THE RECKLESS WRITER

At 16, I sent off my first story to a paying market. I’d yet to sell a short story, but I’d had articles accepted for publication in both paying and nonpaying markets. For this one, I decided to pull out all the stops. I went down to the dime store and bought some fancy stationery that resembled a marble slab. I thought that added gravitas. Finally, I printed out the story in a squiggly font.

By the time I was done, my submission looked like a reproduction of the Ten Commandments. Surely the editor would be amazed to open the envelope and behold pages that resembled writing carved into stone.

I sent it away with a self-addressed stamped envelope. A few weeks later, I received a reply. The editor simple wrote, “Use white paper. Use a standard font.”

Thus began my ongoing conversation with editors. Sometimes they told me what I needed to hear rather than what I wanted to hear, but the information was always vital. These days, the role of the editor has faded almost into insignificance, and that saddens me.

Conversations with faceless entities

At 20, I sent off a different story. This time I paid better attention to the submission guidelines, but when my self-addressed envelope returned it contained another rejection.

The text at the top of the page was longer. It included a couple of notes and finished with the line, “Decent story, do send more.”

Even after all the thousands of notes and comments I’ve received throughout the years, that simple line of encouragement is still a source of motivation. It sits in my mind as if written in light. Above all things, writers have a hunger to hear that their words are needed.

Keep going.

Have we lost the time to lose ourselves in words?

Though I have managed to sell novels, breaking through into the short story market has proven difficult for me. I’ve had much better luck with articles.