YES, BABY WRITERS! COME HERE! I MUST HUG YOU!
I love when I meet someone who’s just getting started on this whole writing journey. They have yet to be dragged through the mud on their critiques, shamed and demeaned by the submissions process, and more or less emotionally destroyed by the shiny, beautiful evil that is the publishing world. They’re brand new and precious, with that idealistic glee floating around them in a way that reminds me what it was like when this whole thing was only about telling stories.
There’s a certain sensation of feeling weathered and wise when you meet Baby Writers™, but at the same time, they have a lot to teach us. Sometimes you need to get back to when it was all about the story before you can do it fearlessly, unselfconsciously, without worrying about is this right for the market or what if my word count is out of control or should I stop here and revise or should I do the next chapter? As a writer who’s written so much and sold some of it, I have perspective now, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world, but sometimes I do catch that unmistakable scent of Baby Writer™ on some plucky new enthusiastic artist, and . . . a certain part of me envies them.
Oh boy, no doubt I was like that when I was little. I’d written the 1st of a three part series, and while I kind of knew it wasn’t going to take off and be uber-famous, I was still pretty optimistic about getting it finished and it being awesome.
When I was about 12 or so I sort of shelved it, and someday I will bring it back (as a graphic novel) when my writing/arting skills are great enough to give it the merit it deserves.
I self-published (total net cost : under $100 US dollars) a magazine for wight months. I somehow got an an inquiry about what I would accept, and innocently included poetry.