Writers Need Discipline

The quote above from Pearl Buck should be heeded. She wrote a myriad number of books. She'd never have been able to do so if she did not do exactly what she says above. We've all seen references to writer or painters or musicians who claim they must be in the mood to write, paint or perform. Maybe, but it could also be a fine excuse for not getting the job done.

As writers, we need discipline. To define it more succinctly, we must have self-discipline. Yes, it is up to us to create a work plan and stick to it. Many writers spend all morning writing and save the afternoon for other things in life. Some do the opposite, get things done in the morning and spend the afternoon creating stories and essays. Still, others are the night writers. They have full-time day jobs that mean the evening and beyond is the only time available to them. The time itself is not the important thing. The fact that you have a set time.  Does it mean you are doomed if you break it? Of course not, but try to stay with the schedule as much as possible.

We also must discipline ourself to work on unfinished writing projects. If you are stuck in the middle of a chapter or can't get the final verse of a poem to feel right, it's good to set it aside for a while. What is not good is to let it sit for weeks or months and not get back to revising. Yes, we sometimes must push ourselves to do that. Self-discipline comes to play here.

What about submissions? That takes discipline, too. Sometimes writers want to do nothing but the actual writing. They don't enjoy submitting and marketing and branding. Just give me a laptop and leave me alone to write. If you want to be published, to be a known name in the writing world, you will need to discipline yourself to set aside a specified amount of time to do the writing-related jobs. 

So often, I've finished a post by saying something like It's up to you. That simple statement works for this post, too. Give yourself a mental tongue-lashing if you have trouble with discipline in your writing world. I've been known to give myself what I term a 'verbal spanking' when I know I should have been doing a better job or have been lackadaisical. Discipline takes a strong hand, even when it is self-discipline. 

Writers--There's A Place For Short

Writers have decisions to make when they are new to the craft. What will I write? Long or short? Jump right in and start writing the novel that's been zipping around my mind for far too long? Or start with a few short stories before tackling a full-length book?

I am of the opinion that starting out with short stories will make you a better novelist in the long run. Master the many facets of fiction in a short story first. But I wanna write a book! Don't we all? (Well, lots of us) One doesn't just sit down and write a book. If you do, you'll most likely run into one brick wall after another. Try the short story first. You'll meet enough problems there, but perhaps they can be solved a bit more easily than the ones in the big book project.

There's nothing wrong with writing short. In fact, there is a huge market for short pieces of all kinds. I think the list below is impressive. You have so many choices in writing short.

• Opinion essays
• Personal essays
• Literary essays
• Persuasive essays
• Short stories--fiction
• Memoir
• Articles--nonfiction
• Poetry
• Fiction stories for Children
• Nonfiction for children
• Inspirational pieces
• Speechwriting
• Sketches 
• One-act plays
• Advertising copy
• Profiles

I'm sure there are some I did not add to the list. There could be several sub-headings under each of the above, as well.

There's a place for short in your writing life. Look at the reasons to consider short on your writing journey.

• Takes less time
• Great for the impatient writer
• Less research
• Large selection of kinds of writing
• Writers turn out more short pieces than books
• Pay is less but adding up several sales makes a difference
• Good practice for writing longer works

When non-writers meet a writer, they want to know about the book or types of books you write. No one ever says What short pieces are you working on? The average reader considers only books. Yet, they read articles in the newspaper which are all shorts. There are also readers who enjoy reading essays and short stories and a bit of poetry now and then. Short pieces that someone had to write. 

How about those stories I urge you to write to preserve your family history? Short pieces that can be assembled into a book form. The same goes for memoir writers. Writing a full-length memoir fills a need, is a big undertaking, and involves lots of shorter memories. Why not write some short memoir pieces to help you get ready to write the big one? 

If you've never written a book, that's fine. There is a place for short!

A Pep Talk For You and Me

Most writers have ideas for writing projects. Family members give serious thought to writing their family stories. Some writers dream of writing a novel or a memoir. They have the entire thing mapped out in their heads. As long as these projects are merely thoughts, they are never going to come to fruition. 

What's holding you back? Why do you think about entering your best personal essay in a contest but simply never get around to doing it? What makes you dream about creating a large book of family stories that you can present to family members as a fabulous gift, but it never happens? Why do you think about joining a writing group but can't seem to get it accomplished? Why do you see a book about writing in a bookstore, look at the frontispiece, give thought to reading it but slip it back on the shelf? 

We've talked about fear, doubt and lack of confidence being the culprits. A post from several days ago addresses all three. If you missed it, read it here. I'm not going to go into detail on those problems in today's post.

What I do want to bring to your attention is that it is entirely up to you to 'unleash your inner awesome' as our poster tells us. If you only think about writing projects, you know they will never see the light of day. If you know you are capable of writing, then get started. Afraid it might not come out well? So what? Get that first draft written. Consider the first draft as the springboard to a finished product. 

A mountain climber will never reach the summit unless he/she takes the first step, the second and third and keeps going. Sitting at the bottom of the mountain thinking about the climb gets him/her nowhere. The only thing it does is delay what he/she had come to do. It wastes precious time. Wait too long and he/she will gather their gear and head home. Maybe tomorrow, they think. Not so different from the writer who can't take that first step in writing a novel or a special poem. 

Time for true confessions. I have delayed and delayed submitting to my state writing contest. This 'pep talk' post is as much for me as it is for any other writer who finds himself/herself postponing a writing project or submitting work to a contest or for publication. I know it's time for me to get with it and work on polishing a few pieces I've thought about entering. I'm having difficulty choosing what to send. Maybe the answer is to send all that I feel good about. The deadline is only a month away, so I need to get moving. 

How about taking that first step and unleashing what is swirling around inside your head? Let it come forth. An old adage comes to mind:  Once begun, you're almost done. With a writing project that might not hold true as we can take weeks or months from start to end. Even so, once begun, you're on your way to the finish line. 

A Link To Writing Contests and More

May Flowers--Just because...

Besides publications, writers should consider entering contests. If you place, you will get a prize or publication and a credit to add to your file. If you lose, you still gain by preparing an entry and submitting. That in itself is good experience.

Yesterday, I accidentally ran across a link to a blog written by author, Erica Verillo. The title is Publishing...And Other Forms of Insanity. Clever. The post I found was one that had a list of 16 recurring writing contests to enter that have no fees. Sixteen in on fell swoop is a treasure trove. Check it out here. Be sure to read what Ms. Verillo has to say about entering contests. I couldn't have said it better myself. 

I've heard writers ask where one finds information about writing contests. It's not difficult to put writing contests in a search engine and wait seconds for the list they'll send. You can refine your search by using keywords like writing contests with no fees or writing contests with cash prizes. I'm amazed at the number of people who don't take advantage of a search engine to help find whatever it is they are seeking. 

Keep in mind that many no-entry-fee contests give smaller prizes or just publication as a prize. For many writers, that's just fine. If you're aiming for the big prize money, expect a large entry fee. It's the way these contest managers accumulate the funds to award to the winners. 

Does your state writers association have an annual contest? Maybe the individual districts run writing contests, as well. Our local library sponsors a writing contest for school children to commemorate Martin Luther King Day. Check your own local library for contest possibilities. 

Many writers shy away from contests because they have little confidence in their own writing ability. You'll never know if you are a winner if you don't enter. Pump yourself up a bit and send in a piece you feel good about. The very first poem I submitted to a contest won 1st place. No one was more surprised than I. At the time, I had written very little poetry, knew next to nothing about writing poetry. Even so, I came up with a winner. So, I know it can happen. It doesn't matter if it is a poem, an essay. a memoir piece or fiction. 

I think that we enter contests because we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Well, maybe you lose the entry fee, but you wouldn't have entered if you had a problem with losing that bit of cash. For the winners, what better boost of confidence can a writer have? 

Check the list in the link above to see if there are any contests you might consider entering. Then look for others via a search engine. As for me, my state writing contest deadline is only a month away. I have several pieces in mind to submit, but it's time for me to get them in final form and entered. 

When Your Writing Is Rejected

Yes or No? What will she say? Or is it, what will he say?

Yesterday, my Guest Blogger, Molly Flowers, gave a case for rejection. She had a viewpoint that many writers may not have considered before. Lots of food for thought. If you didn't have an opportunity to read it, check it out here.

The silhouette image above shows a man and woman, one of whom may have to deal with rejection. It's difficult to determine which one is the rejector and which the rejectee! It doesn't matter because rejection still hurts, no matter who is the recipient. These two people are not writer and editor, but most likely a couple about to break up. Haven't most of us been there at some time in our life? Were you the one to who hurt the other one, or were you the person who got hurt? If you've lived a few decades, you might have been on both sides at different moments. Maybe you wondered if you'd even live through the situation. You began to doubt yourself as a person. You didn't want to try for another relationship. Not ever again! 

Guess what? A writer who receives a rejection after submitting his/her work has many of the same emotions. Thoughts run through your mind, one tumbling over another. Things like:  That stupid editor doesn't know a good thing when he sees it. I'll never submit another piece. Not ever! Who needs to be hurt like that? I must be the world's worst writer. What's wrong with me? We all go through it. Get the thoughts out and then move on.

Once you're over the pity party (oh yes, we all hold a little pity party right after the rejection comes), ask yourself some questions. 

• Did I pick the wrong market?
• Did I follow the submission guidelines carefully?
• Did I send a clean, edited copy?
• Did I proof and edit more than once?
• Was my opening one that grabbed the reader?
• Did I have more telling or more showing?
• Did I use lots of active verbs?
• Did I have a beginning, middle and ending? Or was it a jumble?
• Did I over-emote?
• Did I use similes and metaphors to bring my story to life? 
• Did I spend enough time looking for a market to submit to? 
• Did I use sensory details to make the story realistic?
• Do I need to scrap this piece or revise and submit again?
• This is an important one:  Is it possible the piece I sent is just fine but the publication couldn't use it anytime soon? That they may have published something in the same vein in recent weeks?  

When you answer the questions above, try to be objective. Attempt reading that submission as if someone else had written it. How would you critique it? 

I wouldn't suggest answering the questions above immediately after receiving the rejection. Give it a couple days before you tackle it. 

Submit the revised piece to another publication when you feel you're ready. We all know stories about very successful writers who submitted a zillion times before finding that success. So, what makes us think we're going to hit the jackpot the first time out? It can happen, but it's nor the norm. 

There's a reason I stay with my two keywords, which are patience and perseverance.

A Case For Rejection

Molly Flowers

My Guest Blogger today is an old friend. Molly did a freewrite exercise not long ago that I thought had some good points in it. I asked her if she'd polish it up a bit and submit it for me to use on this blog. Being not only a good friend but a fine writer, as well, she readily agreed and sent me the following.

Rejection hurts. Your insides shrivel, your brain shrinks, your eyes burn and maybe tears spill over. Rejection might even make you feel like you want to die. In fact, you do die a little, because everything seems to shut down. So why do we writers, and other creatives, set ourselves up for rejection every time we submit our gorgeous words for publication? I am also an artist, and as an artist, I continue to court rejection each time I submit an art quilt for an exhibit. When the inevitable rejection letter comes back, I tell myself I will never, ever go though this pain again -- until the next time.

But rejection doesn’t have to be a negative. I’m a firm believer in the adage, “The Universe will provide what you need, not what you want.” What we need and what we want are totally different outcomes. We might WANT to gain acceptance to a certain exhibit, or to sell an article, or even to wear a Size 10 again, but do we NEED those things? Not necessarily. When faced with rejection, ask yourself what you really need.

During my quest as a new writer to find an agent, I eventually came to expect The Dreaded Rejection Letter. I’d shrug off the disappointment and file the letter away. One more rejection ticked off on the way to the limit I set for myself before giving up. How many rejections can you handle at any one time? One? Two? Twenty? I racked up over forty rejections on my first novel before I decided to move on to a different project.

Luckier with my second novel, I found a publisher before the Fateful Fortieth rejection arrived. He said I only had to make certain changes, and he’d publish my novel. Unfortunately, those changes meant a major rewrite. Since I didn’t even like my main character, I decided not to go through the hassle and moved on. My choice. I thought I wanted that novel published, but it turned out I didn’t need it. What I NEEDED was validation. That’s what the publisher gave me, and that made me happy.

J.K. Rowling collected many more than forty rejections. I forget how many. A  thousand? Whatever. She believed in Harry Potter and needed for her dream to be published, so she kept going. Just look at her reward! Nancy Julien Kopp will tell you to persevere in the face of rejection, to never give up -- and she’s right. But consider, too, the Want vs Need angle.

If your work is continually rejected, that can be a good thing. Why is it being rejected? Take a long, hard look at your product and then decide if putting it out there for public consumption will give you what you want or what you desperately need. If the reward is merely something you want, you may decide to forget it and move on to something that appeals to you more. However, if it’s something you need, you’ll learn from those rejections, make the proper adjustments (even a major rewrite!) and send your work out again and again. Eventually, that rejection stream will end in a sale.

Bio:  Molly Flowers: After 20 years of corporate life, Molly Flowers became a free-lance technical writer and was fortunate enough to retire early from the workaday world. She has had several articles published in magazines and newsletters and 2.5 unpublished novels hiding in the hard drive of her computer. She now spends most of her time attached to the coattails of her globe-trotting husband. When she’s not traveling, she’s immersed in textile art. Although she lived most of her life in Georgia, she now resides in the Low Country of South Carolina. Her textile art website is https://www.mollyflowersart.com/about-the-artist 

Writers Can Conquer Fear and More

Fear looms large in the list of problems writers face. Many times, it's what keeps us from taking the next step on our writing journey. There's another guy that goes hand-in-hand with fear. His name is Doubt. Their sister, Miss Lack-of-Self-Confidence travels with them. Any one of them can wreak havoc on a writer, but put them together and disaster might be the result. 

I wonder if any writer can say that he/she has never had to deal with fear, doubt, or lack of self-confidence at some point. I fall short of calling anyone a liar, but I'd say these people would be hiding from the truth. Granted, there are varying degrees. Take fear, for instance. You can be paralyzed with fear to the point that you can't go on any longer, or you can have just a niggling little bit of it that gives you pause until you push it aside and move on. 

We doubt that we can write for the top name publishers or best magazines so we continue to submit to very small circulation places. We're not confident that we can compete with hundreds of other writers in a contest so we don't enter. We think things like:  I'm not a good enough writer. I'd never get an acceptance at that place. I'm just a so-so writer. I'm only a little fish in a big pond. 

Instead of continuing with that line of thinking, have thoughts that will help your confidence. Positive ones like:  Who says I can't do this? I've got as good a chance as anyone else. If I don't try, I'll never know how far I could go. I'm proud of my writing. 

One way to build your self-confidence is to keep learning about the craft of writing. Read every newsletter or book about writing that comes your way. If they don't fall into your lap, seek them! Go to workshops and conferences. Join writing groups. Have a one-on-one session with another writer. Ask questions. No matter how long you've been writing, there is no end to learning more about this skill. 

Another help is to make a vow to be more positive than negative. Negativity gets you nowhere in a hurry. We must stop putting ourselves down. Instead, make it a point to do all you can to build yourself up. 

There are people who allow fear, doubt and lack of self-confidence to accompany them for a very long time. The subconscious feeling can be that if I have all these problems to deal with, I don't have to produce. In other words, they hide behind their problems, use them as an excuse for why they don't submit their writing or take a long pause in writing. 

Even when we have success with our writing, we have bits of fear and doubt. If an author has a book published for the first time, they can't stop thinking about the reviews, the sales, the publisher's comments. Again, it can go by degrees--from passing thoughts to keep you awake every night reactions.

It's human to have a little fear, doubt and lack of self-confidence at times. A small amount can serve to push us to do better. What we don't want is to let those problems take over and push us away from the writing world, to push us backward rather than forward on our writing journey. I seem to say this often, but you are the one who is in control.