Letters to the Editor
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It's not a race
I'm a writer, and I empathize with the upheaval that happens when a writer doesn't get validation -- and when it seems that nothing else will do.
LW, it's not a race. It really isn't. It only feels like one. Validation will come or not. If you stop learning, stop pushing yourself, or stop writing, well, I can guarantee it'll never come.
Maybe you have talent, maybe you don't. Maybe you'll have success. Maybe you won't -- talent is certainly no guarantee of success. Time will tell.
The thing is, if what you are committed to is your writing, then you'll find the courage or the stubbornness to suck it up and sit down in front of your work again, and again, and again. To keep learning and growing in your art.
But if validation becomes more necessary than the work itself, then that's a different path. It's not necessarily a wrong one, but it will make you approach your own work differently. It will lead you to make different choices about what you do, and how. And it will mean that you may never know in yourself, for yourself, whether you are capable of doing the work you imagine yourself doing in those lovely, passionate moments of self-visioning.
I agree with much of the practical advice offered here -- find groups or workshops or classes. Write letters to the editor, keep an online journal of interesting essays, enter contests. And learn to separate the stupid feedback and uninformed criticism from the really valuable stuff. Learn how to be your own best editor. That takes time and experience, and no amount of validation will give you those.
Validation will give you confidence -- absolutely, and wow is that necessary. But that confidence only lasts a little while. The other kind -- the kind you give yourself -- lasts longer.
But anyway, I'm here to offer you something that helps me sometimes -- it's an essay by Michael Ventura called "The Talent of the Room" that he graciously gave me permission to republish on my website years ago. It's honest and tough and it rocks in every way. I recommend it to every writer:
http://www.kelleyeskridge.com/other-things/the-talent-of-the-room/
And if you're interested in more on the nuts and bolts of beginning to be a pro writer, you can try this:
http://www.kelleyeskridge.com/other-things/from-the-beginning/
Good luck and strong heart to you.
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Writing in your blood?
Go to:
NovelMaker.com
You can share, find out, and get your stuff "out there!"
Chris
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The process of writing...
You are a gentle and kind man. May your words stain our landscape and dreams with the wisdom you pull from your soul!