Yes, Virginia, There is a Writing Clause

A few weeks before Christmas, while working with dozens of writers on the final draft of an upcoming book, I received a very nice email from a young high school writer who wanted to know: "How can I get published?"

I did write her back. Helping younger writers is actually one of my joys. I love helping other people accomplish a life goal (would that more people had life goals!). But in the case of "Virginia", I thought it might be helpful to offer some tips here that could help any aspiring writer. Here's what I wrote back (sort of):

Dear Virginia,

Thank you for writing to an old dog like me: a guy who, if he allowed his beard to grow out, would now look like Santa Claus. I've been writing for a long time, Virginia, and I've learned that there are always people out there who will say "it can't be done." Sometimes, it may be people in your family who tell you this. Or it may be your friends or teachers. It may even be an editor or an agent (but don't worry about that right now).

My advice to you presently is, don't worry about "getting published." Make sure you write. Be the best writer you can be. Grow in your writing. Find people who can offer feedback on your work. And make sure you read the types of books you want to write. Analyze these books and learn what makes them work, how the writing works, and why. You'd be surprised how many young writers want to write mysteries, or science fiction, or romances . . . but they don't read mysteries, or science fiction or romances to learn how successful books work. Read. Read. Read. And write. Write. Write. There are no shortcuts. Turn off the TV, the video games, the cell phone . . . and read and write.

Now, once you have created a nice piece of writing, there are actually many outlets for younger writers. I could give you a dozen or so to try. And visit the library and read (there's that reading stuff again) about how to prepare a manuscript for submission to an editor and how to write a cover letter. Master this craft alone, and you will be light-years ahead of most writers.

And Virginia, here's the most difficult next step: you have to send your work to an editor, even though your work will likely be rejected. But you have to keep writing and sending your work in. Don't dally over work you've already completed. Write something else. And then write something else. Let an editor see that you are a writer (a producer of words . . . and the articles, essays and books you produce are the commodities you offer). Farmers produce soy beans and corn. Writers produce words!

Eventually, if you persevere, you will get a "yes". And then another "yes". But being published isn't the most satisfying (and cannot be the most satisfying) part of this process. It must be the writing itself--the solitary, fire-in-the-belly experience of word selection, that drives you.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Writing Clause, and it still lives in all of the hearts and minds of young writers like yourself. A hundred years from now, a thousand years from now . . . it will still live on. So keep writing.

Yours truly,

Santa Todd