Good Advice

A former student called me last week, completely down in the mouth about her writing. She said, “I’ve been working for years and seen no success at all, just one rejection after another. I think I ought to quit.” I told her that if publishing was the reason she was writing, then maybe she should quit, but if publishing was the main reason she was writing, then she’d probably never be published anyway. Publishing is the result of perseverance, luck and talent, and it should be almost totally removed from the urge to write.

That advice, to separate the business of writing from the act of writing, is from James Van Pelt. The entire article can be read here, and is worth reading, even though it was written back in ‘98.

The few times that I’ve been asked what I’ll do if I’m never published, my response has been the same. I will continue writing, probably for the rest of my life. I don’t write to get published. I write to tell stories. I seek publication so hopefully I can eventually dedicate more time to this one thing I enjoy.

The Van Pelt article goes on to describe how the long odds of being published get considerably shorter with perseverance. How learning from each failure will eventually push your work to the top of the slush pile. Another intriguing thing he says is this:

In fact because publishing is so unlikely, it gives me the freedom to write anything I please.

I like that attitude. It totally flies in the face of “conventional” wisdom, which says to study the markets and get to know what’s been published recently. He is saying that since he’s probably going to be rejected anyway, why not write what he wants to write, instead of what he thinks magazine editors or book publishers want him to write? Indeed, I would think that such an attitude would allow a writer to focus on what really matters: plot, character, voice, etc. Separate the business from the art.

The Van Pelt article is posted on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America site. They have a lot of useful information about writing and publishing. There are two particularly useful pages, one has writing tips, the other has things to watch out for (scams, mostly.) The info is not SF/Fantasy specific, so could be useful to anyone interested in writing.