Most writing teachers and handbooks won’t tell you this, but determination and denial are two important tools of every published author.
Today’s guest on the Morning Media Menu was Julia Glass, the National Book Award winning novelist. Glass (pictured via Dennis Cowley) spoke about her new novel, The Widower’s Tale.
Here’s an excerpt: “I’m actually not a patient person. I guess I was persistent. But I like to joke that the two things that got me through were determination and denial. I just refused to be told no. I think a lot of very talented writers quit before they are fortunate enough to cross paths with that editor. No matter what you hear about publishing, there still are incredible editors out there whose day is made by spotting that new unpublished writer and putting that writer in print.”
This is our first National Novel Writing Month Tip of the Day. As writers around the country join this writing marathon this month, we will share one piece of advice or writing tool to help you cope with this daunting project.
Glass added: “One thing that really kept me going were some very encouraging rejections from editors. Ironically, it was the editors at the biggest magazines–back then, The New Yorker and The Atlantic (we’re talking the 1980s). They never took any stories of mine but they wrote me really thorough, encouraging letters, obviously wanting me to rise to the level to be published. One of the hardest parts about being rejected is when you are getting these tiny form rejection letters. You have no idea if anyone is really reading your work".
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