Is your goal to be published in the local newspaper?  To write for a national magazine?  To have your novel in bookstores?  To write your memoir?  To finish a story that has been in the back of your mind for years? 

All of us needs goals.  The first couple of years I wrote seriously, my goal was to submit something every month.  I submitted short stories and poetry to contests, literary magazines, local publications and small publishers.  I learned a lot about meeting guidelines, deadlines, and editing.  I learned the value of researching a market before submitting and how to take a critique.  The contests were probably the most beneficial because many of them offered critiques and since my writing wasn’t cash prize quality yet – it meant a lot to get feedback.  And poetry, well, let’s just say that I’m a little verbose for poetry.

I started a couple of novels early on, then the third one hit a spark and grew into Feisty Family Values (the novel that’s coming out in February 2010).  To help pay for my book habit I started writing freelance, too, and made enough to allow me to attend a few conferences and writers workshops and learn more about the craft.  Then I approached the local magazine market and found a home.  They taught me to write tight, directed articles and still let my writers voice shine through.  And my interview skills have vastly improved. 

In the mean time I’ve been working on the sequel to Feisty called Patchwork Family.  National Novel Writing Month is inspiring me to make time for writing every day, so it’s progressing nicely.  The first draft should be finished by the end of November.  Woo hoo. 

The point of all this rambling is to show you how I reached my goal of publication. It took a lot of steps to get there and I’m still learning and growing in my writing.  Decide what your goal will be and work toward it.  But be realistic with your goal, because writing, researching and publication take time.  They also take dedication and a amount of luck.  Just don’t give up and enjoy the ride.
-BD