Everything you said is true. You have to be willing to start/stop, start/stop, start/stop, over and over again in this business. It will knock you down repeatedly. The key is getting back up each time and being willing to reinvent yourself.

I think the internship will teach you a great deal. When I used to write music and sing, I did an internship at a small record company. It was truly an eye-opening experience for me and helped me avoid a lot of pitfalls. Good luck to you!

It’s true. A lot of the people I’ve encountered thus far in my demographic–young, recently-graduated authors trying to make a mark and/or trudging off to get an MFA–have that quiet, desperate posture about them that anyone whose ego has just taken a blow carries. I’d like to say that everybody recovers, that they realize the only way you build muscle is taking damage, to keep trying, but a lot of them will, I fear, lose hope. An author I respect more after a Q&A sesh than before (Karen Joy Fowler) said that she knows very well that she’s not the best writer of her friends, but the main difference between her and the unpublished ones is that she was willing to take hits for her dream. That’s ultimately what it comes down to. And even then most don’t make it, but at least they go down in flames. I’ve begun an internship at Creative Byline, the manuscript-submission service that’s partnered with Tor/Forge, Globe Pequot, and St. Martin’s, among others. The advice that I’ve received from some of the staff on my own writing is the same: if you want it enough, you’ve got a fighting shot, but you might be headed into a hurricane on a skiff.

Thanks for the post.

Peter

Denise A. Agnew

The book is the only thing we have control over. The rest is an illusion.

Oh, now that is so totally perfect.

Luck and timing, in this business, they are critical.