Choices For Writers

Choosing

When my now-adult grandchildren were toddlers, their mother had daily lessons in making selections, or choosing between two items. She'd hold up two outfits and ask "Which one do you want to wear today?" or she would let them decide between two options of what to have for lunch. At the time, I remember thinking what a wise thing to do. I'm pretty sure those two little girls are adults today who have no problem in making choices--at least, most of the time. 

As writers, we have choices to make, too. We must choose in what genre we want to concentrate on. We also need to make choices when we are ready to submit our work. We must choose how much time to devote to our writing. 

What should I write?  Some writers have no problem with this question. They know right from the start that they want to write novels, or poetry, or inspirational essays. I thought I wanted to write for children, that I would be perfectly satisfied with that type of writing. Guess what? I learned by trying other kinds of writing that my strength was not in writing for children. Nope. Creative nonfiction was my stronger suit. 

The only way I learned this was by trying several different kinds of writing. I didn't try technical writing or scientific writing. I knew I had no interest in them. I did try some memoir/family stories, then personal essays and even some poetry. I also wrote a few short stories for adults, but I soon realized that was not for me. Children's fiction was more of my thing. I continued to write some poetry because I liked it, not that I was a wonderful poet. I finally concentrated on all the different areas of creative nonfiction and articles on the craft of writing. I liked both and seemed to have good luck in publishing them. 

So, the point is that you should try many different kinds of writing until you find the place where you feel comfortable, write well, and have some success. Poets can write prose and vice-versa. By trying different categories of writing, you might surprise yourself, or you might realize that your first choice either was or wasn't the best one for you. You won't know that until you give other kinds of writing a try. 

Choices in submitting your writing:  Writers have choices in places to submit their work. You can go to the top publishers right away, or you can start small and work your way up. If you're a novelist, small presses might be a good place to begin. But maybe you don't want to do that; you may think it a waste of time. Go big from the start. That's fine. You are the one in charge. If you write short pieces, there are numerous websites/ezines that you can submit to. Or, you can go big from the beginning with top name magazines or newspapers. There are no hard and fast rules. You make the choices.

Time devoted to writing:  Here's another choice writers must make. If you're a part-time writer or a hobbyist writer you choose how much time to spend each day pursuing writing. The freelance writer who writes for a full-time job doesn't have much choice. Even so, a professional writer can choose what part of the day to write. It's not a 9 to 5 job. The part-time writer has to choose the amount of time to write and also where to fit it into the rest of his/her life. Once again, the choice is yours.

You do have choices, but once you choose something, you don't have to stick to it. No need to never waver. Choose this or that. If it works, great. If it doesn't, then choose something else. You're the one in charge.