Wednesday, December 7, 2011

It's time for Road Trip Wednesday!

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. This Week's Topic:


How far would you go to get published?

I'll be short and sweet today.

I'm willing to put in the work. I'm willing to revise and rewrite to make my story as strong as it can be. I'm willing to stay up late to get my words on the page, I'm willing to travel to conferences to hone my craft, and I'm willing to peck type this blog entry with my left hand because I had surgery on my right hand yesterday. And it's not really so much about breaking down that publishing barrier, although that will be great one day. It's about doing justice to my characters, so that other people can know them and love them like I do. It's about connecting with other readers and writers, who love a good story and beautifully chosen words and strong characters.

12 comments:

  1. OMG, hope your arm (and you) is okay.
    And I agree with you, we have to work our @$$ off in order to make our work better, and if that means extensive revisions, so be it!
    Now you get some rest ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. You have a great work ethic--posting when you have one broken hand? Impressive! And I agree with your answer. All of the things you listed are traits of a dedicated writer and I have done them all! Very inspiring, post :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. It suddenly strikes me how weird it is that we, as writers, are so loyal to fictional people.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks you guys- I'm doing well, just trying to become ambidextrous :) @Yael - I almost wrote imaginary friends instead of characters; I think that's what they really are.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Absolutely agree with what you say. I'm willing to do whatever makes the story great. And I'm sure there are agents out there that have worked with writers to create stunning manuscripts that are still waiting to find a publishing home. So it should never be all about getting published. Our stories and our characters have to come first.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Brilliant answer. Our characters do deserve justice.

    Hope your hand heals soon!

    ReplyDelete
  7. THIS. Great answer.

    I hope your hand gets better soon!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love that sentence "It's about doing justice to my characters". We owe it to ourselves, our stories and our readers to make the best stories we can. Great answer! (I hope your hand gets better very soon :-))

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh I'm sorry to hear about your injury. Hope it feels better and wow dedication for sure posting like that.

    I agree with your answer though. Its a constant job, going through and re-reading and re-editing and revising, alot of re's lol. But yeah it's all to make the characters and the story so amazing.

    Hugs

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks everyone -sorry I haven't made the rounds with comments lately!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love your take on this, Laurie. Your work ethic is enviable and inspirational!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Seems like lots of hard work, experience, and luck come into play, but so long as you follow your heart it's all good:) Neat blog!

    ReplyDelete