3 Pieces of Writing Advice That Changed My Life

as much as I've internalized inspirational messages like write the book you want to read and believe in your writing I still procrastinate and feel down about the quantity and quality of my stories change is easier said than done but on rare occasions I'll find a piece of writing advice that triggers a metamorphosis my entire mindset shifts and I become an altogether different type of writer behaving in ways I had never attempted before these are the three pieces of writing advice that changed my life number one aim for rejection in 2017 I started seriously submitting my writing to professional publications that first year I submitted to 11 literary magazines and writing contest in 2018 I submitted to 15 and 2019 I submitted to over 150 what the heck happened some time toward the end of 2018 I read an article on literary hub by Kim Liao entitled why he should aim for 100 rejections a year she talks about a writer friend of hers who seemed to win everything from writing residency's to publication and well-known magazines this friend changed her life by saying collect rejections set rejection goals I know someone who shoots for 100 rejections in a year because if you work that hard to get so many rejections you're sure to get a few acceptances to liao describes how our fragile creative egos hold us back because we only want to be loved and accepted and that's unrealistic in the competitive fields of writing after that realization her submission process transformed instead of tucking my story or essay apologetically into a bottle desperately casting it out to sea I launched determined air raids of submission grenades five or ten at a time when I read this article it was close to the New Year so one of my resolutions for 2019 was to collect 50 rejections for short stories poetry and writing scholarships given some magazines could take six months to respond and I didn't have much out at the time I figured that would be a reachable goal for my first year however I didn't want to spam magazines with sloppy drafts that didn't fit their stead I still wanted to present my best possible work so I made sure not to rush into submitting work I hadn't gotten critiqued I carefully read each magazines guidelines and their past stories in hopes of increasing my chances I also favoured submitting to paying markets I respected but then it require reading fees I surpassed my goal collecting a hundred and four not the best fit for our magazine emails and that experiences made me realize that rejection reaps even more benefits than I had expected for one it'll hone your submission skills in the past year I've learned the ins and outs of the submission process because I've read so many guidelines I've mastered how to format my submission write a cover letter and find places to submit I've also read some amazing pieces of writing on the web sites I've submitted to and that has helped me see what types of pieces are getting published and discover new favorite authors as time passes I know my writing will improve and by the time I further refine my skills I'll already know how to navigate the industry second rejection will force you to develop thicker skin now I'm not completely desensitized to rejection but I no longer feel the sinking feeling every time I see a new email in my inbox that starts with thank you for submitting to my eggs are in so many baskets that the most a form letter rejection receives for me is a shrug every time I receive a rejection I find another place to submit and let the cycle continue third rejections occasionally come with personalized feedback most editors don't have the time or energy to devote to personalized feedback because they receive hundreds of submissions but those rare gems who do are a godsend one publication that rejected a horror story of mine passed along comments from their slush pile readers where they said holy [ __ ] I'd love this piece the premise is unique and totally engaging the sensory descriptions are honestly beyond anything I've ever encountered before just yes all the yes even though the story didn't end up being a good fit for the magazine that type of encouragement gave me the push I needed to continue submitting that piece personalized rejections also might tell me that I need to revise the story before I submit it elsewhere which is equally valuable one magazine editor told me I like the vividness you're setting and imagery and the assurance of your narrative voice my sense of Romans character was a little slight I didn't feel entirely grounded in the story as a result with that specific feedback I could more objectively understand why the story was getting rejected by different magazines what's more I want to polish my stories so that I can be proud of the final product I want my work to be the best it can be and published by a reputable magazine not just posted anywhere that will take it forth just as a little article pointed out rejection will increase your acceptance rate in 2018 I had five small pieces published at nice places but they were mostly non-paying and 2019 I had 12 pieces accepted several of them paying venues including one that paid 10 cents per word 5th rejection means a writing professional is reading your work this sounds a bit vain but as a writer I want to be read and submitting my work achieves that goal because someone has to read my writing in order to reject it I find comfort in the idea that something I spent so much time on is being read by another human being even if they don't connect with it sixth and most importantly aiming for rejection means you'll submit more which will inspire you to write more there are countless pieces that I've pushed myself to finish drafting or revising because of submission deadlines I also treat magazine themes or word limits as writing prompts crafting a story specifically for that market I wrote a story for a horror anthology that had a 1200 word cap although the story was rejected for that publication I ended up selling it somewhere else within a few months thanks to my rejection goals I finished more stories and poems in the past year than I ever have before writers can be overly sensitive and insecure we receive one rejection and we think that means the story sucks and will never get published most of the time we just need to receive more feedback on it and revise more or we need to keep trying to find a good fit I feel no shame in rejection but instead wear it as a badge of honor even when I'm deep in the submission hellscape I make sure to view my writing as a form of joyful self-expression in the words of Kim Liao submissions are not required to be a writer the act of writing is the part that feels like flying number two treat your writing like a business I have a friend who writes at least 10 books a year and we're talking full-fledged 120 thousand word typos free books how does she do it well for one she's a ghostwriter so writing is one of her primary sources of income she's also writing from a plot outline that someone else is written and she has a developmental editor me and copy editor polishing her drafts before they're published by the time were finished the writing is smooth and the story is entertaining enough to feel like a publishable book I've edited 26 of her novels and her output speed along with the quality of her writing never fails to amaze me we work under tight deadlines so she often turns out the first draft in a month then goes through it a few more times to make changes based on my feedback and that of other editors and beta readers she can write ten thousand words in a day if she's feeling feisty I wanted to know how she did it and how she avoided creative burnout where did she find that level of discipline I was struggling to finish a draft of even one novel and I begged her to give me some advice here's what she told me treat your writing like a business think of it as a normal job even if the going is slow she takes regular breaks and says be Stern with yourself I'd heard similar advice before but this time it clicked because I'd seen someone actually put it into practice treating writing like a business had seemed cold and clinical to me as I prefer to view writing as an art in a craft first a business second I didn't want to feel like a word factory churning out generic content for the masses but my friend writes with such heart and humor and writing with a business attitude clearly didn't change the quality of her output and merely increased the quantity my mentality shifted writing wasn't a hobby I could put on the back burner this short story I started drafting five months ago I need to finish it today get feedback revise it and submit it places it's on my knee to-do list not my one to-do list I have to prioritize it I have to be disciplined and I did sit down and finish that 5,400 word short story in one day it flowed from my fingertips my critique partners praised it as one of the best story I'd written to date after revising it I felt total elation I didn't feel guilty for writing instead of getting ahead on work because writing is part of my work I also felt daunted about writing an outline for my middle grade fantasy novel sure I'd written a dozen plot outlines for work producing a 20,000 word summary in a week but I'd been working under a deadline then and I was being paid for it I'd never written a coherent outline for myself from start to finish with no paycheck or deadline to externally motivate me I tried to give myself deadlines before but I quickly lost momentum but this was a shorter book and I really really really wanted to start drafting it I told myself that it was another project for work but this was part of my business and voila I had a 12,000 word chapter by chapter outline to guide my draft now I don't mean business in terms of spending or making money because writing fiction rarely makes a huge profit when weighed against the time and resources required to do it well as Stephen King said in his memoir writing isn't about making money getting famous getting dates getting laid or making friends in the end it's about enriching the lives of those who will read your work and rich in your own life as well so in my mind treating writing like a business means approaching it as a job rather than a hobby I realized this approach isn't feasible for everyone because work and family responsibilities will often come before writing time and energy are luxuries but for me looking at my writing as something that must get done help me throw away my usual excuses it hasn't taken the fun out of the process either and has in fact been more inspiring than it ever was when I treated it like a someday I'll get published hobby because I'm finishing things I'm producing more stories than ever before and getting them out there I'm honing my craft and making mistakes and learning and trying even if you can only write when you get a spare moment you can still think of it like a business by adding small attainable goals to your weekly to-do list any progress is better than no progress number three defeat Envy it was positivity of the seven deadly sins Envy is definitely mine I've always been highly competitive obsessed with being the best and the favorite I look at people younger than me who had published award-winning or commercially successful novels and the green-eyed monster rears its ugly head why do I suck so much why am I so slow at writing what am I doing with my life recently I applied for a big writing scholarship I was proud of my application and really thought I had a shot I waited anxiously to hear the results and when the organization posted them my hopes crumbled into dust the winner had published 45 stories and edited a number of anthologies and was writing an amazing novel while attending a master's program there was no way I could compete with that they a hundred and ten percent deserved the scholarship but I still felt bummed instead of wallowing too much I tried to view the time I put to writing my application as a guide for improving myself the application required essays about your goals as a writer in what education paths you wanted to pursue for me that included books classes and mentorship from a professional author so all was not lost writing those responses helped me clarify my goals and work toward being a writer who's worthy of such scholarships I also vowed to read the winning author stories and keep her name on my radar in adopting this attitude I was thinking of the advice from write naked a book on writing by romance author Jennifer Propst she outlines her strategy for using kindness to offset the Envy she feels toward other writers successes one acknowledge denying how you feel is useless just don't up even if it's hard these are your own private feelings and if you feel mean whiny and pissed off that you didn't get what she got just go with it to act in a way that contradicts the feelings if there's a particular author you can't stop obsessing about wondering how she got that movie deal or television show hit the New York Times bestsellers list for the tenth time in a row or is now rich from a book you didn't even think was that good do something nice congratulate her on Facebook email her buy her book celebrate her success praise her to one of your friends you will be surprised by how such an action drains the poison from your feelings fake it till you make it personally I hate being fake-nice I want to be a genuine person but I couldn't keep letting myself feel disheartened by other writers success stories I wanted to turn that sulking into something useful and that's what props advice gave me a positive outlet for that negative energy as she goes on to say we're going to have to deal with jealousy at all stages of our careers when we're not published bruh jealous of the published when we're not signing big contracts were jealous of those seven-figure deals when we don't hit the bestseller list or jealous of those who do it's an endless vicious cycle break it by practicing kindness doing so allows your heart to catch up until you realize you're not really faking it anymore somehow along the way the goodwill and acceptance become real writing should be about collaboration not competition the world is big enough to contain a multitude of books and supporting other writers benefits the entire author community we all want more readers and by recommending each other's books we get people reading more in addition everyone's publishing journey is different and there's no one set path to success some people debut at age 25 others at 65 some publish one novel their whole lives others a novel every year you might be a local favorite or a worldwide bestseller you can't base your own goalposts off somebody else's because you're not even playing in the same game as the saying goes the race is long and in the end it's only against yourself aiming for rejection treating my writing like a business and turning Envy into positivity have reshaped me into not only a better writer but also a better person even if these tips don't have the life altering effect for you as they did for me I hope you'll find the words that will motivate you to become the writer you aspire to be what writing advice changed your life share the magic with me in the comments whatever you do keep writing [Music]

Channel: Diane Callahan - Quotidian Writer

Views: 130,267

Rating: 4.9524684 out of 5

Keywords: writing advice, writing tips, fiction, how to write, short story, storytelling, booktube, authortube, quotidian writer, diane callahan, literature, books, reading, writing, writer, author, rejection, writing business, writing motivation, self-help for writers, writing community, literary magazines, writing process, video essay, writing every day, editor, fiction editor, submission process, Jennifer Probst, Kim Liao, ghostwriting, writing inspiration

Id: Fnol1zXkFeE

Length: 15min 45sec (945 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 27 2020