Being Practical
Kimberly Kay
I've
been writing since I was fourteen, and been published a handful of
times between there and here, but there still remains that age old
question: What do I do to get published?
People
have sought different remedies, and tried everything under the rainbow.
But the answer is really quite simple--so simple, most people overlook
it.
In order to get published you have to do... what you love.
Don't
roll your eyes. Passion, from my experience, IS the key to success. Of
course, that implies the old cliches everyone knows (if you work in what
you love, you'll never work another day in your
life). But I really think writing about what you love, and then sending
your work to people who love the same things as you... that's when you
can get published.
For
example, take my short story, "Being Practical" that was recently
published by Wayman Publishing in Open Doors: Fractured Fairy Tales.
When I wrote that piece, I didn't do it because an anthology was looking
for fairy tale pieces. I didn't even know that the anthology existed. I
wrote "Being Practical" because earlier that week, I was doing what I
love: sitting on a couch, watching old fairy tales with my friends
(including Rosie Hendrickson, whose short story can also be found in
this same anthology), and making fun of bad acting and impractical movie bits that
all good old 80s
films have. My friends and I joked so much about the impracticality of
Cinderella (Why is the carriage always white when made from an orange
pumpkin? Why doesn't Cinderella freak out when a strange lady appears in
her house? Why can Cinderella never find her own way to the ball?) that I decided to write about it. I wrote the first draft of "Being
Practical" for the enjoyment of my friends, and most especially because I
knew I would love writing a spoof of Cinderella (I'm a sap for fairy
tales). When my friends enjoyed my short story, I began searching for
contests/anthologies to enter "Being Practical" into, and stumbled
across one Fractured Fairy Tales Anthology. After a great deal of
editing (I was 2000 words over limit) I submitted my fairy tale to
Wayman Publishing. It was accepted.
Talent
will take you far enough, desire and dedication will too. But if you
really want to be published, you must be passionate about what you
write, and then find other people who are passionate about what you
write. Simply put, getting published is about... being practical...
About the Author
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