I know a lot of us wrote for many years before publishing anything, and I know there are some writers on here who have not yet published. But when did you first think about getting your writing published? And what sort of sparked that?
I was nine or ten and had just written a mystery novel called It Happened in Yellowstone which was inspired equally by Trixie Belden and pictures of Yellowstone that I found in our encyclopedias. I thought maybe I could be the youngest person ever published, then discovered a girl younger than I had already had an illustrated story published. I kinda lost heart about publishing since someone else had already met my goal, but I kept writing anyway.
I've just always wanted to be published. When I was writing mediocre poetry in high school, I had dreams of publishing collections from the start. That carried right over into prose when that became my thing.
From when I was a teen at school, though not seriously until 2-3 years ago. I want to see a book with my name on it for sale in a bookshop. I want to take a friend or a date there, drape myself (kinda) over the bookshelf with a "Ta Da! Look what I did".
My favourite subject in school was English and naturally I was, and still am, an avid reader. As a result it was always a dream / goal to have a book published however I have a lot to learn, and a long way still to go, before I reach that stage.
When I first created my universe and story, it was mostly for myself. But I thought that it would be nice to have others interested in the same thing. I'm published for free right now, and only with part 1 of a series. I intend on publishing in ways that I can get paid, but that is in the far future, probably. For me what is important is that I get to see others enjoy what I have created. If I earn reputation and wealth along the way, that would be a bonus.
Wow. You started early with your writing and publishing aspirations. I was reading a lot at that age, but I had no idea how publishing worked. I kept a diary when I was young, but that was pretty much the only writing I did at that age except for school assignments. How did you learn about publishing at such a young age? It wasn't until college where I gained a sense of the publishing industry. I also intervened at a publishing company. Back then I had hoped to publish a novel before I turned 30. I did finish my first novel and made some attempts at getting an agent or publisher, but I can't say I tried too hard. My interests shifted toward writing for newspapers and magazines which I made a career out of for a long time. But creative writing is much different and a lot harder to get published, IMO.
I don't think you have to understand the intricacies of the publishing world to want your writing to become a real book. I would say I still don't know some of that stuff.
I write quite a deal of bad poetry in my teen years, but I can't say I ever thought of publishing any of it. I didn't even know that was a thing at the time. I mean, of course, someplace had to be putting out the books I read and, of course, there were published writers and readers, but it wasn't really something I understood or gave much thought. I'm curious, how this dream of publishing started for you. What made you think, "This is something I want to do?" Did you have an idea of how publishing worked back then?
That's true. I just never really explored that dream of publishing when I was young. I guess I didn't get that it was a real thing that writers were doing. That sounds silly now that I say it. But I guess it took me a long time to feel like a real writer. And it wasn't until my first publication (not a book) that I actually thought of myself as a writer. I know that sounds silly too.
I don't know. I was already aware that there were authors and publishers by the time I started writing poetry in 9th grade. I always loved sharing them and wanted them in a legit book of poetry. I was sort of published that year, lol. A poem I wrote was included in the Lubbock Arts Festival contest winners book. It was about 3/4 of an inch thick and had one of those round plastic spines through holes in the papers. It was pretty cheap, but they sold hundreds, which is cool. I still have it somewhere. That was also the year they released the movie The Basketball Diaries, and while I didn't want to live the life of Jim Carroll, I wanted to be published by 17 like him, which is hilarious to me now.
I totally know what you mean about seeing a book with your name on it in a bookstore. When my first newspaper story was published I went to the newsstand and bought a bunch of copies, telling the guy behind the counter that I had a story published. He wasn't all that impressed. LOL. Funny thing is I could have gotten as many copies as I wanted for free, but I really wanted to see it there for sale at the news stand. Many, many years later I started writing fiction. My first sale was to an established magazine that a lot of bookstores carry. Even though this publication mailed me 10 or so copies, I really wanted to see it in the wild. I went with my lover at the time who I had take my picture next to it on the rack. There was only one copy left so I didn't buy it. It was pretty cool to just see it and know it was there and know my writing was inside those pages.
I don't think I had a favorite subject at that age. I pretty much hated school and didn't have many friends. I did like reading, though. I guess at that age I wasn't really thinking about what I would be when I grow up. It wasn't until college where I started to really write and dream and have publishing dreams. When it comes to writing and publishing, I think, there is always more to learn.
I think the first time I had a chance to really be read by others was in an undergrad creative writing workshop. Those can be tough, students aren't always enjoying the work of their fellow students. I learned very quickly that my goal, personally was not to have others enjoy my writing, especially because that's not something I can control, though, it would be nice. But now that I have published a decent amount, I, honestly, can't say how readers respond to my work. I don't think too many readers out there Arte responding to the creative writing they read. I guess there are reviews and stuff like that if you have a book out there. For myself, I have never gotten anything like a fan letter. I guess the closest thing would have to be from an agent who contacted my after reading one of my short stories in a literary journal. But other than that I really don't know how many readers have read my work or what they thought of it. That is something that has remained a bit of a mystery even when I've had something published.
For me, it was when I started reading literary journals that made me what to write like those being published and publish stories in those same publications. Even with some success, that's still what I'm aiming for. Sure, it would be great to have a book published. And I do think that will happen. But my first creative writing loves are short stories, essays, and poetry found within the pages of publications I admire.
I set my sights on publishing not that long ago. Just the past 3-4 years or so. I've always been a very avid reader. Grew up in the bush with no internet and just three channels on rabbit ears. So, I spent countless hours in books. Like a lot of us, I wrote little stories here and there, but I never really thought about publishing. That's because I was mostly interested in becoming a hockey player. And when it became clear that that wasn't going to happen, I transitioned to trying to become a rock star. That one wasn't as crazy as hockey player; I was in a few bands and we had some gigs, but nothing really went anywhere. Still got to perform in front of hundreds of people a few times ! Then when I returned to uni at 23, the necessity of writing papers, both academic and creative, reminded me that I had some innate writing skills that I hadn't been using all that much. Must've come from all the reading earlier. I wrote for the school paper for a couple years just for fun. Movie and music reviews, news roundups, that kind of thing. In my second last year, I wrote a short story for a "philosophy and science fiction" class, and I thought it was really cool. I got an A. But after I graduated, I just got into the grind of trying to make enough money to pay bills, and I stopped writing almost entirely. Some "dark ages" followed, and then a few years back I snapped out of it and kind of...woke up? It dawned on me that I'd been completely wasting my life, along with potential gifts, and I decided to try expanding that philosophical science fiction story into a novel. And I did. It was at that time I set my sights on publishing. I spent a lot of time reading, writing, and learning, and doing a bit of ill-advised submitting. But I've gotten much better in my view, and quickly. I feel certain that I will get my third novel published. I'll be finishing the first draft over the next month or two, and I am excited about submitting it. As others have mentioned, I want to see my book on the shelf in a bookstore. I want to publish a novel to prove that I didn't waste the life I was given.
It wasn't hard to figure out: 1) people write stories on pieces of notebook paper, 2) other people turn those stories into book-shape. I was telling myself elaborate stories by the time I was four and started writing stories down when I was six or seven; I still have one of those first written stories and many of those that followed. No one thinks it out of the ordinary for kids play the piano or baseball. Ordinary for me was writing short stories and books.
Always the odd duck...I guess I'm still writing for the fun of it, as a hobby. There is a certain freedom in not pressuring myself to perform beyond that.
I think we have a lot in common when it comes to this. Not to mention we are both on our third novel. Hopefully, third time's a charm, right? I have always liked reading and books. I thought for a while about going into publishing but not as a writer. I loved stories and books and the publishing world. I did an intern at a publishing house. And it was great, though, not always exciting. My first two job offers after graduating were to work at a publishing house on the editorial side (it was a really nice and tempting offer) and to work for a newspaper (back when newspapers were still a big thing. I went with the paper and loved every second of it. I would have been happy and earned more money going into publishing, but I decided I wanted to write other people's story and bring those stories into the spotlight. And this was before internet cell phone, and not everyone had a cell phone or the internet. It was fascinating and humbling to be a member of the press. I was not part of those stories, and I was not trying to be a writer, unless it said something like staff writer or whatever under byline. In the grind of things I completely dropped the whole idea of creative writing. Before that, I had written my first novel, and tried to get an agent. I had taken creative writing classes in college, but those stories I had no real interest in publishing them. But then I didn't have time for any of that anyway. I don't think journalism skills transfer easy into more creative writing. At least for me they didn't. And even when I left journalism, I really didn't see myself as being a writer. During this all this time, I was still reading, though, quite a bit more so after my career ended. For too long, I probably did nothing. A long time. Then I started writing (real writing) again. But this time around I did start doing this fully intended on having it published. A very hard, like a million times harder than I could ever have imagined. It didn't take long for me to start submitting. I went through years of nothing but rejection, much of which has been captured in the rejection thread. I started that because everyone around was pretty cool and needed to vent or something. I was at the point of so much frustration and starting to really question myself and my abilities. I basically kept writing and submitting because I just couldn't be so wrong, could I? I spent years dedicating my life to fiction and writing fiction. I kept pushing myself to be a better writer and write better stories, to evolve as a storyteller and a wordsmith. I think most people would have given up, and, hostly, I know some who have. I was rejected hundreds of times before selling my first piece of fiction. @Set2Stun -- I don't think you're wasting your life trying to become a writer. I admire your drive. I can tell you take it very seriously and I would be surprised if you didn't have the talent and ability to pull off what you're trying to do. And I enjoy your company on the rejection thread. Just saying the idea of publishing came later to us, but reading was always something important.
I do hope so very much that third time's the charm ! I'm glad to learn of your writing history and some of our similarities when it comes to publishing. And yeah, reading is so so big. To clarify, trying to become an even semi-successful writer is what makes me feel like I'm not wasting my life. As long as I'm still trying, it's not a waste. Hope to see you in the rejections thread for many years to come, but more importantly, I hope we all get to post many of these too
I remember being very young, when my grandmother read the hobbit to me for the first time. It sparked my imagination. It sparked a life long love of fantasy. Then i discovered RPGs. The open story telling of a game adventure, was a challenge that was enjoyable. Things have grown from there. A few attempts at fan fiction from times to time. Now, I am looking at the self publishing route, for some extra income. The challenge now is to get my work to a quality and polish that it is worth someone paying for.
