When I saw this month’s topic, I considered skipping the month. I mean, the obvious fears about publication — that no one will ever buy one of my stories, that I’ll be a one-hit wonder and never sell again, that I’ll never sell to a pro market — I’ve already gotten past by proving them wrong.
So what am I going to talk about? Nothing. Well, I will say that fears are always with us. Every writer I’ve ever heard talk about it is always worried that they can’t do it again, that their next work won’t be as good as their previous one, or won’t be as well received. Yet we go on.
I’ve had my share of angst lately — wanting to sell more frequently to pro markets, wanting to feel like I have a distinctive voice so others will look at something and say, “Oh, hell yeah, of course Erin Hartshorn wrote that” — but the truth is, even while feeling like this, I’m finishing up new stories, editing a novella, planning novels. Because even if I don’t see myself getting to where I want to go, the journey itself is worthwhile.
And now, in a lighter note, for my mom:
Today’s post was inspired by the topic “Publication” — September’s topic in the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour — an ongoing tour where you, the reader, travel around the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. We have all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Be sure to check out the next posts in the series, by Sandra Barret and D. M. Bonanno.
If you want to get to know nearly twenty other writers and find out their thoughts on first stories, check out the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour. You can find links to all of the posts on the tour by checking out the group site. Read and enjoy!
Thank you! I laughed when I saw “the lighter note” and photo. I played it twice, so far.
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🙂 You’re welcome.
And, again.
And, yes. Your just keep writing more and more. That is the secret. It will work.
I’m a bit tired. That’s supposed to be YOU just . . .
But, you knew that.
You know, every time I hear that song I think of how much of an uproar it would be to be taught to kids nowadays, but it’s in my children’s song book and I even knew how to play it on the recorder at one point :). Thanks for the reminder even if it wasn’t for me :).
On the post, that’s an excellent perspective. Honestly, on most of the traditional fears, it’s less fear than kicking myself afterwards when I realized I made a mistake. But then, mistakes happen. That’s how we learn :).
The song came up because my mom was reading a book where the character was teaching the song to children, it being the only one she knew. 😀
So true on mistakes. I’d really prefer a year where I can learn by getting everything right the first time and seeing how it’s done, though. 😉
Margaret, I love sharing favorite things!! I’m glad you liked it, too.
I didn’t learn it in school, but it would have been fun if I could have learned it then.