For God’s sake, send it out!
I just got back from Trinoc*Con, our local scifi convention. I have to say it was the best ever. This year I had the awesome Jim Kelly there to introduce me to people, so I had lunch with Jim Kelly, David G. Hartwell (senior editor of Tor) and Kathryn Cramer (writer/editor)*, got some time to record an interview with Jim Kelly and John Kessel (writer and NC State Univ. Faculty of their MFA program) which will be posted soon, and met authors like Gregory Frost and F. Brett Cox. I briefly spoke with Gene Wolfe after a panel, and he and his wife are such nice and gracious people, they’re amazing. Wolfe is unexpectedly funny. I’ll tell that story in the next podcast…
One thing that came up more than once is that there are so many people whose fear of sucking or fear or rejection is so bad that they never send things out. These are people with scores of short stories in the drawers, possibly several novels. Now, I thought I was the queen of all the weak reasons one doesn’t make it as a writer. That’s why I started this podcast: to identify those and overcome them - and sure, when I’m done, the reason that I’m just not good enough - yet - may be the remaining reason I don’t make it, but it won’t be one of the excuses.
But I never really identified with not sending stuff out. Ever. Jim and John were talking about writers they knew who were talented, but they were waiting to send stuff out until… What? Perfection?
It’s actually kind of scary how many people are waiting for this magical time. They ignore the reality that they will get rejected. They ignore the truth that rejection and criticism are actually good things; your work cannot exist in a vacuum, you need outside eyes, to gauge your work and give you a sense of how it is. I know people who have resisted crit groups as well as submissions. I wanted to yell, “So how the hell are you ever planning on getting published?” But I’m polite, so I didn’t.
I’m going to address this not sending out thing. And it’s hard for me because I don’t have that particular problem. I can’t really understand it. I want to be a professional writer so badly, and I’ve wanted this since I was 12. I know that going through the submissions process is necessary, kind of like taking the SATs to get into college. You can be the best student in your class, but few colleges are going to give a damn if you don’t take the SAT.
Here’s my favorite reason why rejection and criticism don’t scare me: most of you know I wrote for several RPGs. My editor on one book held no punches. He used the word “choad”** in some edits back to me. Twice. Once, he used it as a verb, “choading” I believe is how he used it. I figure if I survived that, I can survive anyone else’s opinion of my work.
Does rejection hurt? Does harsh criticism hurt? Yes! Sure it does. I’m honestly a little worried about what the Viable Paradise workshop will reveal about the weaknesses in my writing. But it also hurts when I’ve been running for a while and I’m sore the next day. But both instances of pain can either indicate that you are growing, or can give you an excuse to quit.
You will never be a professional writer if you don’t send stuff out.
I’m serious here! Yes, it would be awesome if the editors and agents came seeking us out. It would also be nice if cheesecake was diet food and cigarettes made your lungs stronger and your breath smell like candy.*** But that’s not the way it happens. They don’t need to seek out the hermit-like writer - they have enough non-hermits in their slush pile clamoring for attention.
Remember: criticism and rejection will not kill you. If you’re someone waiting for the “right time” - I call bullsh*t. Send it out. It might get rejected? So what? There’s no right time to send out a manuscript. Write it, run it through an edit or two, but don’t spend months, or years, on it. Send it out. Please.
*This was a chance meeting, a “can we sit with you” kind of thing, not a “so tell me all about your writing” kind of thing. It was totally airwolf to hang with them, but I have no illusions. It was just great to meet them.
**This, in case you don’t know, is slang for penis.
***Yes, I’m an ex-smoker of 10 years. Yes, I still miss it on occasion.
About the Author: I am a writer and podcast producer, writing for magazines and RPGs. I am a wanna-be fiction writer with several short fiction, comic scripts, and one novel sale. Playing For Keeps will be out August, '08.
Marie | Jul 23, 2006 | Reply
Hey Mur, are my eyes deceiving me or have you managed to get back to editing your novel?
Good for you if that’s the case. Keep at it.
And it looks like you had a great time at the con. That’s great.
Shawn | Jul 24, 2006 | Reply
Mur,
Thank you for the not so gentle goading (that’s goading; not choading). I’m sitting on a few stories right now, and can feel myself being gently tugged into the vortex of “death by perfection” (not that I’m anywhere near perfection). I am beginning to realize that at this rate I have a good possibility of either
a) Rewriting the story so many times that I finally get sick of it and throw it out, or
b) Being run over in the driveway by my wife, because she is so tired of hearing me obsess over how my plots aren’t panning out.
Anyway… thanks again, and keep up the good work.
-Shawn
Missy | Jul 24, 2006 | Reply
Hi Mur!
I totally agree with you on the point of sending things out; rejection isn’t fun but it won’t kill you. I should know, I’ve been rejected numerous times.
I know people that don’t like to participate in writing groups because they have an idea of what they want to write and don’t want input from anyone. I myself have found that getting feedback from others helps my work. Some things that I think are great in my stories confuse or just don’t work for others though. Ultimately, we write fiction to share with others and if others aren’t understanding or are bored with your story then… well, sorry - got lost on a rant.
tim dodge | Jul 24, 2006 | Reply
Hi Mur,
It’s very ironic that I read this post just now, because I’m reading your blog instead of working on the umpteenth edits of my novel. It’s funny; I submitted a short story to some markets a few weeks ago without any nerves at all, and it was accepted quickly. But I gave my novel to a small group of first readers in March and it scared the crap out of me. I walked around Staples three times before I finally got the nerve to pick up the copies of the text I’d uploaded. I think I’ve been slipping back into that mode with all the edits. You’ve convinced me. This is the last round of edits — then I start querying agents.
Two other thoughts: 1) Now they tell me that cheesecake isn’t diet food. 2) Being a northerner, I was unfamiliar with the term “choad”, nor did I know that this particular part of the anatomy could also be a verb. : )
Diane | Jul 25, 2006 | Reply
I’m reading Stephen King’s book “On Writing.” I’ll bet some of you don’t know that he had so many rejection letters on a nail that he eventually had to have a bigger tool to stack them on. His wife found “Carrie” in the garbage can! I haven’t sent any thing out yet but I will. I had two articles published in a literary magazine in college. I got an award for the best English student. Me being the worst speller and my grammer isn’t so hot either. Just good down to earth writing. My instructor said you could hear my voice in my writing which was the purpose of writing so I am not doing too bad. I joined a writer’s group on the internet and it has install a new faith and ambition in myself that I didn’t know was there!
Hey, why did I read your post! Why am I reading Stephen King’s book? I sould be writing for God’s sake! That’s the gift He gave me!…BeDiane
Jim | Jul 25, 2006 | Reply
Rejection is, indeed, part of the process and nothing to be ashamed or afraid of. I actually look forward to any responsed to submissions because all make me a better writer.
chris | Jul 25, 2006 | Reply
I love your blog. I have rejection slips too.
Zephy | Jul 25, 2006 | Reply
As one of those who somehow fears sending stuff out, or even sharing my work with people, I can absolutely see where you are coming from. I’d LOVE to become a professional writer, but in order to do that, I realize I need to overcome my own personal roadblocks, become my own personal psychologist.
Yes, perhaps some of it stems from a fear of the inevitable rejections, a natural part of the process. I think that, in my case at least, the problem stems from a poor sense of self-esteem and a lack of self confidence. I do not feel that my work is good enough, that I am good enough to send my work out, despite the arguments to the contrary from professors and fellow writers. I have even been acused of false modesty!
I seem to feel, on some level beyond concious thought, that a story is an extention of myself. If my work is not good enough, then I, myself, am not good enough as a person.
CharlesP | Jul 27, 2006 | Reply
For me, I’ve only sent out one or two items because my problem is that I don’t often get stories finished. I have a couple shorts that I sent to one or two places and got a rejection. But for the most part all of my works are in progress (a pile of shorts that never went anywhere and I couldn’t end, or haven’t yet; a handful of false start novels that ended up too long for a short or too short for a novel or just not finished yet).
I’m at the point where I’m trying to avoid sending stuff out because I know if I send out the few things I have I’ll spend time obsessing over THAT process instead of working on the writing of the next one. Both of my semi-ready stories may get a brush up soon so I can have something going around.
Another part of the logic as you’re working on building up the catalog of unsold stories is just that: If I don’t have enough of a catalog finished and I sell one, I’ll be under pressure to get something else ready, and would hate to blow an early success… or worse yet, I get something ready but nobody wants anything else (so if I have a bunch of things ready the ODDS are in my favor that more than one thing will be “not crap”).
JohnBoze | Jul 27, 2006 | Reply
I don’t actually have tons of finished product in a drawer anywhere. I’m actually most likely a “Should Be Writing” poster boy. I have outlined and re-outlined lots of stuff in my head, on paper, and on my computer, but I don’t actually DO writing.
My wife asked me about one of my bigger ideasan d when I laid it out she said “You should be witing that already…”
But I did record and send in a story fragment to your buddy and mine Jack Mangan and he had it in this week’s cast less that 36 hours after getting it.
Now I’m thinking about serializing that character and having fun with it for a while, you know, get me writing so the muscles are loose when I tackle that novel, or that other novella, or whatever. I already have some of the serial outlined…
Jonathan Sherwood | Aug 13, 2006 | Reply
It makes me think of “Eat the Frog.” If the first thing you do every day is to eat a live frog, then everything else the rest of the day will be cakewalk.
When you drop that first submission into the mail, you get a sense of momentum and putting the second and third stories in envelopes aren’t anywhere near as hard.
One tip that I think you mentioned before, Mur, is to have the “next” envelope ready as soon as you mail something out. If it gets rejected, you drop it in the next ready-to-go envelope and it’s back in the mail the same day. No time to feel the pain of rejection! You’re on to the next market.