I first
ran across the work of Kristine Kathryn Rusch when her named appeared on the
bottom of a standard rejection form I got from The Magazine of Fantasy &
Science Fiction, where she was head editor for several years. A short time
later, I ran across one of her short stories (“Retrieval Artist” in the June
2000 ANALOG), which of course, led me t0 her RETRIEVAL ARTIST novels. I’m a fan
now and started reading her blog a year or so ago. As always, I look for good
writing advice to pass on to you as well as applying it to my own writing. I
have her permission to quote from the articles. You can find the complete article
referenced below, here: http://kriswrites.com/2011/11/12/freelancers-survival-guide-giving-up-on-yourself/
“You are responsible for your own career.”
Imagine those words echoing down a long hall or
out of a wind-swept valley of banded stone.
That seems a painful statement of the obvious,
yet there are writers (Kristine Kathryn Rusch says she knows writers whose work
is good, yet single words derail their career tracks. My daughter tells of a
young lady she went to a concert with who boldly talks about when her book is
published. When my daughter asked if she was submitting a manuscript, she
replied, “Oh, I haven’t finished one yet. I always get stuck after the first
chapter.”) that even I know who blame everything and everyone but themselves.
Every summer I read an article to my Writing To
Get Published and Serious Writer’s Workshop students called, “The Luck Myth” by
Laura Resnick (SFWA Bulletin, Fall 2001; http://www.ninc.com/blog/index.php/archives/luck-myth).
The single most important piece of advice in THAT article is, “The Luck Myth is
the rationalization whereby a dissatisfied writer blames bad luck and an unfair
world for his not having what he wants, whether it’s a first professional sale
or a string of hardcover bestsellers; as a corollary, the Luck Myth also
involves attributing someone else’s success…to luck (and an unfair world, of
course)…luck is very elusive—far too elusive to form the foundation of a career
plan—and therefore mostly irrelevant in the overall scheme of a filthy pro’s
life.”
While I confess I haven’t made the plunge into
online self-publishing yet, it’s a definite place to which I am headed.
Currently, I don’t feel I have enough to offer my readers. As I’ve mentioned
before in this series, my writing is scattered: science fiction for adults and
children; historical fiction for children; science experiments for children;
contemporary fiction for young adults; curriculum for teachers and sundry other
pieces. My SF for adults consists of five short stories plus one in submission
after a request for a change, and the novel awaiting a reading with a
publisher.
Them’s slim pickin’s with which to launch a
career. So I’ll wait, not because I’m afraid or don’t believe in myself, I just
don’t think I have enough stuff that is well-written to satisfy someone who
would follow me.
Kristine Kathryn Rusch has this to say: “If you
sell five copies in July of 2012 and only one copy in the next six months, then
there might be something wrong with the product. Should you figure out what
that something is? Should you rewrite the book to death? Heck, no. You should
practice—keep writing new material, and learn, learn, learn.”
I’m in the “learn, learn, learn” phase. That includes
writing new short stories set in universes I’ve created. My recent podcast
publication (http://www.castofwonders.org/2011/12/02/ep20-peanut-butter-and-jellyfish-by-guy-stewart-part-1/)
takes place shortly before the adult SF novel I have in submission. I’ve
finished another story for young adults set in a world of the story that an
editor requested changes and wanted to see again. I’m currently working on an
SF short story for young adults set in the same world as a different novel I
have in submission with a different publisher…
I ain’t afraid.
At least not a whole lot…
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