[Writer Post] The 3 “R”s of Writing
Writing, revising, and submitting (and resubmitting). These are the foundations of writing professionally. And I’m once more deep in the throes of that. We all should be, but sometimes… yeah, we’ve talked about that quite a bit. So I’ll call these the 3 “R”s of writing.
Writing seems obvious, but it’s also easy to balk on. I’ve got a small struggle going on right now on the simple “writing” R. Which project to work on? What “should” I be writing? I’ve got a deadline coming up and no story even remotely ready for it.
I need to be writing — the question is (at the moment) finish something I’ve already started or come up with something new. It’s the age old question. I have many plot bunnies and partially finished stories, but are they right? The only way to find out is to dig into them and find out which one(s) sing to me.
Revising is also an integral part of the process. If you have stories that have been out for a while or trunked–or the stories that are still in draft form–you’re in the Revision process. There are some writers who say that once they’re done with a story, they’re done with the story. There are no rewrites, no revisions, nothing. It’s just done. I assume this means after it’s had a couple of editing passes and maybe some Beta Readers. I hope this is what this means.
However…being the writer that I am at the level that I am, I have some stories that are taking a very, very long time to sell (years and years). After a while, I feel it’s a good idea to go back and check out the story again. Because, fingers-crossed, hopefully I’ve learned some new skills in the time the story has been out looking for a home. And maybe, just maybe, I can tighten the story up, make it better, and now find a home for it.
(Re)Submitting is sometimes one of the hardest things to do. This is the one that can (and will) deliver the body blows to the writer ego. Because by submitting your work–and continuing to submit–opens you up to judgment from other people about your work. This lets someone else tell you your story is good or bad in a way that friends, family, and fellow writers can’t…with money and exposure.
This is where rubber meets the road, as the proverbial cliché says. You can write. You can revise. But if you’re serious about this writing…thing, you have to submit. You have to keep submitting until you find the right place at the right time to take your story. If it takes years to sell a story, it doesn’t mean the story is (necessarily) bad…it could mean that you’re ahead of your time.
There’s a lot of tenaciousness involved with this industry. You can’t be a “one and done” type…though that’s always a good feeling. It’s good to sell a story to the first market you send it to, but that’s usually in the “invited”, long-termer, or themed markets. But if you’re like most of us, there will be many stories that will take many markets and quite a bit of time to sell. You just have to plug away at it.
And while you’re plugging away at the third “R”, you need to be working on the first two. It’s a vicious, necessary cycle. But rewarding in the end.