By GUEST COLUMNIST Susan Gerle
FROM TOM: Susan read this piece at the Puerto Vallarta Writers Group a week ago, and I thought many of you blog readers would like to read a success story for a change. She has graciously agreed to share it with you.
Many people are writers but have no desire to ever publish. To become a published writer was one of my dreams.
I have always written. As a child I poured out my tears in my poetry. My teenage years were spent sharing my deepest secrets with pen pals.
It wasn’t until I purchased a computer with Windows in 1993 that I became a published writer.
I couldn’t get over how this wonderful program could so easily respond to my commands of cut and paste! I hated typing with a passion (and still do). My attempts at writing a novel by hand had always ended shortly after each start. Now with the computer it didn’t matter. I could save my thoughts and cut and paste them later. I was liberated!
I began writing letters to the editor just to get my name in print. In 1994 my world crashed and my first attempts at being a published writer also crashed. Sometimes we have to get through life’s experiences so we can grow forward.
Three years later I was on goal again. This time I worked with 2 other people to self publish a learning guide called “Ingles Facil.†We began marketing it in 1999 near Cancun and then on Amazon.com It almost got accepted by WalMart, but that fell through. It was an interesting experience though.
I had been back and forth to Canada but finally settled in my country once again. I started writing 3 hours every morning, Monday to Friday. At the time, I was also doing Sustainable Community Planning for the government, writing grants, and presenting workshops in rural communities.
I began writing a column on Economic Development and then on Tourism. This was done pro-bono but the experience was invaluable. I learned to write to deadline and write tight, between 600 and 700 words. I still hated typing but just meeting my lifelong goal kept me tickling the keyboard.
I met some wonderful people with amazing stories while living on the prairies. I was also learning things I knew nothing about previously. I found I had to share the information and began sending out query letters to different publications. If I were excited about a story, wouldn’t they be too? And that’s what happened. They were excited and published my first two human-interest articles.
The hardest thing I dealt with was my first rejection letter. I didn’t get one until I had been publishing 2 years. What was I suddenly doing wrong? I realized my sense of excitement had waned. If I couldn’t get excited about my work, how could I possibly excite others in a query letter? After all, it’s all about the marketing.
I changed my thought process and once again got positive. I began expanding the type of writing I do. Now that I am published, it isn’t quite the same goal for me anymore. It is more important for me to establish my style.
It is not necessary that I become a literary writer. It is no longer important to me to be grammatically correct, although at one time I was very much a perfectionist. It is important to me that I help others learn through my writing. Publishing helps me get the message out to more people.
So….decide if you are just writing for the love of writing or if it is important for you to publish. If it is, go after it. Go after it! Nothing should stand between you and that dream.
My Grade 5 teacher, Mrs. Bessie Dunne, wrote something in my autograph book many years ago.
Good, better, best,
Never let it rest,
Until the good is better,
And the better best.
I try to apply it to my writing.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Susan Gerle has been publishing short stories and human interest articles for various publications since 2000. She also co-authored a self-help book in 1999 for Spanish speaking people wishing to learn English for tourism. Susan is currently living and working in Puerto Vallarta where she also continues to write.
Sorry, comments are closed.
Comment by
John Matthew
13 Oct 2007
Susan, I like this:) You writer very well! Read my recent post on http://johnpmathew.blogspot.com.
Comment by
J. Christmas
26 Apr 2008
An interesting read but not one that specifically informs the reader of how to become a writer; merely how Susan Gerle became a writer. A misleading title that could use rectification.