One Big Mountain

Sometimes the path to publication feels like climbing one big mountain. You might start out as a single hiker, or with a group. Maybe you keep your hat and sunglasses on so no one knows about the climb you are attempting until you reveal yourself at the top. At any rate, there are lots of aspiring writers just like you standing around the base looking at the mountain, squinting up into the sun to see how high the climb is. Some are even making a test run up. Everyone is smiling, stretching fingers in preparation.

The air at the base of the mountain is fresh and you feel ready to go the distance. Have laptop, will climb the publishing mountain! You take your first step and it feels good. You are a lover of words and you enjoy building characters and story worlds.

You start off excited and eager to learn. Taking classes is fun; reading books on craft is enlightening. Conferences make you feel like finally there are people who understand you. You walk along with a confident stride.

Then suddenly the mountain tilts upwards. The going is not so easy anymore. The page is blank. Or the feedback isn’t what you expected or hoped for. The request for a partial came back empty. You land an agent but the book still doesn’t sell. You look around and wonder where some of your traveling companions have gone. The original crit group had 8 and now you are down to 4, or 2, or just you.

As you climb your muscles fatigue and you feel like you are losing ground. You begin to dread the words, “Not for me. Maybe someone else will think differently.” And you wonder if you’ve got what it takes.

I am making my second run up the big mountain. The first run was in my life-before-kids. I was a little naïve back then—sent out first drafts! *blush* Then I took a break from writing when life got busy (read: babies and sleep deprivation).

Now, with the proliferation of information on the Internet we aspiring writers can shorten our learning curve and hopefully climb that mountain a little faster or a little stronger. We can learn from other writers how they live the writer’s life, and from agents and editors, learn real-time what they are looking for.

We are all on the big mountain. Some people climb faster than others but we all climb step by step, learning and getting better along the way.

We talk a lot about routines on this website. Routines will help you stay disciplined when the mountain gets steep and you want to give up. Establish whatever system you need to in order to help yourself consistently get the work done. Remember, you can’t publish something you’ve never written, so get busy writing; it’s a long climb.