A writer's journey to becoming published: Critique & Hope

Crit, crit, crit...it only seems appropriate I bring this up since I am receiving critique on my story, "Big Girl" with mixed reviews today. What a rush! This comes after my posts on "triggers" and the need for writing practice. Big Girl came from the trigger, "Dancing in the moonlight" for one of the challences at the Notebored. I received critique there right away and with their encouragement, I revised for what I thought would be a final draft. Stop there?

The Process-
You could start sending your story out to as many places you can find. But is that the best way? Not to get sidetracked but it's important to target your submissions to the proper genre and markets. This is assuming you know what your work is already: short story, flash, non-fiction, anecdote, novel etc.) No need to send your short-story to a magazine that doesn't print them. Sounds simple right? Nothing in the writing industry is simple-that's for darn sure. But after you've pin-pointed down your genre and market(s), this is the perfect time to post your final draft with writing groups. Stop at just one? You could. But I don't.

Background-
I had submitted Big Girl to two magazines previously but one rejection came back about a month ago, stating it was too long for their needs. After that, I figured I'd better d.check it with the Notebored again. I'm still waiting on the other magazine, but it too will probably reject the story. After receiving more feedback, I revised- yes, again. I decided to give this draft a shot with the critters at SS_Main (yahoo) writing group. I am still receiving crits today as I type this. Awesome.

Why take the abuse?
I just can't express to you how important it is to get your final draft in front of at least one writing group that you respect. As I've stated in another entry, it's a tough process especially on your first writing group submission, but the rewards are longlasting. Although my previous published works hadn't been critted, I am a firm believer that for fiction, it is a necessity.

Let's face it, we can get too attached to a story even when it's fiction. Maybe the grammar needs a second look. Wouldn't it be nice to know if your readers care about your MC? Does that analogy work or is it cliche? There are so many areas that need to be assessed for overall balance. And remember, "The flaws are in the writing, not the writer." p14-Getting Published, Paul R. Martin

What story?
Yeah you know that story. The one you want to see in print with your name in big bold letters-you can admit to me. The one you just can't let go. On certain days, you want burn it, hit the delete button sending it to another world, but you can't. You want to submit it somewhere, but you're just not sure it's good enough. Well, it probably isn't-YET. Get that story in front of a group and see what happens. Even if the crits are tough, which to be honest, they usually are. It is always helpful. You may not agree with all of the feedback (I guarantee you won't.) but when you really think about what people have to say, you'll notice that you're learning about what readers want and not what you want. Sometimes we're in tune with what our readers want and sometimes not.

Hope-
There is hope! The story that won't leave you alone is the one that needs to be published! I'm still working on it, but I am hopeful that my short stories will be published. Pick your genre/markets, making sure word count is accepted and story is appropriate for the markets you've chosen, get your final draft in front of critters and polish with an unbiased POV. And then submit to appropriate places. The Writer's Market book is a must for this point in the process.

So what's stopping you?

WWW.NOTEBORED.COM Check it out!

Enjoy the Journey!