Splatting Your Writing Against the Wall - Guest Post by Jordan McCollum

I am scared. I have my WIP almost ready to submit, and I think it's confession time. This will be my first submission. Of anything. Ever. (Eighth grade essay contests don't count.)

I've read a lot about the submission and publication process, and I have spent the better part of the last year editing and polishing this book. I'm trying to keep perspective, to remember that virtually everyone gets rejected and rejection isn't the end of the world.

But I'm still scared. Nerves gnaw at my stomach at the mere thought of hitting that Send button. Along with the normal apprehension, I have that first-time fear that somehow I'll ruin everything. I'm scared that I'll do something to sabotage my submission, that some inadvertent faux pas will land my career in the circular file before I even start.

I was pondering this last week, when suddenly I remembered my middle school band director. He used to tell us, "I don't care if you hit a wrong note. We all do. But if you're going to do it, you'd better blast that wrong note—splat it against the wall! Because you can't play the right notes if you're not trying. You miss all the notes you don't play." And then I'd take a deep breath and play (and mostly play the right notes, happily).

My band director had it right. We all make mistakes, and we'll never get it right if we don't try. We can learn and practice and work and polish, but when it comes down to it, if we don't show up for the audition—if we never even submit our work for publication—none of that hard work will matter.

So do practice—do wait until you've worked as hard as you can to get it right. But don't let the fear of failure keep you from ever auditioning. Take a deep breath—and come hold my hand while I click Send!

What do you think? How do you find courage as you take chances in your writing—either craft or career? Does it get easier to submit once you've been rejected, or published?

In addition to being an aspiring fiction author, Jordan McCollum works in Internet marketing. She is the editor of an Internet marketing news blog, Marketing Pilgrim, as well as the author of a blog on finding fulfillment in motherhood, MamaBlogga. She blogs about writing technique at JordanMcCollum.com. If ever she says anything about starting another blog, please shoot her!

Photo credits: click by Jordan McCollum; flute & music by Nik Frey