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<<< Mind you, I am not familiar with this magazine. I'll check it out some other time. There are at least 15 authors I know of who were published when they were 19 or younger, and that brings up the question that has been haunting me ever since I started seriously writing in the 8th grade: Can I get published before I'm 19? Am I skilled enough, devoted enough, to be published before I graduate high school? I have a LOT of thoughts on this whole being published as a teen thing. I'm not exactly sure how to organize my thoughts for this blog post, so I'll list my thoughts as they reoccur to me. - Age is not important. Yes, I know my age shouldn't be of value when it comes to writing. Writing =/= age. Still, it's always been a goal I've promised myself, and I've broken SO many promises to myself...I figure that's mainly why I'm holding on to this. Yes, I've been rewriting and researching and revamping SotD for five years, but does that mean anything? J.K. Rowling spent five years just developing Harry Potter. Tolkien spent about 30 or more years working on LotR.
- Just because THOSE authors were published young, they're not exactly quality. And just because some authors were published well into adulthood, they're not exactly quality. Age and experience CAN play a large part in skill, but there's always exceptions. Plus, I shouldn't be concerned about what others are doing. Writing is pretty competitive, but I'm now at a stage where I need to worry about me and the story itself.
- I shouldn't stress myself out about it. I want my story to be the best I can get it, and I shouldn't compromise that for something as trivial as my age. Plus, I think it's hindering the progress of my novel.
Still...do you think I could pull it off? Do you think I could publish this before I graduate?
My unsolicited advice, don't set a time goal. Seriously. That's what I did. I missed it, but it didn't have anything to do with not trying or failing. I didn't foresee getting married at 20, buying my first house while I was still in school and working a full time job at the same time. Do I think you're capable of being published? Absolutely. You're well beyond your age range. WELL BEYOND. But, ability only applies to your technical writing. Getting published, believe it or not, has absolutely nothing to do with ability. Sound odds doesn't it? Even contradictory to the most widely held beliefs about publication. Excellent writing + Query = Publication?
Nope, not even close. Hence the reason that many, many amazing authors have reams of rejection letters. Stephen King, for example, was told repeatedly that Carrie would never sell. Some authors are published after their deaths.
Write because you love it and because you have no other choice. Join the race because you like to run---because the secret it...those guys win every race.
Man, I left a lot of typos...shouldn't drink and comment
Lol. It wasn't a LOT of typos. I only noticed one, and that was after you said that there were typos. I read so fast that my brain automatically corrects typos.
Anyway, that's not important. >.< What's important is your advice. I totally agree. I suspect that the time limit is seriously all due to my 'speshul snowflake teenager' syndrome, but the book will be finished when it's finished, and that's all that's important.
Yah. Getting published is also a matter of luck and doing things at the right time at the right place. The same was true with J.K. Rowling.