Cintia
asked
Margo Catts:
I'm an aspiring writer, but I'm dealing with two things: I get discouraged every single day because 96% of manuscripts are rejected, and I haven't had an idea for years, literally. There's too many people wanting to be writers, and knowing there's so much competition just kills me a little every day. When I get motivated, immediatly something appears about the industry that kills it. Any tips on how to deal with this?
Margo Catts
I'm honored you asked. Thank you! And now I'm going to tell you what I tell myself: The only thing over which I have control is my own creative process and product. How I'm received, what else is in the market, industry activity...I can't do a thing about any of it. Writing is the tool for figuring out what you're thinking, so if you become aware of some flicker of an idea, nourish that flicker and don't worry about anything else. Write, wrestle, throw away, and write some more. It's only through writing that you'll find out what's in you and in your idea, not from looking at what others are doing or from sticking your finger in the wind to try to gauge the climate for a thing you haven't created yet. Create. When you're finished, you'll have something no one else in the world could have made, and you'll be richer and wiser for it, no matter what becomes of it commercially.
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