Soon after joining SCBWI, I attended the national conference in LA, and was bowled over to see an attendance of about 1000 people. But maybe that was a good percentage of SCBWI’s total membership, I thought, in which case, it wasn’t so much.
Then I learned the worldwide membership is somewhere around 26,000 dues paying members, and I almost picked up my bags and ran through the doors screaming for the next taxi that would take me to the airport to board the next plane home.
But is all this apparent competition as stiff as it might seem? I suspect that it isn't. As writers, we're all at various stages in the journey, with different life situations and needs. There are times when writing comes to the forefront of our priorities, and times when it ends up being on a back burner. Some people are never as serious about their writing as others. But for those who think they're serious, and yet never seem to get anywhere with it, perhaps they should take a hard look at some of the things they might be doing to hurt their chances. Here are some of the things I’ve observed over the years, and yes, I’ve been guilty a few of them myself. (Listed in no particular order.)
1. Their writing goal is truly nothing more than a dream. A dream that comes in varying sizes, but still a dream. Some have hopes of earning money and/or glory from their writing. Some are far more modest. A published review here. A newspaper article there. But if theirs is one of the more lofty goals, until they anchor their dreams with legs—i.e. solid plans and a strategy to achieve them, they’re really just living a writer’s fairy tale.
2. They don’t attend writer’s conferences or retreats, which are valuable in so many ways. They have money for new cars, boats, campers, nice homes, trips all over the world … but when it comes to their writing dream, they don’t have finances for that, and are envious of people who do “have the money."
3. They don’t read craft books, or visit the wealth of internet sites that offer help with craft. They look at their work and think it’s already perfect. Or, they realize it might not be perfect, but why read craft books? What can you learn from them? Aren't they all the same? They think they can fix their WIP themselves, by writing and rewriting, and have been working on the same WIP, off and on, for fifteen years. Perhaps that book will be published one day. We can hope so. But what a shame that writing a single book took so long.
4. They don’t join a critique group or make any effort to connect with other writers in their area. Should they actually look for other writers and not find any, they don’t go online to find acceptable critique partners.
5. They don’t network online, except maybe with non-writer, non-reviewer friends on Facebook, nor do they make any effort to expand their personal writing community by reading and commenting on writer blogs.
6. They don’t have a blog. Or if they do, they write a few posts, and when readers don't immediately flock to it, they give up. Apparently no one's ever told them that they have to go out and find their audience. It's a reciprocal agreement. If someone comments on your blog, you comment on theirs. If you follow them, you hope they will follow you.
7. They don’t read widely, not even within their chosen genre. Sure, they probably are readers, but they don't read widely enough to be able to tell you who’s writing in the genre, what those authors are writing, who’s agenting them, and who’s buying what’s being written.
8. Should they complete a manuscript, they’re not interested in finding an agent. They don’t believe that agents know any more about the industry than they do (and they themselves know next to nothing about it). They're especially resistant to the idea of having to share a percentage of the profits. They’d rather take their chances and send their work to publisher slush piles.
9. When they go the publisher slush pile route, they don’t make any effort to learn about the publishers they’re submitting to. They don’t discover the types of books published, or who the editors are, or the type of stories the editors love. They don't address their submission to a specific editor; they don't make any effort to know editor names. In essence, they close their eyes and fling it into the wind.
10. If theirs is a lofty dream, they need to put in the hours--many hours each and every week, year in and year out--to make it happen. Regrettably, they don't spend anywhere near enough time on their writing. I once read that if you're not spending 40 hours/week on your writing, you will probably never be published. I also read that a writer of fiction needs to have written 1,000,000 words before their work approaches publishable quality. Sadly, many people believe they can send out their first effort, which may or may not have been revised, and expect it to be welcomed by editors. It just isn't going to happen. And then they give up.
Like Cinderella who had to face reality after losing the magic slipper, these writers, if they are truly serious about being published in the traditional way, and if interested in publishing book length works, need to do the same--face reality. Step out of their writer's fairy tale, roll up their sleeves, and get to work rectifying all the ways they've been hurting their chances.
Who would like to take a shot at guessing the percentage of writers that fall into this category? (Meaning: not serious about their writing.) I truly have no idea. And I’m sure there are dozens more ways that writers undermine their efforts throughout all stages of the journey. What have you seen writers do?
