Getting Published

This remains an unfortunate Holy Grail of all writers. I am here to tell you, it may not be what you think it is.

First of all, I encourage you to publish everything and anything you are ready to share with others. Being read is part and parcel with the drive to write. Whether we call ourselves writers or not, we all want to share what we have seen, for only we have seen it. No one in the history of the planet before you has ever lived exactly what you have lived. If you do not say what it is you have seen, who then will? You are the light through which Life shines, so it is up to you whether to pull the shade or throw open the curtains. So yes, publish. Publish, publish, publish. There is plenty of room for everyone.

But as you head out in that boat, do not be fooled into believing that whatever success or lack thereof with which you are met is somehow a concrete reflection of the value or what we often call the quality of the work. Rather, it is entirely a reflection of your belief in the work. I believe anything can be published if the writer believes in it completely and wholeheartedly, whether what has been written is The Waste Land or the next Harlequin Romance. The commercial success of a creation, therefore, lies entirely with its creator.

If this sounds Pollyanna, I ask you this: What is the harm in believing it is so? What good will come of believing a work will only be bought if it has met some external criteria of "good?" Who has set these criteria? Or what good could will come of believing that publication is some kind of capricious lottery, or that only a lucky few born with a predetermined quantity of Talent will ever be greeted with the open arms of editors and readers. If you are drawn to write, then you are meant to write, and it is only then up to you to write without fear and with as much honesty and compassion as possible. Just as there is a lover for every man or woman who wants one, there is a reader for every writer. What is the use in believing otherwise?

I will write more on this later.

Bill