jordon!
B.E., I experienced something very similar. My dh asked me the same question in the latter part of 2000. I was just surprised that the answer was the same one I gave when I was 12 years. *ggg*
Wow KeVin, That is quite a schedule. You make me feel lazy.
*ggg* And yes I know, no one can make you feel anything. 
I think the most important thing is that you started. Many people would’ve used age as an excuse NOT to write.
Kimber An, I’m not sure I agree. Obviously, you have to have a certain level of maturity (that I don’t think has anything to do with age) and a decent level of confidence. I’d sang in rock bands before working for the airline, so I knew what rejection was like in the music business. I entered writing much like I entered everything else in my life, blissfully unaware of the pitfalls. LOL! For me, this was for the best because I avoided focusing on how ‘hard’ the publishing business can be and approached it like a game. In the end, it really did boil down to me making a conscious decision to take the writing seriously.
Joshua, I didn’t think anything of you being here…other than it was groovy that you dropped by.
I do think it’s interesting that many of the people who’ve made a conscious decision to take the writing seriously did so after a traumatic event.
Kimber, Contests can be very motivating.
Samantha, I’d say I get around, but I’m afraid people would take that wrong. *ggg* I don’t think it’s odd that it took you six books to decide to take the writing seriously. Making that conscious decision comes to different people at different times in their lives. For some, it never comes. I went through a period last year where I seriously considered quitting. The problem I encountered with the decision was that I had no idea what I’d do, if I did quit. Nothing came to mind, so I went back to writing.
Raine, That’s because talking about writing is a lot more fun than actually ‘doing’ the writing. *g*
Kimber, I meant to say that I’ve actually never heard of Ponder Publishing. Hmm…
Melanie, Epiphanies come at the strangest moments. Mine came while sitting in a hospital room, watching the towers fall over and over and over again. I’m glad you made the decision to write. The rest boils down to developing a habit of putting your butt in a seat and writing something every single day.
Great post, Jordan! I think the hardest thing to do when we start out writing is to give ourselves permission to flouder a bit at first. Figuring out the perfect writing style, pattern, etc for myself is something I seem to still be evolving through. BUT the first thing I DID do was sit in my chair and write every single day. That’s when the “writing seriously” part took on a whole new perspective for me.
Patrice, You’re right, nothing beats the butt in the seat process. *ggg*
Kimber An, I was just making sure.
I think you’ve made a great point here, one with which I can identify because I just (in the last few months) made the switch-over, I think. For me, it was committing myself to the Internet that did it, strangely enough. Once I created a website with my name and “author,” and once I created a blog and started writing about my actual journey through the process, I think something clicked. I just contracted my first novel with an e-publisher (after 5 years of writing and 4 complete novels) and am thrilled.
I do have to say, though, that I think it is a lot easier to write of yourself as a “serious,” committed writer if you sell a manuscript after 1 year. That’s an awfully short amount of time to be plugging away, without experiencing the years of rejection letters and “close but not close enough” responses that a lot of writers get.
Word.
man, jordan, take all the fun out of it. i don’t want to be serious.
on the serious side… *G* If you don’t finish that MS, it’s going to be very hard to sell.
Oh yeah, and let me tell you it’s kicking my butt. The only thing different this time is that I’m not going to be scared off because I’ve hit a small wall. Nope, this time I’m kicking at that wall until either my foot falls off or the wall gives way.
After I graduated from uni I fiddled around with short fiction for several years, but rarely finished anything off. I used those same sloppy skills on a novel, which I didn’t finish either. In fact, from 1994-1999 I barely managed 25,000 words.
Then, late in 1999, I got a leaflet for a contest: Random House Australia wanted unpublished SF manuscripts for their George Turner Prize, and first place was a chunk of cash and publication. The problem was I only had ten weeks to finish my book. So, I put everything aside and got serious.
And I did it. I got the book in on time. It didn’t win the contest but it did make the shortlist, and I’ve taken my writing seriously ever since.
Best advice I ever got about writing came from my grandfather. “Get the seat of your pants in the seat of the chair.”
Deceptively simple, no?
Allie B., Congratulations!
I know my personal experience isn’t typical. When I say that I only took the writing seriously starting from 2000/2001 doesn’t mean I didn’t write before that. *wg* I’d been writing romantic fiction since I was 15 years old. I just didn’t pursue publication prior to that period of time. I actually didn’t seriously pursue publication until 2002. Prior to that I was simply enjoying the classes and entering contests. 
Thanks Kimber and Lauren.
Shiloh, Yep, finishing the book helps a lot.
Bailey, Jump forward in the novel or start taking notes on the possible events that can take place in the story. Both will help ‘unstick’ you.
Simon, That’s wonderful! All you needed it seems was the right motivation.
Erin, Smart man.
I love this post – it hits near and dear to my heart. What I wanted to add is that a lot of writers, once they start to take it seriously, misunderstand what it means to have a writing CAREER. I can’t count how many times I have heard a writer fantasize about writing a couple books, sitting on his porch, watching the cows walk lazily by, as he attempts to come up with another book idea. They seem to be under the impression that writers have a lot of relaxing down time once they get published. I hate to burst the bubble, but… that’s the easy part! Now you have to go out, make appearences, do signings, give presentations, market your name as a brand, market your novels through every available outlet you can find, including the net, blogs, websites, forums, etc. All of that, while working on your next novel and short story, because you aren’t allowed to stagnate – your readers demand more new content, or they leave, and then you have no sales. Being a writer, a novelist particularly, is an all consuming task. You have expectations from publishers, editors, agents and most importantly, your fans. And they are demanding, let me tell you.
New writers want to be aware of this. Even brand names like Stephen King, J.K. Rowling and Danielle Steele are bound to this same thing. That’s why they don’t have a lot of time for fan mail – they’re swamped with obligations. Truly successful authors are always out there, pushing and marketing.
So keep this in mind when you make that decision – it’s not a 9-5 job! LOL
Very good point indeed, Dan! Most people don’t realize that the work is only beginning once you make that sale. :-/ There’s an old saying in the music business that goes something like this: You have a lifetime to write that first CD and nine months to come up with a follow-up. I believe the same is true with writing books.
Great post, Jordan!
It’s amazing what the universe sends your way when you decide to take a stand for yourself and what’s important to you. I think that’s the key – committing to yourself, and validating that what you want to do: writing: is worth the time and the effort because you and your dreams are worth the time and the effort. When you take yourself and your dreams seriously, there’s no stopping you.
Ursula, You’re absolutely right. It’s a VERY powerful mindset.