No More Excuses
Four years ago I was struck with an idea so hard that it caused brain damage and made me think I wanted to be a writer. I think there is some internal bleeding or something, because I still think that’s a good idea, and I’d still like to “do it professionally,” if that even means anything.
I suffer from a mild case of something I call “The McFly Complex.” This is named after George McFly from Back to the Future — he writes stories, but never submits anything because he doesn’t think he can handle “that kind of rejection.” This has been quite an obstacle for me on the short story front, because in the two-ish years I’ve been writing short stories, I haven’t submitted a thing. Nothing. That kind of approach makes it difficult to get published.
Usually I chicken out when I read submission guidelines. I don’t know why. Word counts don’t scare me, content restrictions don’t scare me, even the thought of someone reading it and not liking it doesn’t scare me. What scares me? Maybe it’s the combination of everything, perhaps the heaviness of “requirements” offends the artiste that I try to keep locked in the walk-in freezer of my mind, or … I have no idea.
My wife and I went to B&N this weekend, and eventually found ourselves staring at magazine covers. She noticed the words “writing contests” on a certain publication and suggested I pick it up. Well, why not. Sure. I picked it up and looked at the contest rules — doable. Great. Let’s buy it.
I didn’t look on the inside until I got home. That gave me plenty of time to scold myself for wasting money on a stupid magazine that I probably wouldn’t even submit to anyway. You know, and even if I did, it’s not like I could get published or win or anything. Whine whine whine.
Eventually I got around to taking a look, and
— WARNING I’M GOING TO SOUND REALLY ARROGANT SORRY —
was surprised to find myself thinking, “Hey, I could totally do this.” It’s not that the stories inside were bad, but that they weren’t so far beyond my level of writing that I felt like a tool for even thinking my name could appear in there. These were people like me — amateurs, people who still have weak spots in their writing. I felt like I was reading the stories of my peers, not a bunch of untouchable creative geniuses. It was reassuring. I wouldn’t be trying to sit at the table of the gods, I would be trying to stand on the table of mortals. Easy!
— OKAY GOING BACK TO MOPEY NOW —
Which brings us back to nerves and fear and all of that. How do you keep yourself from simply saying, “Good work, me,” patting yourself on the back, and burying the story in your workspace? I always find myself stuck there, and I’m afraid that by the time I’ve put something together for submission, I’ll retreat to that place again. How do you work through that?
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Bottom line, you have to just suck it up and do the thing.
It’s like stagefright, you just have to push through it.
As Nike likes to tell us, Just Do It.
I once waited 11 months for a rejection letter. After the first couple of months I almost forgot I was waiting. And when the rejection came? It wasn’t nearly as crushing as I thought (that could have been because I received hand-written notes from the mystery editor who had reviewed it).
I even plan on submitting the current WIP. Don’t know where. Don’t know who. The scary part for me isn’t the submitting, it’s the dreaded synopsis.
So, stop with the excuses already. Submit your work and deal with the fallout, whether its good or bad.
Give your writing to your wife and she’ll help you do it, then you can do it together and it’ll be easier. Just let her hold on to the finished product to keep you from chickening out….
Fear grabs us all. This is one of my favorite quotes, and I’ve used it at my website.
You can’t expect to hit the jackpot if you don’t put a few nickels in the machine. ~ Flip Wilson
You need the hide of a rhino to be in this business. You could write stories all your life and cram them in the piano bench. You’ll never get rejected. You’ll never get accepted either.
I’m with Krista on the synopsis. I hate the synopsis.
You put yourself out here. C’mon. What are you waiting for? You can do this.
Signed — Elen The Rejected
No Guts. No Glory!
What’s the worst thing that could happen if you try to publish?
Imagine the worst thing and look for the benefits of going through the experience.
The only one you’re competing against is yourself.
How much XP would you get for submitting it?
Don’t be a nancy-boy about it.
Git r done!
I think submission is worth 1 point…