The problems writers face when it comes to pushing enter
*Disclaimer- This was originally published on Medium…many moons ago.
My thoughts on publishing this (revised) article comes on the heels of taking the plunge and self-publishing my first book in my Sci-Fi trilogy The Somewhere in Between. It has yet to be a whole 24 hours since I got the news from Amazon Kindle Publishing that my book was LIVE. It was a painless process and I strongly recommend this route.
I’ll post another article on the reasons I decided to go with self-publishing rather than going with a traditional press.
But first…
Publishing can be just as scary as pushing the emergency button to let someone know your place is on fire. Okay, maybe it’s not that bad, but it sure feels like it, am I right?
Most of the time, writers get rejection letters that come in the form of an e-mail.
This happened during the moments I found myself wondering when I’d hear back from that one literary journal. And yes, Sun Magazine was a “no,” but it’s okay I pouted for maybe five minutes… and then I kept submitting my work to other journals.
The good news: My essay was eventually accepted elsewhere and so were three others, also with different literary journals.
Rewind to less than a year ago…
Sometimes we (I’m really referring to me) get to the end of a book we spent writing for the last two years and decide it’s not the book we wanted to write when we finally finished it.
I felt it was too avant garde for my own good (I’m not quite ready to write science fiction about neuroscience and love). I’ve put the binder away and will pursue it another day.
Fast forward to now…
I made sense of my writing during the last few weeks, didn’t feel overwhelmed by the complexities of neuroscience and finished the book out. So, what was my initial problem?
I was too close to my work that I felt completely overwhelmed by the whole process. To my relief, my story line made perfect sense.
If you’re wondering what it takes to become an author you’ve come to the write (pun intended) place.
Today I bring to you stories of some authors who shared their own doubts.
Ayn Rand
My all-time favorite book, The Fountainhead (besides A Tree Grows in Brooklyn), was turned down 12 times. The critics told her it was too philisophical.
Harper Lee
She threw her manuscript To Kill a Mockingbird out the window and into the snow. Thankfully it was retrieved and students of every decade since has read her prose and most likely have seen the black and white film starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Mary Badham as Jean Louise “Scout” Finch.
Margaret Mitchell
She wrote Gone with the Wind and used part of her manuscript to support a couch leg. From this manuscript, it was made into a box office hit with the help of Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara and Clark Gable as Rhett Butler. The film made nearly $400 million dollars.
Summary
Was all their time really wasted or did they learn something from these instances? Do you think if they didn’t get published they would fee like it was all a big fat waste of trees, crossed their arms, and quit writing?
No way!
They continued moving forward and were encouraged to get their story published in the end reached authorship.
Conclusion
If you publish on WordPress, you are an author.
If you are publishing on Medium, you are an author.
If you have sent in an article and someone published it, you are an author.
It sounds like I’m just sugarcoating authorhood, but it’s true.
If you have the guts to share your words with the public, you are an author.
How many times have you heard other people say, I wouldn’t or I couldn’t publish because fill-in-the-blanks.
Those are armpit excuses. If you haven’t heard me say it once here you go,
“Excuses are like armpits. They all stink.”
-Says the Author (although I’m sure other folks have said this)
Get to writing and stop procrastinating the day. Publish that book, article, or story already. I know you have it in you. What’s stopping you? Take a look in the mirror.
No go forth and write already!
Thanks for reading and I hope you’ll join me, so you can hear all the wonderful and not-so-wonderful going ons in my life and the many lessons I learn along the way.
I’m just a Filipina-Chinese American woman living in a rural town writing perspectives from my childhood, parenting, relationships, and how I’m navigating through life as a post-Mo (Post-Mormon).
If you’re interested in reading more lessons learned from my life experience, follow and subscribe @ http://www.medium.com/@desireeharos and for a more literary experience follow and subscribe @ https://desireeharos.substack.com. And to change it up, I offer easy recipes to follow and subscribe @ https://www.newsbreak.com/@c/1599295?s=01https://www.newsbreak.com/@c/1599295?s=01
desireeharos.com 