7 Things I’ve Learned So Far, by Tom Bentley

This is a recurring column called “7 Things I’ve Learned So Far,”where writers (this installment written by Tom Bentley) at any stage of their career can talk about writing advice and instruction as well as how they possibly got their book agent -- by sharing seven things they’ve learned along their writing journey that they wish they knew at the beginning.

1. Submit the project and move on. Whether it's a personal essay, flash fiction or a tone-poem rewrite of Finnegan's Wake, endless dithering over whether there's too much passive voice or too little interior dialog means the work is endless too. Ship it.

2. You're only as good as your next sentence. Resting on your post-published laurels is much like resting on your hind end. Comfortable, but it won't keep the hounds of "what have you done for me lately" at bay. By the way, thinking that something you've done is "good enough" might mean it isn't—but being paranoid is really the province of serial killers and tax assessors, so keep that keyboard warm.

3. Fifteen minutes of work on something is 100 times better than thinking about working on something. Heck, write it by hand, write it after a crisp martini, write it on one of those diver's slates for writing underwater. Write for 15 and you might write for 15 more. Tolstoy only did a half-hour a day, and look where he went. (Note: this is a lie, but I like to think of it as a “writing prompt.”)

4. Reading writing blogs, publishing news, and/or cleaning up your submissions spreadsheet is not writing. Sure, all those things need doing, and in good time. But not in the good time that you could be spending writing. Writers write (though you can forgive yourself for imagining the publishing party and that killer black dress you'll wear).

5. Trust your voice, even if you occasionally hear all your favorite authors and your mother among them. You do have a voice, don't you?

6. If you're not fearless, fake it. Do you know that info about people "fake smiling," and it having a positive effect on their moods? Fake your fearlessness: Write about things that make you uncomfortable, that are edgy, that sting. You’ll fear them less and less after you brush their hideous fangs up close and personal.

7. Don't worry about two editors or publishers or agents hand-wringingly wanting your book at the same time (through simultaneous submissions); this is like expecting to win the lottery, get that first elusive kiss, and bake a perfect lemon chiffon pie the first time out. Worry about wrinkles or the demotion of Pluto instead.

[Click to continue.]