Dream: Unpublished Writer to Published Author

Writing ignites my imagination and fuels my life. I'm an unpublished writer, but a writer nonetheless. Why? Because I cannot be anything else. I've been dreaming about, obsessing about, and dabbling in creative writing for almost ten years. It was the summer that my plans for my great career fell through and was struggling with figuring out who I was, like many college graduates. Enter the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I took my first class about writing for children and never looked back. Every class I've taken, every project I've started and killed, I have been determined to keep going. Determined to finish a project worthy of sending out into the world.

Now I have the project that has chance of living on the pages free from the confines of my imagination. I finished the first draft during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and am currently rewriting it. I have no illusions that just because I finish a novel means I can land an agent or a publisher. But just because I'm not already published doesn't mean I can't be. The minds at Writer's Relief have written an article about exactly that topic and offer the steps we dreamers can take to reach our goals.

Can Unpublished Authors Get Literary Agents? You Bet! Here’s How

I've always been a huge believer in the "act as if" theory. The philosophy is that you act as if you have already achieved your goal. You mimic the choices of others who have already reached the goal you are pursuing. I first learned of this technique when I was a young professional entering the workforce. I was told to dress like the person whose job I wanted and to find out what they did to get where they were. Although I did not stay in corporate America, I did have a very successful career and can thank the motto "act as if" for many of my accomplishments. Practicing this theory gets you to push yourself out of your comfort zones and gets you to do the work while building your own self-confidence. Writer's Relief has outlined some of the traits of successful writers that can help us in our own journey towards success.

Markers Of Success: How Many Of These Key Personality Traits Do You Have?

So I'm taking the steps to "act as if" I am a published author although my stories remain on my hard drive and not on the shelves of local bookstores or Amazon. I love the entire tedious, difficult, stressful, and anxiety creating process of writing. But I also have to be realistic that I can't just write without building something from it. Not because there's anything wrong with writing as a hobby. It is just that I want writing to be my career. Writing, to be able to do what I love for a living, would be the greatest career I could hope for in my lifetime.

I'm writing every day. I've entered the world of Twitter. And put myself out there through the text of this blog. I can't say where any of this will lead me, but I know I will have no regrets for trying. After all the world is my oyster.

I'd love to hear from you if you have any incite on this topic. I'm also looking for a writing community in the Twin Cities to join. Also, what writing organizations do you belong to and would recommend?

Keep writing and good luck.