Talent & Publishing

Am I talented enough to publish? The question may be one we ask ourselves often because we are either in the beginning stages of writing or we have been writing for a few years without a single acceptance of our work.

I wrote steadily for 8 years before my first acceptance and I thought everything would be smooth sailing after that.

It wasn’t.

I still struggled to sell my work, to get the right piece to the right place, to take criticism. Though that 8 year mark was my send off point, I still continued to hone my craft, get cuddly with the genres (I enjoyed children’s writing, journalism, story writing, and novel writing) and continued to learn from mentors who knew more than I did. I took writing classes, received feedback on my work, and spent time reading books and writing every day!

Many years later I am still learning! Though I am a mentor for writers who are just beginning I am still learning what makes a story work, what creates writer’s block, what keeps writers writing what they are most passionate about, and why a certain piece of work never sells.

You are talented enough to publish if you haven’t given up. Say it’s been 10 years and you haven’t published a single solitary piece! Keep writing! Keep learning! You’ll never be talented enough to publish if you quit.