The Quill & the Crow by Lilith Saintcrow

Author:Lilith Saintcrow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: writing, publishing, writer, saintcrow
Publisher: Lilith Saintcrow

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[7]Sometimes they’re not rules, they’re more like guidelines. Still, disregard at your peril, my dear word-pirates.

The SECRET (or, There Is No SECRET)

August 1, 2008

On the train to and from San Diego, of course there had to be socializing. (You couldn’t get away from it.) Last night I picked up the Teen’s friend, Squeaker, from his grandparents’ house. Both my conversational partners on the train and Squeaker’s grandparents wanted to know the same thing. And no, it wasn’t about my facial piercings.

It’s the question I get all the time. What’s it like to be a writer? Of course, this question means a different thing each time it’s asked. It’s the original Proteus. Sometimes it means where do you get your ideas, sometimes it’s how many hours a day do you write, where do you find the time, or it can even mean, is there a SECRET to it?

Most of the time, it does mean the last. People often think there’s some gold-edged mystery that, once solved, will lead to fame, the NYT Bestseller List, and lots of adoring fans.

There really isn’t a SECRET, just things you can do to maximize the chances of getting published, and after you’re published, effectively reaching the people who will like your books. I’ve been doing this for so long, in my own hit-or-miss fashion, that writing itself seems old hat to me. It’s just something that gets done, between the dishes and tripping over the cats and trying to keep the laundry pile at bay. Writing is a priority, like feeding the kids, so it gets done.

If there is a SECRET, part of it hinges on that: priority.

Writing must be an absolute priority if you expect to get published. Too many people who call themselves writers don’t make time for it on a daily basis. They say, “as soon as ________ (i.e., the important stuff) gets done, I’ll have time to write.” Wrong. You will never have time to write. One must always MAKE time to write. That is a small but crucial difference, and one reason why I tell my writing students to get a cheap kitchen timer. Even setting the timer for ten minutes a day for writing begins to shift your priorities a little bit to include writing.

Another part of the SECRET (if there is one) is brute production. You cannot just sit on one manuscript and expect the world to beat a path to your door.

Finishing a novel or a piece is wonderful, and you should definitely celebrate it. But after the hangover goes down a little bit, you need to get right back up on the horse and start something else. Don’t try resting on your laurels—they wilt awful quickly.

Then there’s professionalism, which is a part of the nonexistent SECRET. Professionalism includes:

* Reading the submissions guidelines and following them. If it says 10.5 point and double-spaced, by God, that is what your manuscript should look like.

* Saying “please” and “thank you”, even when an agent or editor gives you bad

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