90% of those who say they are writers...don’t write.
90% of writers will be turned down by agents.
90% of writers will be turned down by publishers.
90% of writers will give up before they publish.
So how do we stay in the top 10%?
When asked the question, "Why do you write? For enjoyment or profit?", Sowards responded this way:
I guess if I have to answer the question directly... it would be ninety percent for enjoyment... ten percent for profit.
BUT....
I write because I HAVE to write. I write because there's nothing else I want to do. I don't want to ski, go to the beach, hang around, play tennis, swim, or shop... I just want to write. I keep telling myself, if I keep at it long enough I'm gonna learn how to do it right before I die.
When I'm not writing scripts, I'm writing letters... notes, outlines, treatments for spec scripts...which I then write.
I don't know that I can call it "enjoyment"... but I like to write what I want to write, the way I want to write it... and when I start to sail, it's euphoria. Not better than sex, but as good in a different way. But when the writing is rocky, it's as painful; as a subliminal migraine. - From Jack B. Sowards ("Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan") (Writers Guild of America – west)
For many of us, writing is as necessary as breathing. It’s so much a part of us that we will scribble on napkins in restaurants, quietly peck away on our PDA at the theatre and rewrite bedtime stories as we read them to our children. But how do we make the transition from that 90% to the elite 10%? The internet is a boon for writers seeking an audience for the written word. Blogs allow us to publish (and receive almost instantaneous feedback) on our inner most secrets or rail on the obscenities of politics at the click of a mouse. Vanity presses, eBook markets and other forms of self-publishing allow us to get our words out there with the hope of reaching our readers and, maybe, just maybe, picking up a few bucks in the process. But as much as the internet has expanded our options and increased our reader potential, when did we give up quality for quantity? When did it become ok to publish anything, without taking the quality of our work into consideration?
As easy as it is to “publish” our work today, there are still guidelines that should be taken into consideration. You can pick up a variety of books on the topic or Google your way through 10+ pages of websites offering information on publishing. The steps I suggest below will serve as a framework as you start down that road toward living the life of a writer.
Step 1 – Write! As silly as it sounds, I’ve spoken with “would be” writers who have never put pen to paper. But they sure have loads of ideas bouncing around in their heads. Me, I tend to use the “top-down” approach. I start writing about the first thing that pops into my head and don’t stop until I get to the bottom.
Note: Think you have nothing to write about? Take an activity from your day and write about it – brewing a good cup of tea, putting air in a basketball, teaching your nephew how to tie his shoelaces.
Step 2 – Once I have my ideas in front of me, I start considering my potential audience. After wrapping up a major remodel on our home, I have become an expert on drafting work orders for construction bids, finding creative solutions for eating out every meal (we had no kitchen for 2 months) and interior solutions for wheelchair accessibility. I now have three potential directions I can take. I can write to the first-time remodeler on obtaining construction bids on remodels, working within a budget and sticking to a timeframe. I can write to busy moms and dads on alternatives to fast-food restaurants. And I can write to wheelchair users and the graying population on interior solutions for universal accessibility.
Step 3 – Write, write and rewrite! You have your topic and your material; it’s time to start putting it all together. After you’ve written a draft you are comfortable sharing, have someone look it over and make comments. The material that you will be submitting for publication is a representation of you. So, you want it to look its best. Make sure it is clear, concise and without grammatical errors!
Step 4 – Consider where you plan to publish. I usually consider this step while I am working on the previous three. Writing a smashing article on eating out may hit a brick wall if I’m writing about busy parents and submitting to a magazine geared toward single adults. When preparing to submit for publication, I make sure I do the following:
1. Know the publisher or journal/magazine I am submitting to. For publishers, I review their website and catalogs to determine if my material is appropriate for that particular publisher by looking at what they published. I obtain a copy of author guidelines and make sure that my material follows their preferred formatting and style. For journals/magazines, know the scope and tone. Many journals/magazines publish their calendar of topics for each issue in advance. Some even include cut-off dates for receipt of materials. Use it.
2. Know whom to query. While working for a publisher, we would get a number of proposals addressed to no one in particular; an editor who has been gone for several years, or worse yet, the editor’s name was misspelled. So, before I draft that fabulous query for my award winning publication, I pick up the phone and call the publisher. I get the name of the appropriate editor (spelling the name back to them just to make sure I have it right). Don’t count on the information you read on their website (it’s probably not updated daily) or from a Writer’s Guide (the information is compiled up to a year in advance).
3. Cross the “T”s and dot the “I”s. Before I send off my material for publication consideration, I set it aside for a day or two. I reread the information I have on the publisher and I make sure the materials I am submitting fit with the author guidelines. If time permits, I have it edited one more time to make sure there are no glaring mistakes. When submitting material via mail, instead of including a SASE, I include a SASPostcard (a tip I picked up at a Writer’s Symposium). I never submit materials with the expectation that I will get them back. To save time for the editor, I include a prepaid postcard that gives the editor space to place an “X” next to accept or reject material. I make sure and include the title of my manuscript/article as well as contact information (phone and email) in case the postcard gets separated from my submission. This makes it easier for the editor to respond to my queries and the likelihood of getting response back faster increases when the editor doesn’t have to take too many steps to respond.
Step 5 – Be prepared for rejection, but don’t take it personally. Editors are incredibly busy. Just because an editor has rejected your manuscript for publication, doesn’t mean it’s the quality of your work. It could be that you didn’t do your homework or the type of materials the publisher accepts has changed. Of the number of book proposals I received in any given year, more than 75% were due to materials not appropriate for our list or we simply had too many titles in that field. When submitting materials for publication, I keep a list of what I submit and where as well as dates of any contact and why, if reason given, my material was rejected. This avoids duplication and just because they didn’t like my article on eating out doesn’t mean they won’t like my article on remodeling.
Some last words on publishing and the internet. The internet has increased our ability to reach a much larger audience much more quickly. And regardless of what we are publishing – blog, op-ed piece, column for a student journal, etc. – we have to put our best foot forward and make sure that we don’t regret what we say once we click “submit.” In addition to the internet increasing our audience capacity and options for publication, so comes the ability to get taken by would-be agents, marketing experts or publishing houses. When working on a piece for publication, I keep the following in mind. I find that I get better feedback from an experienced editor that I pay to edit my material for grammar and comprehension than I do from a friend who wants to help. In this case, I know my money is being used appropriately and I will get a return on my investment in the form of valuable feedback that I can apply to my manuscript. Conversely, I do not trust any agent or publishing house that wants me to pay them to represent my material. Because the likelihood of seeing a return on my investment seems to diminish in direct relation to the amount of money, I am giving them in the hopes of publication.
Ultimately, becoming a writer is only as difficult as opening a word processing application and beginning to type or putting pen to paper and keeping it there (what can I say, I love the feel of paper). Just don’t give up when things look grim. Determination, perseverance, inspiration and quite a bit of perspiration will help you down that road to publication.
