When a fellow writer seeks the advice of a more established
peer, there is always this hope that they are going to impart that one piece of
wisdom that is the secret to their success.
If you just do this one thing, YOU too can be as successful. I found
myself trying to assess everything I had learned over the years and narrow it
down to one thing that got me from beginner writer to agented. What a
nightmare. There were so many twists and
turns along the way, it became impossible to concisely pinpoint it to a single path. That was, until I decided to write this post,
and then it hit me.
Today I’ve decided to share the super secret weapon of
every writer. I promise you, if you do this one thing, you too will be
successful. Are you ready for it? Here goes.
Pay your dues.
What? That’s not the
answer you were looking for?
Five years ago when I started writing, if I had been told
that I will get an agent BUT it will take five years, I would have quit. This
isn’t an easy business to break into. Heck,
I’m not even published yet! Writing isn’t for the faint of heart. Either get thick skinned or get out. Be
willing to put in the work, and then more work.
And then when you think you’re done, send to a critique partner and have
them kick your ass.
You see the thing is, it’s not enough to have a passion for
reading or writing. (Or the desire to write about hot hunky teens guys without
being considered a perv.) It’s not
enough to have a great story in your head that could be a best seller if only
you had the time. It’s not enough to take
writing courses in college or get an MFA. It’s not enough to put words on paper
and call it a novel.
Paying your dues means working hard to improve your writing,
understanding what’s wrong with it and learning how to fix it. Paying your dues
means reading vastly within your genre and creating a place for yourself among
your peers. Paying your dues means making every effort to know the industry, and I
don’t mean having a general understanding of how things work. I mean knowing the industry so well you could
write it’s eulogy if necessary. Paying your dues means getting it wrong until
you get it right.
Here’s where the “buts” and delusions come in. There is no mathematical formula that
calculates your height, weight, sex, age, and words per minute and estimates a
time frame for which “pay your dues” should occur. The path is different for
everyone. There are those who seem to
have found the fast track and cut to the front of the line. And then there are
those who played by the rules, worked hard, put in the hours but never found
their time in the spotlight. It’s the way
of life. Period. And neither is a slight against you. Only you can dictate your future. And if you don’t get the future you wished
for, write yourself a new one.
