Break Into Print: 7 Habits of Highly Published Authors

Every writer knows the publishing world is grindingly competitive. Despite that truth, previously unknown authors break into print each year.

Don't think of getting published as an amalgam of mysterious formulae that only an elite few understand. Treat each day as an opportunity to practice habits that will inch you toward your goal.

7 Habits of Highly Published Authors:

1) WRITE

It may sound like a no-brainer, but there are many aspiring writers out there who aren't writing. There are understandable reasons for this evasive block. Fear is a big one. (You can't fail at something you don't attempt.)

Sneak up on your fears by writing anything--even nonsense--and declare victory if you stay seated at your desk for a designated number of minutes. You can raise the bar as you go.

Carving out regular writing time is the first step in establishing a writing habit. Commit to fifteen minutes on most days of the week. Eventually, once the act of regular writing becomes habitual and almost reflexive, you can increase your time.

2) READ

Can you imagine a musician who goes through life wearing earplugs because she doesn't want to listen to someone else's music? But there are people out there who want to be writers and who never crack open a book. The simple truth is that your writing won't improve if you don't read.

Read like a writer. Read everything in your genre (especially newly published works). Read things outside your genre. Reread the works you love in order to learn from them--dissect the author's approach so that you can put it in your toolbox. When you come across something you dislike, try to figure out why--intellectualize your reaction.

3) REVISE

Revision literally means re-vision, seeing again. As much as it may hurt, you must be willing to cut huge chunks if they don't contribute to the piece as a whole (that might include scenes, chapters, even characters, beloved though they may be). And you may have to write new scenes to fill gaps you couldn't recognize until you looked at the piece as a coherent whole instead of sewn-together parts.

Just like you can't cook a great meal if your kitchen stays clean, you can't write a satisfying book if your first draft doesn't undergo cutting, pasting, reworking and rethinking.

4) Hand off your work: the value of another perspective.

Islands can't write effectively for publication. No matter how hard you may try to be an island while you write (solitude is necessary then), you have to let the drawbridge down (or send a ferry over to the mainland) when you're ready to publish.

Never let an editor or agent be the first person to see your work. Find thoughtful readers willing to give you honest critiques and you'll dramatically boost your chances of publication.

5) Submit and Persist

When it's ready, send your work out--another no-brainer, right? Still, you'd be surprised at how many writers -- serious writers who want to be published more than almost anything -- write and write and never send their pieces in for consideration. Who can blame them? You pour your whole creative self into this artistic endeavor; you know the odds are stacked in favor of rejection, so why would you volunteer for the guillotine?

Instead of thinking of rejection as a personal blow, try to think of it as a numbers game: every time you get rejected and re-submit, your odds of getting a "Yes" in return increase.



Rejection stinks, it really does. And it stings. But since there's no way around it on the road to publication, the sooner you accept it as a necessary evil, the better.

And the truth is, getting rejections means you're in the game. It's a concrete sign that your writing life has progressed from a solitary activity at your desk to an exchange with the world at large.

6) Ask "What if?"

Look at the world and question everything. Peer past the obvious. Peel back the veneer of appearances and ask yourself, What if....? It's a valuable way of imagining and visualizing, and asking it often will enhance and enrich your creative life.

The late author Robert Cormier said that his novel The Chocolate War was born one ordinary day while he watched his son walk out of school and toward the car carrying a large box of fundraiser chocolates. Cormier asked himself, "What if my son decided not to sell the chocolate this year?" and the idea was hatched for a vibrant, compelling, enduring novel.



7) Start something new.

Okay, so you finished a project and put it in the mail. Then you weathered your first rejection and put the work in the mail again. And you wait. And wait. Warning: if you're waiting for the Yea or Nay to define your identity as a writer, you'll stall the potential on future work.

While you're making the rounds with your first piece, throw yourself into a new project. There's nothing more effective for breaking you out of over-attachment to any single piece of your writing than excitement over a fresh endeavor.

To discover more ways to make your writing habit more efficient and satisfying, visit http://ManuscriptRx.com and sign up for "Write Through It," the FREE monthly e-newsletter that offers practical writing advice and anecdotal wisdom.