Writers write for a large variety of reasons: a compelling drive to do so, the desire to document an experience, the challenge of putting to words something that previously only existed in the imagination.

And then there are those who write with the dream of FAME, of getting published, of making millions…of going on book tours, signing copies, all the cache that comes with celebrity.

How many copies do you think you’d need to sell in order to have a bestseller? According to some sources, the answer is much less than you might imagine. In fact, in 1996, only 11 titles total sold over a million copies in the whole year! That was over ten years ago…granted, but according to a 2006 article in Publishers Weekly, there are about 200,000 titles published every year, of which less than 1% make it to the “Bestseller Lists.”

And what is a bestseller, anyway? Well, it’s relative, depending on what list it is, in which country, etc. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestseller for more on this.

Another great resource on the topic (pertaining directly to Canada, but applicable in the U.S. as well) is http://www.writersunion.ca/industry.pdf — which demonstrates how an author who sells over 10,000 copies of a book would probably make somewhere in the neighborhood of $13,750 dollars.

Bottom line? You’ve got to love writing, and be doing it for the right reasons. True, some get rich, but the odds are not playing in your favor. Love your writing, your characters, your topics…enjoy them…cherish the whole experience: it’s likely the highest pay you’re gonna get.

So, my prior post…see below, was all about finding the motivation to keep on writing.

Well, I found the best motivation.  It’s that thing called an email from a literary journal or a magazine…or anyone, really…who says, “yes! we love this! We want everyone to read it.”  I just got a great email with words to that effect (minus the exclamation points, mind you). I had submitted a short story and it was accepted yesterday.

(waiting politely for the applause to stop before I continue) 

If there is something that will push you forward, it’s this: take the rejections in stride, but man…savor those acceptances. They are pure gold motivation for the spirit.

I think, sometimes, that I’m a bit nuts.

I had decided to submit a short story to The First Line and they had a deadline of February 1st.  While I had written the story and only needed to do the very, very last fine-tuning, I still couldn’t help but wonder what it is about writers–such as myself–who put themselves under the gun this way.

It’s almost like being back in college, except that you assign yourself your own work…with the very slim chance that there’ll be any reward (besides the obvious:  WOOT! I wrote a story! ).

I read a profile of a businesswoman yesterday, and the one thing that stood out for me was this: when asked what her secret to success was, she said, “Never, ever, ever give up! Never give up! NEVER!”  It impacted me because a writer really needs a great deal of self-motivation to keep going.  You have to have that “don’t give up” mantra going in your head.  It’s so easy to let it (the writing) fall away, ease up…dwindle to nothing.

So, if you are writer, and you are tired or downtrodden or discouraged or uninspired or struggling–I’ll be your cheerleader today: Never Give Up.

I think there can be some benefit to being unfocused in my writing.  I am currently working on two short stories (one being for the First Lines contest…see below).  I am also working on a poem.  I have been alternating between these three pieces, going away from them–coming back to them.  While I normally would find this difficult in that it would be too messy, I’m rather enjoying the variations.

It’s fun to be undisciplined in my writing.  I am actually working on being a bit more reckless…taking less time to craft a single sentence, so that I can just get a story out on paper.  I can always go back to do the wordsmithing.

Focus. Hocus pocus.

So, I’m writing a short story to enter in the The First Line.  This is a print publication that provides you the “first line” of a short story, and you go from there.  Make it anywhere between 300 and 3,000 words. Entries are due on February 1, 2007.  The first line?  It is:

In Pigwell, time is not measured by days or weeks but by the number of eighteen wheelers that drive past my house.

All kinds of images come to mind.  For more information, go here:   http://www.thefirstline.com/index.htm

Go to it.

A short story I wrote was recently accepted for publication.  The publisher even said, “I think you should be very happy because you just got by my toughest editor!”

Suffice it to say that I am over-the-moon.

There is something gratifying about having a stranger, someone who works in the business, tell you that your work is good.  So good, in fact, that they want to publish it so others can experience it.  That feels good.

A fellow writer I know recently pointed out that when writers submit their work, they are engaging in a veritable quest for acceptance.  She reminded me that the word “submission“–as in “sending in a submission to see if they want it”–is telling.  We submit to someone else, bowing at their feet in the hopes they’ll take our work seriously and find it fit for publication.  When we’re denied, it can feel personal (it isn’t, but it feels that way).  When our work is accepted, we feel accepted.  It is personal.  It’s personal in that you feel it in your bones, the success, the drive to continue on and keep writing.  It feels personal because we make it so.

Conclusion: be inconsistent, philosophically.  If rejected, chalk it up to experience and say “it’s not personal.”  If accepted, chalk it up to a big ol’ boost to the ego. Personally speaking.

Last night I attended my writing group, and was blown away by the material that was presented by the other writers .  Something funny happened, though: instead of feeling down and out about not being “as good as”–I felt exhilerated and recharged by the fact that these “ordinary” folk are just walking around town like normal citizens, but they are actually…NOVELISTS.  Real novelists (or they will be as soon as the manuscripts are done).

It’s wonderful to be in a live community of writers.  It’s inspiring, demanding…it brings writing into your life in a way that simply wordsmithing just can’t do.

I love blogging and the online readers here…thanks for visiting.  But, if you are serious about writing, I suggest you find a face-to-face group of people to share with.  It adds to your experience in a unique and meaningful way.  You share in real-time, and the gratification is real-time…and lingers on.

So I submitted a short story to somewhere around 10 different publications…rejected by all. It’s really disheartening.

There are a lot of really excellent writers out in the world, and it’s too bad that there’s such competition for space. What a joy if there was room enough in the magazines and publications for everyone to showcase their work. Sort of begs the question…are there enough readers out there for large amounts of good work to be published? It’s an issue of supply and demand, I think, and in the end, there may not be enough demand. Anyway, that’s my rationalization for being declined.

I think in some ways it’s hardest to get a rejection that states, “You are such a great writer, blah blah blah, however we only have X amount of pages and so have to make some hard decisions. Good luck with placing your work!” Ugh.

So, January is halfway through, and my New Year’s goal of publishing a short is still not realized. I’m kidding. I’ve got 11 and a half months to go…wish me luck.

I’ve always sort of fancied that I have “The Gift” for writing.

Maybe not.

I realized when looking at a few of my recent stories that I rely sometimes too much on cliche, that sometimes the piece doesn’t hang together, that I run off half-cocked on a story that needs a lot of tightening. I don’t plot out my writing before I start, so sometimes I get to the middle, or worse, the end and think, “now what?”

I’ve scoffed at those who buy books on how to write or who have signed up for lectures on how to sell a book. Hey, you either have it or you don’t, right? You can either do the work naturally, or you shouldn’t be doing it at all. But I’m starting to wonder. Can reading about writing actually make you a better writer? Can you learn to be good?

We shall see. Yesterday I ordered a book, called Plot & Structure, that focuses on, duh…plot and structure. It was a hard pill to swallow.

See what I mean? A hard pill to swallow! Forgive the cliche.

I just read a great piece on how to get published, and I thought I’d share it with any of you out there who are, like me, hoping that 2007 is the Year of the Finished Novel.

Essentially, the plan is to write lots of short stories (between 1,000-8,000 words) and even more “short shorts” (between 500-1,000 words).  You submit these, get them published–if you are really lucky, maybe you even get paid something.  Then, when you are looking for an agent for THE NOVEL, you have a list of places where you’ve been published.

(Evidently, blogging isn’t enough.  Huh.  Blogging isn’t enough.  I’ve got to remember that.)

So, Goal # 3 for the New Year: put together a portfolio of two good shorts, and 3 good short shorts.