Stop Dreaming and ...

I read a story in the Kansas City newspaper this morning about a woman whose dream involved starting a food van cupcake business. She didn't stop at just dreaming, she set about making it happen. The cupcake vending in the truck was so successful that she started dreaming of a brick and mortar kind of business for her oversized and delicious cupcakes. She got busy and made that happen, too. It's the kind of success story we all like to read about. Read the full story here.

It also made me think about a lot of writers who end up dreaming about being published but that's where it ends. Some writers spend all their time writing, reading about writing, or talking about writing. But they do little or nothing to attempt to have their work published. Why? Let me add that spending time writing is a good thing, and I'm not putting that down at all.

There are many reasons why some writers don't submit their writing to an editor. Sometimes it's just plain fear of rejection. No one likes to be rejected, but if you adjust your attitude a little, it's less painful. When an editor says no, it's not a personal rejection. The story may not fit their publication, or it may be excellent but they have just published a similar story. There are many reasons but hating you as a person is not one of them.

Strange as it sounds, fear of success can also be a factor. If you suddenly start selling your work, more will be expected and maybe you don't want to work that hard. It's then that you need to examine your desire to write and be published. How strong is it?

Another reason it's easier to only dream about seeing your work in print, is that it's darned hard work to market the stories, essays and articles you have written. Time to study the marketplace is greater than most beginning writers are aware of. Checking and following guidelines is of great importance and also time consuming. Putting what you've written in proper submission form also takes time and effort. I've often commented that the writing is the easy part.

If you truly want to see your work published, stop dreaming and do it. Select your best work and start searching for a market. If it comes back, send it somewhere else. As many times as it takes. If you don't try, you'll never achieve the dream. The cupcake lady did it, and you can, too.

Pursuing Your Dream

The picture above was taken about 8 or 9  years ago when our granddaughter, Gracen, tried out a drum set at her neighbor's house. Since she's wearing her tiara, I'm guessing it was her birthday. She looks pretty happy playing with those drums, doesn't she? Right then and there, she started pursuing a dream. She would be a drummer! And that dream has come true after taking drum lessons from the same neighbor and becoming the first chair drummer at her middle school this year. Yesterday was Gracen's 12th birthday. Pretty unusual to see a dream come true at that young age, but it didn't happen without some hard work and a good dose of talent. I have a feeling her success will continue as long as she keeps working hard, and I'm betting she will. We're pretty proud of what she's accomplished so far.

Writers have dreams, too. Whether it's writing the Great American Novel or being published in your local newspaper, we all have thoughts about where we would like to see our writing published. Or perhaps the dream is on a smaller scale, and all you want is to have a fat notebook full of stories about and meant for you family. Whatever it is, it's the gold ring we all want to grab.

Dreams do come true, but like our granddaughter's success with the drums, they seldom happen without a lot of time going by, a good deal of hard work, and some patience. It's not gonna happen without you putting everything you've got into it. So, keep beating your drums. It may take a long time, but it's worth the wait.