Sunday, April 10, 2011

But Writing Doesn't Keep you Warm and Cozy, Either ;-)

I just came back from the Missouri Writer's Guild conference in St. Louis, Missouri, and boy am I stoked! I've been writing for years, going to school for years, hanging out with writers for years, but have never felt so positive and full of ideas. That's not to say that there won't be hurdles to building my career as a writer, but I'm finally ready to do the work necessary to get there.

So what did I learn?

Revision often isn't pleasant, and therefore the title of my blog. You may have a passage or character or chapter you love but it doesn't fit into the grand scheme of things. Therefore, with a cold heart, you must "kill your babies." However, if you have good peer editors, good agents, and good editors, they can help you make the process as easy as possible. Think ripping the band aid off the elbow. Ouch, but must be done!

And, of course, I've always known writing isn't going to be my multi-million dollar cash cow. If I do end up being successful, I'll only make a few extra bucks here and there. Perhaps, after 20 years of plugging away I'll have enough of a following to live off the royalties, but I'm not going to live in the future.

Toward that end of being successful, I've taken the first steps to acquiring an agent. At the conference I presented a successful pitch, she asked me to send the first 30 pages, and I'll do that later this week. I doubt I'll get an agent first try, but who knows. She may be looking for what I have to offer!

My plan for this blog is to use it to remind myself of what I learned at the conference, what I'm learning as I write, and to post updates on my progress in the career.

Akan guide you all.

1 comment:

  1. Janet,

    One of my favorite writing-teacher-writers (Leslie Caulkins) describes revision as literally "re-seeing" what you've written. It's a much friendlier way of thinking.

    It's also good to have a writing buddy. Keep it up.

    -Heather

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