I try to make sure [my students] understand that writing, and even getting good at it, and having books and stories and articles published, will not open the doors that most of them hope for. It will not make them well. It will not give them the feeling that the world has finally validated their parking tickets, that they have in fact finally arrived.
-Anne Lamott
My enthusiasm is about to reveal to you how green I am as a writer, and I’ll probably look back on this in a few months or years and groan in embarrassment. But for today – Holy Crap, y’all, I am now published! And the funny thing? I feel exactly like the world has validated my parking tickets. That I have in fact finally arrived.
Arrived at what, I’m not sure, but I am there, baby.
I’ve never submitted anything for publication before. I hear that if you want to write for real, you need to go ahead and grow a thick skin. Prepare to wallpaper your walls with rejection letters. Prepare to be told over and over again that you suck. Personally, I’m not really into that. I like gold stars and A pluses and for people to tell me how awesome I am, so I’ll just avoid the rejections and the character assassination and I will self-publish here on my blog, thank you.
But my friend, the one who rescued my About page, wouldn’t give it up. “Andrea, I really think you should submit something to this journal.” Six months later, “Andrea, have you submitted anything yet? Andrea, really. Just write something and send it in.”
So I did. My “Writer’s Block” essay, a piece about my Southern childhood, a piece born of deadline paralysis, was accepted and is on page 20 of the current issue of Southern Women’s Review (Volume 6). You can read it for both the paralyzing process and the product that emerged from it if you’re interested.
P.S. I really do know where I have arrived. I have arrived at myself as a writer. Working on this piece and submitting it has helped me recognize my love for writing, for both the process and the product. With its success, and my love for the craft, I think I finally know what this butterfly mind is made for.
P.P.S. I realize that I just ended a sentence with a preposition, and the irony of that error when writing about being a writer. I’m okay with that, but my friend probably isn’t.
Download the new issue, Volume 6, at southernwomensreview.com.
Butterfly Mind 
Excellent. Congratulations on getting your essay published!
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Thank you, I’m pretty excited, as you can tell 😉
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Congratulations! This is so exciting! You ARE awesome…so as for rejection letters.. rejection is just a part of life…everyone has an opinjon about everything and it’s not always what we want to hear… so just think of this whenever you get one of those “you suck” letters….MANY publishers turned down J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter book (which makes me laugh at how hard they must be kicking themselves now!) AND I THINK I SPEAK FOR MANY WHEN I SAY THOSE BOOKS DID NOT SUCK!! So if writing is your dream, dont give up. She didnt, and now she’s the richest woman in the UK and EVERYONE knows her name…
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Yay Andrea! And YES I think getting published is a validation, and continues to be. I know my first byline was *quite* the thrill 🙂 and I still get a little zing when I see my name above my writing … I’ll check out the journal, it sounds fabulous.
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I think you should submit next time around, Lesley. It’s a beautiful journal. We need to get together and write!
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Okay I have to comment on here again. I just read it! I loved it! I could really see you threading that wriggling worm on it’s hook ….so now I’m going to go try a GIN and MILK….NEVER heard of that before! Honestly, it sounds foul…but I’m too curious not to try something that sounds so strange. 😉 Have YOU ever tried Gin and milk?…omg, what if I LOVE it!! HAHA!! My husbands gonna laugh about this. His favorite drink is gin and tonic, which I sputter and gag at. I’m more of a tequila or rum girl……..okay well here I go…gin and milk and I’m gonna drink it while I watch Betty White…
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Oh my god, I hope you didn’t make that! I need to write the story of my grandmother’s gin and milk.
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Congratulations on your publishing! I Wish I had the skills, Best of luck on all your endevours 🙂
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Lovely post, Andrea! Curiously enough I am with you on your odd golden star preference 🙂 I’m glad you overcame your reluctance and arrived at this piece!
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Ha! Yes, aren’t we all? Even if we’re the ones awarding them to ourselves, right?
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Wow, congratulations!
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Allelujah and amen!
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