Apologies all around for the cliched title.
Two plus years into a career change. Two necessities to authorship emerge. Writing. The easiest thing to do is NOT write. Sitting in front of the Loyal Royal (Thanks Herb Caen) with the blank page is intimidating. Not as intimidating as landing on Leyte Island in 1944, but intimidating.
An author MUST write.
Querying. An odd word, but anyone who has sent out the not-quite-standardized submission requests to agents and editors understands the difficulty of this enterprise. Organizing materials with the knowledge 99% will be ignored, rejected by form letter, or tossed onto the ‘No Thanks’ landfill, can be as intimidating as landing on Leyte Island in 1944.
An author MUST query.
If a writer wants to get better AND have their work admired or trashed by others, the scribe must do both.
A third component has been thrust upon those of us who write. Reading. Don't buy it. Don't care if Stephen King suggests it. The benefits of reading are, perhaps, a minor component of successful authorship, but nowhere near as necessary as Writing and Querying. Without these two, a stack of The Economist will grow in the home office as the blank page remains so and the rejection collection lay fallow.
And that is not what a writer wants to achieve.
Write. Query. Repeat.
That's the method.
Write. Query. Repeat.
A final nod to Ernest Hemingway.
Drinking is the supposed fourth component of successful writing. Before undertaking the habit, check to see if the talent reservoir possessed by the author is deep enough to overcome depression, loss of mental faculty, and lack of productivity.
Because imagine the amount of literary contributions by a relatively sober Mister Hemingway.
Write. Query. Repeat.
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