Writer's Tools

Don't Go It Alone

A whole industry devotes itself to the writer seeking to become published. I like Writer's Digest--"Writer's Market," "Guide to Getting Published," and "Guide to Literary Agents." Their books and magazine are full of helpful information. They also offer a free newsletter where I've gotten useful advice on everything from writing tips--how to build tension, preferred word counts for various genres--to guidance on writing queries and developing platforms. I subscribed to the magazine in the online format and really miss the physical copy.

Join a local writer's group, an invaluable source of encouragement, feedback on writing projects, and information on other opportunities. Mine, for instance, informed me of a local, one day conference, which I attended without too much expense. I met an agent from an agency I read about in "Guide to Literary Agents" who gave me useful pointers on query letters.

The websites of publications to whom you might want to submit manuscripts also sometimes offer more than their personal guidelines. On one I discovered em dash is the word for the longer hyphen used to set off a list or a separate thought relating to a sentence and is preferred if breaking off a thought--say interrupted dialogue--instead of three dots at the end of the sentence, no spaces between the dash and words. Word processing programs automatically change two dashes to the em dash. I don't know how to make the blog do it. Any advice? Two spaces after a period is passe. Today's writer's use one. Muscle memory's hard to break.

So much to learn. Sometimes I have to forget it all and just write to keep my head and heart in the game. I can always go back to fix mistakes.

Writer's Status

I heard from a short story contest I entered, which was nice since it was a no go. They received over 6,000 entries. I sent a short romance to "Woman's World" last week and have finished a short scifi/fantasy story. I'm not sure where to send it. I've read "Woman's World." I have to find the magazines interested in the other. Of course common wisdom says to know your market before writing, but the story called to me.

The Human Condition

I once heard a therapist call us the United States of Anxiety. Self-doubt often seems to go hand-in-hand with creativity. Am I good enough? Will I succeed at my dreams? The real worry--what dream could possibly compare if I have to give up and settle for a "real job." Most people work plenty of jobs to finance the path to their dreams. The fear is never reaching them.

I hope for all on the quest to become published writers, to find an agent, or any other endeavor you work toward that we can quiet the negative thoughts often enough to appreciate the journey and the lessons to be learned.