Achieving Success and Fulfillment as a Writer—
Without Being Published
In fifth grade, I wrote
and illustrated my own series of children’s books. Spooky, about a ghost
who liked chocolate bars, was my favorite. Spooky
was never officially published. It didn’t win a Newberry Medal or earn
royalties. It didn’t have to. Finishing the story—showing it to my mother—was
reward enough.
Fast forward decades
later and most of what I write is intended for eventual publication to a wide
audience. I’ve even scoured my journal for ideas. Whenever I’m writing my
thoughts, there’s always a question, can
I expand this into an essay or article? Is
there a market for this?
Many authors start
out writing for fun and self-expression but get caught up in the idea that they
have to be published to be successful as writers.
We can’t deny the
lure of publication. Seeing our name in a national magazine or on a book cover—and
getting paid—does for writers what the Super Bowl does for football players. It
may seem that publication is the ultimate achievement. But there are rewarding alternatives to
traditional publishing.
Can you be a
successful writer without being published? Absolutely! Here’s how:
Writing serves a need in each of us. Do
you write to express yourself? To work through crises? To connect with others? To
make a difference in the world? To leave a legacy? To tell a story?
Once you figure out
your reasons for writing, it’s possible to come up with alternate ways to
satisfy those needs, without having to publish in the traditional sense. It
might be that you don’t have to write a bestseller after all.
Channel your talent and creativity into
something worthwhile. If you want to make a difference in the world, start
locally. For example, a playwright/scriptwriter can partner with a community playhouse,
high school drama club, or student filmmaker to see her vision on stage or
screen. A poet can share his work in classrooms or mentor aspiring
poets—children, adults, seniors—and arrange community readings. Authors can
write for church newsletters, neighborhood aid groups and nonprofit
organizations.
There are ways to satisfy
a need to connect with other people and share ideas without joining the
publishing rat race. A blog is just the thing for authors who like to write
opinion or humor pieces. If you are involved in a hobby or club, start a
newsletter or website. If you’re a novelist, write down your stories for
friends and a family, or record it on a CD they can listen to while driving. A romance
writer can pen steamy stories to share with his or her partner.
Look for writing
opportunities at work with your company’s public relations or communications
department. Volunteer to write content for their publications or website. It
might lead to a paying position. By the way, if you’ve been putting off
quitting your “dead-end” job until after you’ve sold your first novel, it’s
time to find new employment where you can write every day and shine at it.
Many authors have
a powerful need to tell their personal stories but believe they’ve failed as
writers if they can’t sell them to a publisher. Unfortunately, there are more
of us writing our histories than publishers can accommodate. All the same, your
stories are worthy and deserve to be shared.
Compile them along
with photographs into a book for your family. There are online publishers such
as Shutterfly.com that you can use to create beautiful and lasting keepsakes
that will be handed down for generations.
I enjoy writing
personal essays with a humorous slant. These are notoriously hard to sell. That
doesn’t mean they are not important works. I’ve decided to collect them into a
book for my children. They will enjoy reading them when they’re older.
If you believe
that the only way for you to leave a lasting legacy is to be published,
consider this: a newspaper story is gone in a day, a magazine article in a
month. Very few books achieve bestseller or classic status. We read them, learn
something from them—or not—and move on to the next. But think of all the old
letters that people have saved over the years. They weren’t published at the
time they were written or read by anyone but the recipient. Does that make them
any less historically significant?
Letters and
photographs, family stories, children’s artwork…these are what people treasure.
That’s inspirational and all, but I want a
book I can hold in my hands. Self publishing using services like
CreateSpace.com may be an option for people who want to do more with their
manuscripts than keep them in a three-ring binder. There are countless
resources online to guide you through the process if you decide self publishing
is right for you. It comes down to your goals for your work and whether they
will ultimately be met by self publishing. We've all heard stories of people whose
self published books have gone on to become commercial bestsellers. Even if
your book does not achieve that level of success, self publishing can help you
produce a quality piece to share with people you know.
If you’re already caught up in the harsh cycle
of submissions and rejections STOP! The reality is that often, no matter
how hard we work, or how skilled we are, or how great our idea is, we just
can’t break in. Frequent rejection is an occupational hazard for writers who
shop their work.
Isaac Asimov
wrote, “Rejection slips, or form letters, however tactfully phrased, are
lacerations of the soul, if not quite inventions of the devil—but there is no
way around them.” In fact, there is a way around them. It’s called don’t submit. Why suffer rejection if
you don’t have to? Choosing not to
write for publication is a valid option. It can even be liberating.
If you are fixated
on publication—if you can’t remember why you got into writing in the first
place—it’s time for an intervention. Take a scheduled break during which you
write nothing, or if that’s too extreme (some of us can’t not write) write with no thought towards publishing.
Try this: write
for an hour on any topic and destroy the results. Delete it. Shred it. Repeat
the exercise until it’s no longer uncomfortable for you to write just for
yourself.
Experiment with
new forms. For instance, if you typically write fiction, write an opinion piece.
Step out of your comfort zone. Take risks. Expand your range of skills.
If you’re feeling
beaten down by rejection, try another type of self-expression like painting or go
on an adventure to rekindle your spirit.
The point is to
challenge yourself. Growing as a writer and a person—learning something new—can
generate feelings of excitement and accomplishment.
A Successful Writer is a Fulfilled Writer. When I became preoccupied
with getting my work published I stopped writing for the sheer pleasure of it.
Me, write a poem? Please. There’s no market for it.
What I realized
after some serious soul-searching is this: there are many paths to success and
fulfillment for a writer. Being published is just one of them. It might not
even be the right path for some
writers.
That’s okay. We
don’t have to be professional, published or paid writers to be real writers. Using our talent in other
ways—writing for ourselves, for work, for our children, for our communities, for
the hell of it—are all satisfying options.
It’s your choice. It
could be that writing not for
publication will make you happier than you’ve ever been as a writer.
