 Drama: July 10, 2013 Issue [#5775] |
  Drama
This week: No Such Thing as Failure Edited by: NickiD89  
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| Like many of you, I've considered myself a writer my whole life. But in 2007, I shifted out of hobbyist mode, started writing for an audience, and embarked on the exciting journey towards publication. As I continue on that path and delve ever deeper into the craft, I feed an insatiable appetite for creative writing theory. I seek out how-to books and workshop experiences to augment and amplify whatever talent I possess. For those of you like me, here's a little theory to appease your hunger. |
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No Such Thing as Failure
How do you measure success as a writer? Certainly, there are milestones an author reaches that confirm success: securing agent representation; publishing a book or short story; being paid for your work; etc. But what if you haven't yet reached any of those milestones? What does success mean then?
I believe every draft is a success, even unfinished stories. Each time I sit down and write, I learn a little more about the craft. I may only have one gem sentence in 500 words, or one interesting character out of a cast of five, but that sentence or character is worthy of success.
My current work-in-progress is my "starter novel." I've said from the get-go that my goal is to finish it, learning the process along the way. I believe I'll one day write a novel worthy of publication, but it's probably not this one. That strikes me with both a sense of comfort and with stress. Comfort because it gives me the freedom to just write, but stress because writing a novel takes a lot of time and energy. Sometimes I ask myself, am I wasting my time?
I once read an interesting article on Writer's Digest.com by John Smolens that answered that question for me. In "There's No Such Thing as a Failed Story," Smolens says, "For every five completed rough drafts, you’re lucky if you find one that you can develop into a finished short story, one that you feel is as good as it can be, one that you feel is ready to be sent out to editors." (Read the whole article HERE .)
Not only did this article reassure me about my current project, it provided a couple a-ha moments about writing in general. Smolens talked about his mentor, the late Andre Dubois: "Most fiction writers, [Dubois] believed, are .200 hitters, meaning they hit successfully twice out of every 10 at-bats...For every five stories you send out, you’re lucky if one of them is accepted for publication." (Quote taken from same article.) I did the math from my own portfolio. I'm batting about .350 -- so not too shabby!
From this article, I now realize I don't have to polish my current WiP, once the first draft is complete. If, at that time, I don't feel the story is strong enough to peddle to agents, then I will move on to the next project with confidence that I'm not short-changing myself in any way. I'm simply moving forward in my craft.
Question For Next Time: Published authors: Have you written significantly more stories than you have sold? Aspiring authors: Does it encourage or discourage you to hear a successful writer say the majority of work by all fiction writers is unpublishable ?
Thanks for reading!
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Question For Next Time: Published authors: Have you written significantly more stories than you have sold? Aspiring authors: Does it encourage or discourage you to hear a successful writer say the majority of work by all fiction writers is unpublishable ?
Last Month's Question: Do you think about your readers as co-authors of your story? Does doing so inspire you? Here's what readers said:
kdugan -- You are right, what I write comes from me but I need to understand what the reader will feel. Thank you.
So true! Thanks for commenting!
BIG BAD WOLF is Howling  -- (Submitted Item: "Miscellaneous Interactives" -- Try an interactive- You'll be surprised at how people interpret things, and add to them.
I've had that experience every time I've participated in an interactive. Great point!
Mark Allen Mc Lemore -- That is a great question. I will have to keep this in mind from now on when I write. I enjoy writing the stories, I can see where looking at it from the perspective of the reader during the first edit would greatly enhance what I originally wrote. After all, we should be the first reader we touch with our stories as we go through the editing process. In poetry, this reader (the editing author) is usually the only reader that matters.
I love the point you make about poetry. Since poetry lends itself so significantly to interpretation, it requires a different approach than fiction. Thanks for adding more food for thought!
See you all back here on August 7, 2013. Until then, have a great month!
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