I've been a writer most of my life - ever since I first stumbled down the stairs one snowy Christmas evening with ten pages of the most revolting drivel about ponies clutched in my eager hand. My parents, upon being inflicted with said drivel, were, understandably, cautious in encouraging me to consider literature as a reliable career. "Keep it as a hobby." they said. "You can always do it in your free time."
The last laugh was on them, however, when I decided to study English Lit at University.
I mention this merely as a way of explaining my motives for leaving the issue of publishing so late in my life. My FictionPress account imforms me that I have, up to this point, written 195 stories for Fantasy, Humor, General, Thriller, Life, Young Adult, General, Nature, Fantasy, Friendship, Love, Song, and Horror." I have been a member since 06-05-02 - six years this month. Shocking! And never once even tried to get published!
It is, I think, easy to see why this was. My worries were (and are) those of most young and inexperienced writers - after the youthful confidence (better known as naivety) has faded a little. Writing is such a huge part of my life, I felt I simply couldn't handle the ruthless commercial and literary assesment of my poor little stories. So, what changed?
I finally got a bit of backbone!
What's the worst that could happen? Rejection, as the Yearbook tells us time and time again, happens to all the greatest writers. But what they fail to mention is that it happens to the worst, too.
Nevertheless, I've decided that it's a chance I'm going to take. The benefits of being a real, published author are just too great to forego.
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