On Getting Published

A writer recently shared how hard it was for her to get published. She'd written many fine things and had a few things published, but was devastated by the difficulty of getting more of her work accepted. I could hear the heartbreak in her words.

One of my children's novels has been rejected so many times that I've lost count. We're talking dozens and dozens of rejections. It's a story I first wrote fifteen years ago, and have revised every couple of years as I've grown and changed as a writer. I took it out again this week, read it, found it worthy, and began another revision.

I can do this because I find the work itself to be a worthwhile process. The writing is a joy. If the thrill of publication was my whole focus, I would have quit a long time ago, or stuck with the writing I was readily selling. Why try something new if nobody wants it?

Ah, but writing is much more than that.

Disappointment can be bitter when you've convinced yourself you can't be happy without a certain outcome. This attitude is bred in one's own mind and heart.

The idea of publication - whether it happens or doesn't - it is a crucible. Here is where the true writer emerges from the heat and the fame addict fades away.