As a Creative Writing major, one of my goals in life is to be published. Through my time here at SUNY Oswego, I was able to achieve this goal by having my work published in four different journals, but there is an art to the submission process. Not only do you have to deal with an individual journal’s specific requirements about what they want in a submission, but you have to figure out what pieces you have to submit that have a chance against hundreds, if not thousands of other applicants. In this article, I hope to bring to light some of the tricks I have found that helped me get my work published, and may help others as you start the journey of being recognized for your hard work.
The first thing I would encourage is to write all the time, something that every writing teacher or successful author has said a million times. But it’s true. Constantly making time to write, even if the writing is the worst thing you’ve put on the page, is crucial to honing your craft. By writing everyday, you can start to figure out what you like to write about and the strengths in your writing. In my case, I enjoy writing fiction that borders on the science fiction and fantasy side, while my poetry delves more into the natural world. By focusing on your strengths, you can find the weaknesses in your writing quicker.
The second thing that helped me grow from a novice writer to a published author was feedback. I took the required creative writing courses offered on campus which allowed my work to be peer reviewed, but in reality a fellow student can only help so much. That’s when I decided to take my writing to a professor – someone who has written for a longer period of time than I have, and will critique my work in the way that it needed to be. Once I started working with a professor, I noticed a stark change in my writing. I pushed the boundaries of what a poem looked like on a page, how I described objects in my poems, and what topics I wanted to focus on.
Taking these two things, I went from receiving only rejections to getting accepted pieces. Though, I will say the few pieces I have gotten accepted are amid many, many rejections. It’s part of the writing process; get rejected and submit again. You have to be patient with yourself and not get frustrated with every rejection letter, or you will want to quit before even getting started. By staying dedicated to my work and pushing the boundaries of what I can write, I was able to start my writing career while still in college. By following your own set of rules, any writer can do the same. All it takes is a little ambition.