Advice I Would Have Given Myself on Writing and Publishing

I shared these insights on my blog 8 years ago. They sure seem relevant still. See what you think and add your own in the comments!

If I could go back in time and sit my younger self down to have a serious talk about the years of rough road ahead, I would have a lot more than three main bits of advice. I think a daylong discussion would ensue, and perhaps (well, more like probably) at the end of it, my younger self would decide the best course of action would be to avoid beginning the arduous novel journey at all.

The Not-So-Good-Old Days

Why? Because thirty years ago publishing was a daunting goal, and up until just the last few years it was close to impossible for a good writer to land a publishing contract. An aspiring novelist had to expect years of submissions, rejection letters, and disappointment looming in her future. And although it is still tough today to get that lucrative contract with a top publishing house, it now is not the only viable, appealing option for serious novelists.

But back then, I didn’t have the wonderful vista of self-publishing I have now. I had to do it the old-school way. Which, by the way, without computers was a real pain in the rump. Imagine not only having to type your manuscripts (and maybe even use carbon paper), you had to do everything that really slow way—via snail mail. Which only added to the extremely long amount of time you had to wait to hear back from agents and publishers about your submissions. Think months and years, not hours or days.

The cost also was very taxing, especially to struggling writers who could little afford to shell out upwards of $50 to print out chapters and pay for not just mailing them to the agent but for the stamps to put on the SASE for the return of the almost-always-rejected manuscript.

Back in the day I spent hundreds of dollars on postage and hundreds of hours typing letters, addressing and stamping envelopes, and mailing partial and complete manuscripts. And waited. And waited. During those decades of waiting, I was often encouraged by other successful authors who told me ten years was about the average amount of time it took from the completion of writing a perfect, polished manuscript to getting it picked up by a traditional publisher. Yes, you heard right! Writers had to have the patience of Job.

Due to this very slow process, writers back then fell by the wayside from exhaustion, despair, and faintness of heart. I think if you tell today’s aspiring novelists in this fast-food, instant-gratification world that they should expect to wait ten years before getting published, most will throw in the towel and leave the ring. No wonder that one of my literary agents told me twenty years ago that “the writer who persists without giving up will win.” Kind of like the last man (or author) standing after all the bricks of rejection fall and the dust settles.

So how does all this fit in with my three bits of advice that I would give my younger self? This is how:

Apply Yourself Diligently to Learning the Craft

Even now, with the ease of self-publishing, this first and foremost “rule” applies. When I sat down to write that first novel, I thought I was a natural talent and just “knew” how to do it. I really didn’t. I read a lot and studied writers, and, granted, this was back in the Stone Age when there was no internet and it was almost impossible to find something like a critique group. There were no online classes, podcasts, Meetup groups. I took classes on creative writing at college, attended a writing conference once a year, and read writing craft books.

Well, still—I sure could have been a whole lot more diligent back then even with the limited resources available to me. It was my attitude that was a problem. I think I was a bit cocky in judging myself a great writer. I had a successful writer mother. I had friends who told me I was a great writer. And the first top agent I queried with my first novel snatched it up and said I was brilliant. (Really, that did not help me—the novel was terrible, and although he was a highly respected literary agent, he was wrong. The book needed a lot of work.) That book—and none of my other seven completed novels—ever got a publishing contract offered to any of my six agents over the twenty-plus years I tried to get published.

And sure, with practice, I did become a better writer. But not the great one I thought I was. And of course, life happened. I had kids and a business to run. How could I make the time to take more classes at the local college or travel to expensive writers’ conferences? I gave up writing and trying for many years at some point (I think after novel and agent #3) from discouragement. It was only after I did the following that l felt I was finally getting on my “author” feet. And this is my tip #2 that I would tell both my younger self and all new, aspiring writers:

Attend Excellent Writing Workshops

Back in those old days, there weren’t a whole lot of writers’ conferences. They were expensive to attend and to travel to, so were mostly inaccessible to me. But it was only when I decided to really hone my craft, determined to become the best writer that I could be, that I “counted the cost” and decided I had to carve out time and set aside money to get excellent writing instruction. I have to say that this is the best advice I can give any and all writers. The money and time spent have been way more than worth it.

From one-day workshops to week-long workshops to weekend writer intensive retreats—my writing went from okay to ideal. I don’t mean I am now the greatest writer in the world. But I do believe that what I was lacking in—knowledge, writers’ “tools,” expertise—has been fully supplied.

When I left for home after attending Donald Maass’s Breakout Novel week-long workshop, I had this wonderful sense of realization that I now had everything I needed to write anything I desired. My “toolbox” was full to overflowing, and although I am always studying, learning, and applying new techniques, I do believe I got to that tipping point where I was proficient in my craft.

I see that moment when it  happens with my editing clients as well. When they go from being a struggling, novice writer to being a full-fledged author. I do believe there is something like a point of “saturation”—the place a striving writer gets to when she finally knows the craft well enough to be considered a master craftsman. Which brings me to tip #3:

Write, Write, Write

Need I reiterate? Nope. I think Malcolm Gladwell is spot on about emphasizing the need to put in 10,000 hours to become an expert at just about anything (if you haven’t read his terrific book  Outliers, I highly recommend it!). Back when I started writing novels, I put in what time I could, with the distractions of the aforementioned kids and business to run. But I didn’t put in the kind of dedication and “attack” I could have, which is necessary to excel.

When I started writing again in earnest in 2005, determined to “make it” this time, I scheduled my time carefully, and although working outside my home, eked out that time to write two novels a year. I am still doing that, even though I don’t have to . . . because I know to be a writer means to write, write, write.

What advice do you wish you’d been given when you started writing? Or if you are a beginning writer, what tips have that experienced writers have given you have helped you plot your ongoing writing journey?

Featured Photo by Rommel Davila on Unsplash