The Worst Advice I've Ever Heard. And Why it's Bull Shit.

Like any aspiring novelist I spend hours scouring the internet for new writing blogs and forums that will help inspire, educate, and guide me through this process. Every time I stumble across articles like 11 Killer Chapter Breaks or Marks of an Amateur a fresh wave of confidence leaves me flush with inspiration and launches me into a writing binge lasting well into the night. But on rare occasions there are those nasty little columns that haunt my muse like a botched hair cut. Articles that speak of the business side sucking the creativity out of you or warn against the callous editor who chooses your title and slaps a recycled cover on your baby, those I can handle. I'm a big girl.But there is one evil piece of advice that torments me still...

 No one gets published the first time around, your first manuscript is more or less a practice novel. But what about JK Rowling? Stephanie Myer? Yes, it does happen, but not often.  Now you're thinking Not my book! I really have something here, you'll see! Every writer thinks they are the exception, they're not. 

. . . What the hell?

Mind you that is not an exact quote (I do not remember the site or article because I tried desperately to erase this damn idea from my brain, unfortunately the concept is burned into my cortex.) The point is, why in the world would you tell this to a budding writer who has come to you for encouragement? True as it may be, this is exactly the kind of poison ivy that infests every Muses backyard! The reason newbies (like me) read these sites is for tips and confidence so that we can improve our WIP's and summon the motivation to finish them. Writers articles should be like Round Up on the weeds of doubt, not Miracle Grow!

There are a billion reasons why the first try won't be the best shot; amateur mistakes and style, lack of connections, clueless about the business end, plot holes, your "real" job, blah, blah, blah... But nobody is perfect anyways, not even the greats like Hemingway. And just because you write like an amateur doesn't mean your out of the running, sure JK Rowling was a natural from page 1, but look at Stephanie Meyers. (P.S. I do have an unhealthy addictions to the Twilight series. But...) Twilight is written with every red flag imaginable- and yet 4 books, 1 novella, and 5 blockbusters later she seems to have at least, eh, 2 or 3 fans? So no, you don't have to be a vet to produce a book worth printing, you don't even have to sound like one. If the story is addictive, people will read it, even if it's not masterfully penned. Why? Because, for the most part, they aren't authors or editors either.

But the most important evidence to the contrary? At any given Borders there are hundreds of books that truly and undeniably suck beyond a reasonable doubt. And they got published! It may not be the most inspiring argument, but you know what? All I really want is a shot. I just want the chance to share the story I'm dying to tell. And even if I'm the only person who buys it, that's fine by me because having my words printed and my name on the cover would make my life (not my day, my life).

Clearly, the odds aren't in our favor, but why the hell should I count myself out? That only eliminates me as a contender. So, kiss my amateur ass random buzz kill blogger I can't remember!

Read with humor please : )

Comments on your best and worst advice?