Progress: It’s a Process, Part 2

One decision, significance unknown, sets you on your way.

Isn’t it funny how one action leads to another, leads to another, leads to another, and you end up somewhere you know you wouldn’t be without that one thing you did? Maybe it was a deliberate action you took, in which case — good job!  Or maybe it was a whim, in which case — whew, what luck! Of course, I am assuming the somewhere you end up is a place you want to be.

After I finished school, I didn’t jump right into writing. First of all, I didn’t quite know how to go about it. My writing classes had covered a lot of things, but getting started on a freelance career was not one of them. Also, I needed time to absorb the information in the books I was reading. Then I made one small decision: I subscribed to Writer’s Digest magazine. I didn’t think about it much, but it seemed like a smart thing to add a writing magazine to my reading regimen. Reading the magazine allowed me to “lurk” in the writing world, without being a part of it quite yet. It also led me to the Internet Writing Workshop (check out my previous post) and to my first writing success (a confidence-builder if not a money-maker).

Writer’s Digest sponsors an annual writing competition, and somewhere in the fall of 2008, I wondered if I should submit something, just for the experience. One of the categories was “Features,” and I recalled that in one of my creative nonfiction classes (yes, those), one of the assignments had been to write a feature. My first attempt had been a miserable failure, but my second was not bad. I had nothing to lose, so I took a deep breath, psyched myself up, and submitted my article to the Internet Writing Workshop nonfiction critique group. I had been critiquing others’ work, but this was my first request for a critique of my own work.

I was afraid my submission would be ignored, but to my surprise, people actually critiqued me. Of course, the article needed heavy, heavy editing. It had a lot of gooey “creative non-fictionness” that I needed to slash and burn. I got so many good suggestions, so many tips. I worked furiously on the article and finally submitted it to Writer’s Digest in April 2009. Then I waited. Then I forgot about it.

In the meantime, emboldened by the support I received in the nonfiction group, I submitted other pieces I had written. More often than not, I received gentle, supportive critiques, but sometimes they were harsh and left me feeling like an incompetent pretender. Evidently, a thick skin is a good shield to have when participating in a critique group. Mine was not thick, and I had a hard time believing I could write anything worthwhile after I read a few of my critiques.

But, in the fall, I received a letter and an honorable mention certificate from Writer’s Digest. My feature article had finished in the top 100 of thousands of submissions! I remember standing in the kitchen with the certificate in hand, my mouth open, my heart pounding. I didn’t jump up and down, but I was quietly ecstatic.

Best. Feeling. Ever.  I think it will be surpassed only on the day I finally get something published.

(TV show voice) Next week on A Mid-Life Writer’s Journey:  Another step in the chain of events that stemmed from a single magazine subscription…don’t forget to tune in. And see the new category at the side of this page to read my submission to Writer’s Digest, “A Blender in Parrothead Land.”

 

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