Category: Closing the Gap

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The Long and Winding Road of Not Having All Your Eggs in One Basket

by Diane Sherlock

While working on my MFA at Antioch University, Los Angeles, I started my fourth novel, Wrestling Alligators. My primary mentors for the book were Rob Roberge (Liar: A Memoir, Crown 2016) and Gayle Brandeis (Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write, HaperOne 2004). I finished a first draft for my thesis project in May, 2009, and continued to polish it to the point where I was confident about sending it out to agents. At the time, my daughter was an assistant to a lit agent in Hollywood, and he read it and recommended an editor he’s worked with for many years. I sent it to her and she peppered me with hard questions about the material, pointing out that some of the imagery was in conflict. She was pessimistic about my solving those problems. That lit a fire under my inner “I’ll show you!” She recommended a big reorganization of the material, which ended up serving the book well. I walked a lot of miles in the hills near my place to figure out answers to her hardest questions and after a few weeks, I solved them. It was one of the best breakthroughs I’ve had. Even so, the Hollywood lit agent passed.

Undeterred, in no small part because I’d been through a lot of rejection with screenplays in Hollywood, I sent it out to about 100 agents. For the few agents who requested exclusivity, I set a time limit of 2-4 weeks, nothing open-ended. Mostly, I contacted dozens of agents at a time with simultaneous submissions. I received many requests for pages and many compliments about those pages. One agreed to represent me if I could get a publisher on board. This was sounding a lot like Hollywood: do the hard work, and we’ll close the deal for you.  Continue reading “The Long and Winding Road of Not Having All Your Eggs in One Basket”

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How and Why To Hang In There When Rejection Gets You Down

by Toni Ann Johnson

When Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo (WWS Cofounder and blog manager) posted on the private Women Who Submit Facebook page a couple of weeks ago asking if we wanted to do a monthly rejection brag, I shuddered. Boast about my failures? Uh, pass.

Well. Then I got an acceptance on a short story after 3 years and 56, yes 56 effin’ rejections. And I guess I did brag about it, though it’s not the rejections I was proud of; it was the fortitude.

So here I am, the oft rejected and ashamed (until I’m not) submitter, here to offer encouragement about why you should remain persistent, too.

Continue reading “How and Why To Hang In There When Rejection Gets You Down”

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Claiming a Corner of Woolf’s “Room of One’s Own”

by Cassandra Lane

“The thesis of A Room of One’s Own—women must have money and privacy in order to write with genius—is inevitably connected to questions of class,” Mary Gordon wrote in a 1981 forward to the book that comprises Virginia Woolf’s famous extended essay.

I read the book in early 2001, highlighting Woolf’s self-assured sentences in bright orange ink and writing in the margins with fervent scrawls. As an African-American woman who grew up poor yet still believed I had stories to tell, a voice that needed to be shared, and who desired, more than anything, to tell stories with brilliance, I certainly took issue with parts of Woolf’s argument. Whereas she insisted that one write calmly and without bringing attention to the self, my heart raged against social injustice; I wrote in first person. I was not wealthy or emotionally detached enough to be the kind of writer she described.  Continue reading “Claiming a Corner of Woolf’s “Room of One’s Own””

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7 Practical tips for Writer Mamas

by Kate Maruyama

I’m a second generation writer mama. My mom raised 3 kids and 30 books, and it wasn’t a goal in life, but I ended up being a writer also. Same with having kids: it wasn’t a goal in life, but here I am, and not unhappily so. When writing is something at the heart of your existence, something you have to do, and you have kids, it’s a scramble, but you somehow make it work.

Don’t get me wrong. I twinge with jealousy when I read write-ups of enormously successful writing men who, with kids or not, have a little less interference. I remember an entire article about the very prolific, fantastic writer Haruki Murakami who spoke rhapsodically of his uninterrupted writing day wherein he exercised for three hours, had the space to be alone and think for several hours and wrote for eight hours straight. He glibly talks about giving yourself, the writer, time to think, to dream. He cautions new writers to keep things quiet.

Quiet! Ha. Continue reading “7 Practical tips for Writer Mamas”

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Shine Brightly: On Literary Citizenship and Class

by Stephanie Abraham

Acting as a good literary citizen means participating in and taking responsibility for our literary communities. As writers, this means that in addition to promoting our own work, we share work by writers we admire; attend readings at independent bookstores; buy books written by local authors and look for opportunities to mentor. For most of us, literary citizenship is an extension of our everyday lives. It’s important to acknowledge the following three points, however, which often get left out of the conversation:

Community matters – and so do you.

Continue reading “Shine Brightly: On Literary Citizenship and Class”

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Early Morning Optimism

by Linda DeMers Hummel

It’s late afternoon. I know lots of bloggers who are just getting started about this time. Not me. I’m an extreme early morning writer, a luxury I can afford now that I won’t wake up anyone as I make coffee and then tread up and down the wooden stairs in my bare feet for the second and third cup. As a writer, I’m full of myself in the mornings. You would be hard pressed to find someone quite so confident at 5 AM.

But in these hours, as the light is leaving on what was a cool and cloudy day, I’m faced with the usual thought: I will never, ever be able to think of anything good to write ever again.

Continue reading “Early Morning Optimism”

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Writing about Difficult Topics: Bringing Dark Corners into the Light

by Carla Sameth

“Bringing dark corners into the light sometimes is very painful and debilitating, but sometimes you have to do it.” Gerda Govine Ituarte

Sometimes you can’t help but do it…go into the room naked. Writing saved my life and writing has almost driven me mad. “They” say, show don’t tell, but sometimes you have to do both. In December 28, 2009, just before the news stories started to break in a substantial way about the culture of violence within the LA County Sheriff’s department (LACSD), a LACSD deputy broke my nose and something inside of me broke as I squatted in my own blood on the platform of the Highland Park Metro station. Three years later, I wrote about this in my cover story in the Pasadena Weekly, “One Day on the Gold Line”.

Continue reading “Writing about Difficult Topics: Bringing Dark Corners into the Light”

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Submitting on a Budget: Network

by Lisbeth Coiman

Where writing has become a self-employment enterprise, tracking expenses is vital for the emergent writer struggling to build her brand. Conferences, books, subscriptions, writing courses, memberships, tracking sites, and submission fees all add up quickly to a limited writing budget.

Arguably, artists can create great work without ever attending conferences, reading peers’ books, or participating in workshops, but writing great pieces is only one step in the process of getting published. Unless the emergent writer enjoys the benefit of a well-connected literary circle, a consistent flow of submissions to literary journals, contests, and online magazines is the only road to publication. Gaining access to information about submission calls takes up most of the money set aside to submit work. For that reason, submitting to publications on a regular basis on a shoestring requires a well thought submission plan.

Continue reading “Submitting on a Budget: Network”

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Women Who Submit at AWP

For those planning to attend AWP 2016 this week in Los Angeles, we do not doubt slogging through the list of scheduled events and managing the deluge of invites is making you short of breath. To help, we’ve created a cheat sheet of panels, readings, awards ceremonies, and cocktail parties where you can find the bright, shining women of Women Who Submit. And if our list doesn’t have a calming effect, there is always Lauren Eggert-Crowe’s piece, “How to Do AWP,” posted last week on the blog, for tips on self-care and success while getting your conference on.

So take a breath and dive in to the many wonders and amazements we have in store for you, and be sure to stop by booth #1504 to say hello and catch a glimpse of “The Amazing Submitting Woman.”

Monday March 28, 2016

The Instant. at 8pm (Not technically AWP, but a good warm up because… soup)
Ham & Eggs Tavern: 433 W 8th St, Los Angeles, California 90014
A monthly reading series that serves up local and visiting literary contributors, unique live music/performance and everyone’s favorite go-to food in a cup, Instant Ramen. Featuring Vickie Vertiz, Jervey Tervalon, Jade Chang, Jesse Bliss, & Toni Ann Johnson.

Wednesday March 30, 2016

Hello Los Angeles: An AWP Kickoff Party at 4pm-6pm
barcito: 403 W 12th St, Los Angeles, California 90015
An L.A. literary cocktail party benefitting 826LA with Special Guests Luis Alberto Urrea, Michael White, Robin Black, Desiree Cooper, Fabienne Josaphat, Bethanne Patrick, Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, Teka Lark and Dan Smetanka.

AWP Offsite: Coiled Serpent Publication Reading with Luis Rodriguez at 6pm-11pm
Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles: 929 S Broadway, Los Angeles, California 90015
Beyond Baroque Books and Tia Chucha Press present a publication reading for Coiled Serpent: Poets arising from the cultural quakes and shifts of Los Angeles edited by Luis J Rodriguez, Neelanjana Banerjee, Daniel A. Olivas, and Ruben J. Rodriguez. Featured readers include Don Campbell, Marisa Urrutia Gedney, Yago S. Cura, Jessica Ceballos, traci kato-kiriyama, William Archila, Sophie Rivera, Trini Rodriguez, Terry Wolverton, Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo and more!

Shipwreck Presents: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a Literary Erotic Fanfiction Competition at 7pm
Bootleg Theater: 2220 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90057
Shipwreck, the San Francisco-based literary erotic fanfiction competition, is coming to LA for the first time, and we’re taking on Sherlock—yep, the whole f*cking canon with featured writers: Carmiel Banasky, Nina Bargiel, Lauren Eggert-Crowe, Nate Waggonner, Zoë Ruiz, and Matt Young.

AWP16 Offsite Event: “IX LIVES” Launch Hosted by Exposition Review at 7pm
Hennessey + Ingalls Bookstore: 300 S Santa Fe Ave, Ste M, Los Angeles, California 90013
Come kick off #AWP16 with the editors of Exposition Review as we celebrate the launch of our new volume “IX Lives”!

Thursday March 31, 2016

From the Drudges: Sustaining a Writing Life from Outside of Academia at 12pm-1:15pm
LA Convention Center, Room 408 A, Meeting Room Level
The lion’s share of prizes, grants, fellowships, and accolades originates in academia and is awarded to academics. Does this mean we have to teach in order to sustain a writing life? Five panelists discuss how a meaningful and successful writing career can be established and sustained from outside of the university cycle. Moderated by Jen Fitzgerald with panelists Rodrigo Toscano, Alyss Dixson, and Ashaki M. Jackson.

From New Wave to Punk: Musical Influences on Latino Literary Aesthetics at 1:30 pm to 2:45 pm
Room 505, LA Convention Center, Meeting Room Level
From all corners of Los Angeles and across this country, punk and New Wave music have influenced Latino writers for decades. This multigenre panel is equal parts reading, discussion, and listening party with special guest Michelle Gonzales author of The SpitBoy Rules, Daniel Chacon, Carribean Fragoza, musicologist Marlen Rios, and Vickie Vertiz.

Mistaking Planes for Stars: Writing from Los Angeles Flight Paths and Freeways at 3pm-4:15pm
AWP Conference, Room 410, LA Convention Center, Meeting Room Level
Working-class writing in Los Angeles has a long-standing tradition, from Bukowski to Viramontes. This read-ing highlights cutting-edge poetry, story, and performance by working-class and queer Latinos from southeast Los Angeles with with Steve Gutierrez, Melinda Palacio, Aida Salazar, and Vickie Vertiz.

Does America Still Dream? Depictions of Class, Poverty, and Social Im/mobility in Literature at 3pm-4:15pm
Rm 503, L.A. Convention Center, Meeting Room Level
Authors writing across genre and form hold an interracial conversation about rendering American class and poverty on the page. Moderated by LA-based writer and educator Dawn Dorland, featuring Jodi Angel, Teka-Lark Fleming, Jaquira Díaz & Melissa Chadburn.

Never on Your Own: Creating Community When Writing Is Done at 4:30pm-5:45pm
Gold Salon 1, JW Marriott LA, 1st Floor
Members of Booklift, Los Norteños, Seattle 7 Writers, the Shipping Group, and Women Who Submit—groups that focus on promotion, networking, and sending work out—share strategies on how to start and run such a group, how to partner with local bookstores and writing centers, and how to foster community both online and offline. Moderated by Waverly Fitzgerald with panelists Kathleen Alcalá, Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, Josephine Ensign, and Kelli Russell Agodon.

Incarcerated Juvenile? Veteran? Senior? Teaching and Reaching the Writer Hidden Within the Underserved at 4:30pm-5:45pm
Diamond Salon 6&7, JW Marriott LA, 3rd Floor
Five veteran teachers of the underserved discuss strategies and best practices to bring the power of writing into the lives of those often discounted in our culture. Panelists discuss the challenges and rewards of working in unusual classrooms and delve into how to best engage unique populations. Moderated by Monona Wali with panelists Robert Fox, Esché Jackson, Ashaki M. Jackson and Leslie Diane Poston.

La Pachanga 2016! at 5:30pm-8:30pm
Avenue 50 Studio: 131 N Avenue 50, Los Angeles, California 90042
An award ceremony & celebration honoring Francisco X. Alarcón, RIP, Juan Felipe Herrera, Lucha Corpi, Luis Javier Rodríguez, Odilia Galván Rodríguez as well as celebrating the release of the new anthology Poetry of Resistance: Voices for Social Justice (University of Arizona Press).

The Lulus at 5:30pm-7:30pm
The Palm Restaurant: 1100 S Flower St, Los Angeles, CA 90015
Lulu will present its first annual awards, the Lulus, in recognition of writers and organizations who actively support racial, gender and class justice. Honorees include Garth Greenwell, Saeed Jones, and Wendy C. Ortiz.
$10 per ticket

Word of Mouth offsite reading AWP 2016 at 6pm
Casey’s Irish Pub: 613 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, California 90017
Featuring David James Poissant, Tammy Delatorre, Tom Hunley Ron Salutsky, Leona Sevick, Tania Runyan, Susan Browne, Scott T. Starbuck, Martha Silano, Dave Essinger, CC Perry, Cindy Rinne, Brendan Kiely, and Tom Bligh.

Best of the West Reading at Villains Tavern at 6pm
Villains Tavern: 1356 Palmetto St, Los Angeles, California 90013
Join The Los Angeles Review, Pacifica Literary Review, and CutBank for a Best of the West Reading at Villains Tavern in the LA Arts District featuring Siel Ju, Madgalawit Makonnen, Jeff Walt, William Camponovo, Corinne Manning, Catherine Pond, Daniel Riddle Rodriguez, and Caleb Tankersley.

Best of the Net / Political Punch / Sundress / Agape Reading at 7pm-10pm
The Lexington: 129 E 3rd St, Los Angeles, California 90013
Join Sundress Publications for a night of three celebratory readings for our new poetry anthology, Political Punch, the 10 year anniversary of the Best of the Net Anthology, and Sundress’s Sweet 16 with readings by Timothy Liu, Cam Awkward-Rich, Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib, Lee Ann Roripaugh, Chen Chen, Traci Brimhall, Matt Hart, Emily Jungmin Yoon, Alix Olin, Nicole Walker, Sarah Einstein, Fox Frazier-Foley, Amorak Huey, Letitia Trent, Jill Khoury, Saba Syed Razvi, Jessica Rae Bergamino, and M. Mack!

Friday April 1, 2016

The Flash Sequence: A Reading and Discussion at 9am-10:15am
LA Convention Center, Room 406 AB, LA Convention Center, Meeting Room Level
For 20 years, the Marie Alexander Series has published hybrid work: prose poems, flash fiction, lyric essays, and books that mix all three and defy categorization. For our 20th anniversary, we decided to publish an anthology of flash sequences—that is, pieces comprising short prose segments.Each participant will read and discuss his or her contribution to the anthology. Moderator, Debra Marquart with panelists, Irena Praitis, Siel Ju, Jenn Koiter, and Sonia Greenfield.

Through the Closet: Writing Human Complexity in Queer Characters at 10:30am
Los Angeles Convention Center, Room 404 AB, Meeting Room Level
The typical “coming out of the closet” narrative is a fantasy of a starkly contrasted before-and-after, of complete disclosure and consequence. Through the lens of their works of fiction, the panelists discuss the limitations of this oversimplified account of the queer experience and explore their varying approaches in writing queer characters in all of their human nuances and differences across genres and time periods. Moderator, Catie Disabato with panelists Thomas McBee, Marcos L. Martinez, Seth Fischer, and Kate Maruyama.

“Once, I Was That Girl”: Creative Writing Pedagogy for Tween and Teen Girls. at 10:30am
LA Convention Center, Room 505, Meeting Room Level
“Empowering girls” has become a catchphrase that can be relatively meaningless. Yet, single-sex environments have been proven to be productive spaces in which creativity is nurtured and young writers can grow. Four educators and writers who have founded organizations that serve tween and teen girls speak to the practical challenges and the reverberations of success they have witnessed while mentoring girls, as well as the inspiration this has brought to their own creative work. With panelists Elline Lipkin, Allison Deegan, Nancy Gruver, Margaret Stohl, and Marlys West.

Book signing of The Amado Women by Désirée Zamorano at 2pm-3pm
Bindercon table, exhibit space #1936

¡Chicana! Power! A Firme Tejana-Califas Reading at 3pm-4:15pm
LA Convention Center, Room 410, Meeting Room Level
With a brown fist in the air, chanting “¡Sí Se Puede!” these mujeres bring la palabra. This is a reading by fierce Chicana poets stemming from Texas and Califas. Moderated by Dr. Guadalupe Garcia Montano with panelists Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, Anel I. Flores, Emmy Pérez, and Laurie Ann Guerrero.

Poetas in ONE-derland (An AWP offsite reading) at 7pm
Self Help Graphics & Art: 1300 E 1st St, Los Angeles, California 90033
A Poetry evening featuring eastside and east coast sisters of the
historical Nuyorican Poets Cafe featuring Cynthia Guardado, Ashaki M. Jackson, reina alejandra prado saldivar, Peggy Robles-Alvarado, Maria Rodriguez-Morales, and Vickie Vértiz.

AWP 2016 Offsite: The Rumpus and Rare Bird Present PICK YOUR POISON at 7pm-9pm
Lethal Amounts: 1226 W 7th St, Los Angeles, California 90017
The Rumpus and Rare Bird proudly present PICK YOUR POISON, an AWP 2016 offsite event. With readings from Cornelius Eady, Rich Ferguson, Ashley C. Ford, Erika Krouse, Anna March, and J. Ryan Stradal! Hosted by Antonia Crane!

AWP Offsite: Kundiman & Kaya Present LITERAOKE at 8:30pm-11pm
Kapistahan: 1925 W Temple St, Ste 103, Los Angeles, California 90026
Come out and get down with Kaya Press & Kundiman at our AWP offsite event as we combine readings and Karaoke into a never-before-attempted experiment of entertainment and enlightenment! Features include Vidhu Aggarwal, Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, Sam Chanse, Leticia Hernandez, Ashaki M. Jackson, Janine Joseph, Teka Lark, Sueyeun Juliette Lee, Ed Lin, R. Zamora Linmark, Kenji Liu, Rajiv Mohabir, Angela Peñarendondo, and more!

VIDA Dance-a-Thon at AWP at 10pm-2am
Ace Hotel Los Angeles: 929 S Broadway, Los Angeles, California 90015
Don’t worry, it’s not a competition, we just want to have a good time! Come party with VIDA at our AWP offsite event, and support another year of amplifying women’s voices with features Charlie Jane Anders, Sheila Black, Wendy C. Ortiz, Gregory Pardlo, Christopher Soto (aka Loma), Michelle Tea.

Saturday April 2, 2016

The 3rd Annual Rock and Roll Reading at 4 PM – 7:30 PM
The Echoplex: 1822 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90026
Rapid-fire readings followed by live music from Frances Gumm featuring Alice Bolin, Stephen Burt, Melissa Chadburn, Jerry Gabriell, Eleanor Henderson, Micah Ling, Nate Marshall, Adrian Matejka, Emily Nemens, Elena Passarello, Jim Ruland, Ethan Rutherford, Amy Scharmann, Amy Silverberg.

AWP: Thanks for Visiting! at 6pm-8pm
Espacio 1839: 1839 E 1st St, Los Angeles, California 90033
Los Angeles Poet Society and The Writers Underground present a showcase of Los Angeles Poets that bring it! With: Iris De Anda, Jessica M. Wilson, Jeffery Martin, Gloria E. Alvarez with Musical accompaniment from Greg Hernandez, Steve Abee, and Cynthia Guardado.

FLORICANTOS UNCOILED: Afterdark Whispers of Passion at 10pm-1:30am
Medford Street Studios: Los Angeles, California 90033
An late night reading co-hosted by Las Lunas Locas with Karineh Mahdessian and Sophia Rivera celebrating POETRY OF RESISTANCE: VOICES FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE, published by the University of Arizona press and co-edited by Francisco X. Alarcón (RIP: Rest in Poetry) and Odilia Galván Rodríguez and COILED SERPENT: POETS ARISING FROM THE CULTURAL QUAKES & SHIFTS OF LOS ANGELES, published by Tia Chucha Press.

For those not attending AWP 2016 or looking to take a break from the Los Angeles Convention Center, be sure to attend a panel or two at THE REJECTED, an alternative mini-convention brought to you by Lauren Traetto, Writ Large Press, and CIELO featuring panels and speakers rejected by “stupid ass AWP16 for no damn good reason.”

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Embrace Your Ignorance and Just Get Started (again)

by Rachel Sona Reed

The best part about having to repeat Algebra in high school was the amount of class time it gave me to write fiction. I had been doing this since 4th grade, using interstitial moments gained by finishing work early to scribble the stories, scenes, and sentences bubbling up into my consciousness before they spilled out of my brain and evaporated.

Like the tragedy that follows any bout of hubris, these epiphany-fueled, frantic (epi-frantic?) creative outbursts struck less and less, until writing became “something I used to do.” By college, my fiction, much like reading for pleasure, seemed to have officially left my life. My irrepressible urge to write hibernated so I could allocate energy to more intense academic work. Xanga, LiveJournal, and the many blogging platforms that have come since also played a role in redirecting my creativity away from its first love: fiction.

In truth, the structure of my life had changed, and I hadn’t realized that meant my writing practice needed to change with it. There were no more free moments in class to indulge my imagination. I’d have to find the time elsewhere.

Time presented itself in the purgatory between graduate school and a viable career path. I started a novella, and a personal research project. The creative parts of my brain began to stir, but were soon diverted toward volunteer, and later full-time work for nonprofits. This was certainly fulfilling in its own way. I was valued for my ability to turn a phrase and get our press releases reprinted in local papers. But I missed being overcome with an idea; I missed my inner 4th grader.

About a year ago, I decided missing my former hobby compulsion wasn’t enough. I would have to start thinking of it as a serious pursuit and give it the time it needed. Especially since I aspired to publication. The only problem was how to begin. There was so much to know, and by this time I was 30.

I want to pause here and reiterate some advice I’ve heard from many other writers; advice that’s applicable to life in general: have your own definition of success, and pursue your own goals. Otherwise, we waste far too much time comparing ourselves to incomparable colleagues. We are the only versions of ourselves, so we may as well embrace this reality and aspire to our unique manifestations of awesomeness!

At this point, my writing goals were amorphous, and my definition of success was broad: I wanted to publish my writing, whatever type of writing it ended up being. Because WWS excels at supporting women who target literary publication, I’ll focus on resources that have aided that aspect of my journey from uber-newb to the ever-abundant “emerging writer.”

Writing Groups

Starting out with, I knew I would have to pick something among the overwhelming variety of paths and resources–many of which I couldn’t even see–or remain a paralyzed non-writer. So I decided joining a local writing group would be my first move. Ideally, this would provide an external pressure to keep me accountable to my own goal of producing creative writing.

Meetup.com was a helpful resource to learn which groups were nearby, and after participating in a few of them and meeting people, I settled into the one that felt best. Everyone is working on different types of projects, but we share the common goal of supporting one another by providing thoughtful feedback. One thing I learned through the process is we don’t always find the right group at first, and what constitutes the “right group” might change over time.

Conferences

A month or so after dipping my proverbial quill into the world of feedback groups, I learned about BinderCon. On a whim, I decided to volunteer and thereby attended my first writing conference. It was a revelation. The rooms were filled with intelligent, successful, confident writers, none of whom were men. Panels and workshops discussed revolutionizing literary representation, finding and asserting one’s expertise, and so much more. It was inspiring to meet and learn from women who were making a career of writing. Publication was possible!

I’ve found conferences to be a good way to open myself to new ideas, meet interesting people, and learn practical tips about the industry I’m just beginning to navigate. If a conference provides volunteer opportunities, this is often a way to secure a free or discount ticket without having to be on a panel. You might miss a session or two during your volunteer shift, but attending is still valuable.

Women Who Submit

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the many ways that Women Who Submit and its members have paved the way for my little creative renaissance. As it happens, I learned about WWS at a happy hour meetup held a few months after BinderCon. I had carpooled with a woman named Jenny, who organizes the San Gabriel Valley Women Writers group and is far more outgoing than I am. She started chatting with WWS organizers, Tisha Reichle and Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, who soon shared the work they were doing with WWS. Jenny asked them to speak at an upcoming meeting, and that’s where I first felt the swell of I could do this, too course through my consciousness. Thanks to their presentation, the mystery of it all wasn’t quite as inscrutable.

A few months later, I attended an actual WWS submission party and was treated to the official orientation. Tisha and Xochitl provided concrete submission tips, insider information about the world of literary journals, and a cover letter template I could actually follow. They made the submission process both comprehensible and accessible. Tammy Delatorre’s presentation at February’s meeting resulted in my very own manageable contest submission plan. All the members of WWS I’ve met have instilled confidence by being themselves and putting their writing into the world. Everyone has their own goals and methods, but once a month they come together and form an unstoppable force of collective awesomeness.

Online Resources

Websites like The Review Review, Poets & Writers, The Write Life, and Write On Sisters, to name a tiny fraction of what’s available, offer strategies and tips about the writing process, the business side of things, and available markets for our writing. I keep a folder of bookmarks just for writing-related websites that I can check in with as needed.

An alternative to websites are podcasts, which provide similar information in a different format. Plus interviews with interesting people! I’m partial to Ditch Diggers, Longform, and The Other Stories (again, to name but a few of the myriad options available).

Creative Revolution webinars, hosted by Leigh Shulman and Jeannie Mark, helped me discover my writing goals and formulate a business plan. It’s one of those “living documents” that you can use as a guide and modify as your life and goals change.
Applying all the tips and philosophies gained through online resources is always the tricky part, but knowing where to find some of them has been invaluable.

Classes

Like thousands of people around the world (this sounds like hyperbole, but I assure you it is not) I signed up for the University of Iowa MOOC last October. It offered message boards to connect with other students, peer feedback on writing assignments, and video lectures from published authors. An ostensibly great opportunity! Unfortunately, I stopped checking in half-way through and stopped completing assignments even earlier, learning the valuable lesson that online courses are not my optimal educational environment.

Much more effective has been a UCLA Extension course on Creative Non-Fiction. It meets in a physical classroom with a real, live instructor. (The future is the past, people.) What’s more, the class has opened my to the possibility of writing in that vast genre, and has resulted in several essays I’m shopping around. In sum, being a writer means I get to be one of my favorite things at the same time: a student.
Embracing Ignorance as an Opportunity to Learn

Some of my biggest hang-ups have to do with the often insurmountable mountain of my own ignorance. How does the publishing industry work? What genre should I focus on? Should I be networking more? The best way to overcome this, I’ve found, is to embrace my ignorance—of course you don’t know anything yet; you’re new to this!—and just do something. Anything. Doesn’t matter. And above all, write.

My definition of success evolves as I learn more about the many genres, publications, and industry machinations. But having a group of peers who offer mutual support, alternative perspectives, and connections to resources has remained a necessary constant. That’s what’s so wonderful about Women Who Submit.

I still don’t know what I’m doing much of the time, but I’m getting better at celebrating my small triumphs as I learn bits and pieces of what it takes to be a working writer who aspires to publication. When I can, I remind myself that I’m in a learning stage, and will likely remain here for the rest of my career. There’s always something different to delve into, after all. So I try to enjoy the process as much as possible. I seek out new resources, push past my shyness to meet other writers, and every so often work up the courage to submit.

Taped above my desk is a motivational phrase I came up with to remind myself how easy it can be to get started: Conditions don’t have to be right to just write. Some days I even take my own advice. And on days I can’t see it through the self-doubt, I try not to beat myself up about it. Small steps. Incremental progress. My destination may be unknown at times, but I’ll get there, wherever it is, and so will you.

—
Final Note: I’m pleased to report that I composed the first few paragraphs of this post in my head while I was driving the Arroyo Seco Parkway back from my UCLA extension class. My inner 4th grader is alive and well.

d9f1c19a-a9de-4f11-89a2-0f7a7d5e920bRachel Sona Reed left her job last fall to pursue freelance writing full-time. She is still discovering what genre(s) she should focus on, but as of this posting she writes grants for local non-profits, fiction, mediocre poetry, and creative non-fiction. Her work has appeared in Angels Flight • literary west, Hello Giggles, and Rose City Sisters, among others you probably haven’t heard of. You can read her more fanciful fiction at tinyletter.com/lostisfound. She has been blogging at contemporarycontempt.com since 2011, and no you may not read her livejournal.

Twitter: @seriousrachel