Episode 034 | Balancing Creative and Business Writing Work

If you’ve been listening to the show, you’ve heard me mention the 100 Rejections Challenge, which is the idea that we try to get 100 rejections, knowing that we’ll likely get some acceptances mixed in there. It’s a great way to take the sting out of your rejections and get more of your work out there.



Say you’re on board for giving it a whirl. What exactly does that mean in terms of brass tacks? Because just saying you want to do something will not get it done. Trust me. I’ve tried this (a lot), and it doesn’t work. What does?



Just like your writing, you have to:



* Ask yourself some questions first. * Where do you want to submit and why?* What fits your goals and resources? * Do you have funds to devote to entry fees? * What are you looking to get out of the publishing experience (prize money, clips, name recognition, etc.)? * What sorts of resources (e,g, Query Tracker, Manuscript Wish List, Duotrope, Writer’s Market, writing magazine listings, Google search) will you use to search for submission opportunities?* What pieces of work do you want to submit? * Are they already ready to go? * If not, what still needs to be done? When do you think you’ll have them done?* Make space for your business work. * How are you going to keep track of submission opportunities?* How are you going to track your actual submissions? * Do you prefer analog (e.g. a list in a notebook) or digital (e.g. spreadsheet)?* If digital, do you want to use a service like Submittable or Duotrope to keep track of them or create a spreadsheet of your own to track them?* Make time for your work. Here’s another tried-and-true quotable I tend to overuse: “Someday is not a day of the week.” * How often will you work on the business side of your work? * Do you want to make a little time every (or most days) like David Mamet advises in his Masterclass? * Or do you want to set aside a day a week (or every other week, or once a month, depending on your wants/needs/abilities) to focus on your submissions?* How will you use your writing business work to inform and motivate your creative writing work? For example, can you use contest deadlines to help you set a personal goal for that final revision?



Obviously, it doesn’t do you much good to spend a lot of time on your writing business work if you have nothing to submit or publish. HOWEVER, let me tell you a quick story about my work in progress (WIP), Molly Bright.



At one point, I found myself stuck in the middle of a novel I’d been working on. I found all kinds of reasons to procrastinate and my writing habit suffered. I decided to take a writing class through my local university...