Listen carefully, writers! Do you hear ‘the submission echo’?
or: Why Shouting into The Void Isn’t Always Bad…
Writing and submitting manuscripts can be discouraging.
It can feel like shouting into the void.
You send your stories, your queries, your pitches, out into the world and hear…nothing—-or ‘no—so often you start to “wonder what’s the point”?
I’m always preaching about the benefits to you of doing the work anyway, but recently I discovered another benefit, that I’m calling ‘the submission echo’, and it came after a flurry of ‘shouting into the void’, myself.
The Little Story That Couldn’t
I’ve been through a spell of ‘not sending things out’ and now I’m in a season of sending stories out to find their place in the world, again. And there’s a lot of waiting around for answers.
This week the answer was ‘no thanks’.
The publication I had lovingly crafted a story for, didn’t want it.
Hmmph!
But…This one didn’t sting as much as some other ‘non-acceptances’ (I’m not using the R word!) because this one had brought me much more than an opportunity to be published.
This story had been a challenge to write. I’d had to research cutting-edge science for it. I’d walked away and come back to it. I’d enjoyed the process. Some readers I gave it to it to enjoyed it.
In the end, I simply like this little story.
That’s why I was so surprised that the ‘no thanks’ didn’t sting as much as I expected, and here’s why:
I noticed the ‘submission echo’.
The Submission Echo
That’s what I call the effect when creativity begets more creativity, courage begets courage, and one story drives you to write more stories.
Lots of surprising things happened after I submitted that story:
Yes, the story had been tricky and the research had stretched the limits of my understanding of a particular field…and energized me. It reminded me that I love writing.
Yes, it took courage to push the ‘submit button. But the little hit of excited dopamine made me want to do it again. Which meant more writing, more market research, more wrangling with tricky plot points…only now, that felt exciting, not overwhelming.
And yes, I gained renewed confidence in my ability to push through a problem in a story. (Since submitting the Little Story That Couldn’t, I have added three new scenes to my previously-stalled novel-in-progress.)
Shout Into The Void
When writers tell you not to fear rejection it’s not just because acceptance is a numbers game1.
It’s also because pushing yourself to finish the story, polish the story, take a chance on showing it to someone…all these things make you uncomfortable and it is in the discomfort that we grow.
Submitting stories isn’t the only way to force yourself to stretch, and grow as a writer, and next week I’ll send you some other ideas on how you can push yourself to grow as a writer.
But I hope you push yourself to do something that feels like ‘shouting into the void’ in your writing life, this month…because you never know what you’ll hear in the echo.
P. S. Need more practice writing stories you can send out into the void? Consider the StoryAWeek newsletter: 52 weekly lessons and writing prompts.Find out more.
Assuming you are a halfway decent writer, the more stories you send out, the more likely you are to hear a ‘yes’ ↩︎
This week I became aware of a project from fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson: a “challenge coin” offered freely to anyone struggling with depression, that a, is a beautiful collectible item and b, contains a QR code link to resources to help people with mental health issues.
(You can find out more here. If you are someone who deals with depression, you can get the coin for free. If you just like Brandon Sanderson and want to support his work—or collect All The Things—you can buy a coin there, too. There is no ‘test’. You are invited to self-select.)
The Arts As Their Own Reward? Yes, and…
I’m a big fan of encouraging people to write for it’s own sake: for the rewards you get from the process.
But that doesn’t mean I think you’re somehow ‘selling out’ if you want to make a living from your craft.
In fact, if that’s your path, I hope you make a fortune from your writing.
I think writers are exactly the kind of people who should be successful and rich.
Brandon Sanderson is an example of how that success can look, in the hands of someone who spends all their time thinking hard about what makes humans tick (i.e. a writer).
Do The Work
Dreams of fame and fortune, and all the good you’ll do with them, are lovely, and can be inspiring in the tough times, when you’re starting at the fourth revision of a manuscript, wondering if you’re making it better or worse.
But you still have to do the work.
Sanderson didn’t become rich and successful on the strength of having written one book. He writes a LOT. Obsessively, in fact.
You do not have to write obsessively in order to become successful–there are plenty of examples of people who have a slightly more balanced approach and still do fine–but you do have to write.
Actually-Writing,
Really-Revising,
Courageously-Engaging with the publishing industry/readers,
These must be serious activities for you, if you want success as a writer.
Don’t Go It Alone
Another lesson from Sanderson that I’ve noticed over the years is that he doesn’t try to do it alone.
He worked to develop his own style, but then he went to conferences to learn the business.
He formed a podcast with other writers, to share what they knew with the community of writer-admirers.
He formed a company to deal the the growing business demands of being a prolific and successful author.
In his announcement about the challenge coins I noticed a lot of ‘we’ language.
He came up with the idea, but it was clear that there’s a team behind him coming up with smart ideas (like: what should go into the resource page; what to do about the tension between their desire to give them away to people who need them and also satisfy people who just wanted the coins because they’re collectors…)
The myth of the solitary writers is just that…a myth.
The only stories about solitary writers I can think of are stories that don’t end happily. Any successful, modern author’s ‘acknowledgments’ section runs to several pages.
How We Do It
Here in StoryADay-land, we get together to write every May: taking on a huge, ridiculous challenge, just to see what we’re made of. We post about our successes and our less-than-successes. We share and commiserate.
And we do workshops and hangout and co-working writing dates together, because doing this together is just way more fun. And more sustainable.
I hope you have a supportive community of writers around you.
And if not, keep your eye on your inbox for an invitation to join us for an end-of-year get together for the StoryADay community, that will also help you plan for a 2026 you can be excited about.
A Fun Thought Experiment
What would you do with your fame and fortune if you made it big? Leave a comment and let us know!
Keep writing,
Julie
P. S. Need more practice turning everyday moments into key scenes in your stories? Consider the StoryAWeek newsletter: 52 weekly lessons and writing prompts.Find out more.
In his 2003 Nobel Prize Banquet speech, honoree and author J. M. Coetzee used his moment on the stage to reflect on what a shame it was his parents hadn’t lived to see this day:
“Why must our mothers be ninety-nine and long in the grave before we can come running home with the prize that will make up for all the trouble we have been to them?”
I thought this was an odd, and dispiriting way to thank the Nobel committee.
Perhaps it struck me because I lost my dad in the summer and am going through the process of getting used to not being able to tell him things and see the reaction on his face.
But what I know in my bones is that, though he would have been tickled pink by my current and future achievements, his pride in me was based on who I am, not any big outcome, or prize. (And yes, I know I was privileged to have pretty awesome parents.)
It’s Not The Prizes
It’s not the big moments that make up a life—or a writing practice.
It’s the millions of tiny decisions and actions we take, day after day, that tell people who we are, and that add up to a life.
It doesn’t matter if your writing goes well today. It matters that you did it.
It doesn’t matter if you wrote 5,000 words today. It matters that you come back and add more words, soon.
It doesn’t matter if your first draft is ropey. It matters that you finish; that you summon up the courage to revise it, and revise it again; that you decide you are bold enough to share it.
It doesn’t matter if your writing is ‘on trend’. It matters that you spend your time working on something that delights you—even as it frustrates you; something that only you could write.
In the letter, surgeon and cancer researcher Dr. Michael Baum recounts how, while attending a performance of Stoppard’s play Arcadia, he was introduced to Chaos Theory, which changed his thought process about a thorny problem in treating breast cancer. He ends the letter,
“Stoppard never learnt how many lives he saved by writing Arcadia.”
Prizes are nice.
Publication acceptances are nice.
Being able to make some money from your writing may, or may not be, nice depending on how you feel about turning your avocation into a job.
But writing is weird.
It’s a way to place our ideas into the heads of people we’ll never meet.
It’s a method for manipulating the emotions of people in a future we might not see.
It’s a stone cast into a vast pond, causing ripples we can’t possibly track.
The Point
The work is the point.
The work is the starting point.
We might never receive the prizes, the publication, or the acclaim, but we can certainly never receive them if we don’t build the habit of doing the work.
And doing the work has to matter enough to you that you would do it even if you never hear that your parents are proud of you or that you saved lives with your writing.
You may never know what you writing means to other people.
What does your writing mean to you, and can you find a way to make that ‘enough’?
Keep writing,
Julie
P. S. Need more practice turning everyday moments into key scenes in your stories? Consider the StoryAWeek newsletter: 52 weekly lessons and writing prompts.Find out more.
In this episode I talk about some of the publishing successes StoryADay Superstars have achieved this year, and invite you to share your own. Also, a special invitation for you, if you’re ready…
in this week’s episode I’m celebrating the successes of writers from the StoryADay Community, and our Superstars Group. Some of those successes are publication-related and others are more about the progress of the writers’ practice. Join us. I also extend an invitation to join our Superstar group in the coming year.
In which I share what’s been going on and what’s coming up at StoryADay AND talk about AI and you.
In this episode I explain where the podcast has been for the past few week, talk about the workshops I’ve been running and talk about what’s coming next for StoryADay, AND encourage you to understand the value of the work you’re doing.
00:00 Introduction and Podcast Updates 00:10 Creating Content and Workshops 02:08 Exploring the Use of AI in Writing 04:56 AI for Organizational Structures and Marketing 11:21 Reflections on Recent Events and Future Plans 11:40 StoryADay Superstars Group and Annual Planning Bundle 15:48 The Pressure of Milestones and Overcoming Blocks 20:19 The Importance of Writing and Encouragement 24:15 Conclusion and Future Podcast Plans
In which I answer questions sent in by the StoryADay Community about how to overcome their writing challenges.
On this episode of The StoryADay Podcast, I discuss how to manage fear when it comes to writing, and how to overcome common struggles that writers often face.
You’ll learn why taking action is key to managing fear, and how participating in Story A Day can help with perfectionism and encourage creativity.
I also dive into the importance of having a deeper purpose for writing, and how to find motivation when it feels impossible to make time for writing.
Tune in to hear about the Story A Day Superstars Group and how it can help writers build community and celebrate their successes.
Plus, learn tips and tricks for acquiring and polishing writing skills. T
his is a must-listen episode for anyone looking to find inspiration, motivation, and guidance on their journey as a writer.
Good morning. Good evening. Good afternoon, Julie, from StoryADay here.
We are a little over a week away from StoryADay May.
[00:00:21] Survey Responses – challenges
I sent out a survey recently asking you all. About your secret dream for your writing life? I talked a little bit about that in the last episode. I also asked about people’s biggest challenge.
When it comes to writing at this moment in your life. And that’s what the first question. There was a lot of very personal heartfelt. Honesty in the answers. And there was a lot of. Similarity between what you all had to say. Everyone has their own take on it. There were certain people struggling with different areas of writing.
But, and none of it surprised me and none of it made me feel like any of you needed to quit. I think what we need to do. Is acknowledged that writing is hard. And there’s no better way to do that than to hang out with other writers because I, I. See this, I see all these answers and I’m staring at a screen of them right now.
I see all these answers and it’s all stuff I’ve heard. From other writers that I’ve been hanging out with, who are going through the process of writing.
And I’ve been hanging out with them for the past couple of decades and this stuff is. Is part of the process of writing. So let’s talk about what am I talking about? Things that I see in the survey.
[00:01:50] Writing Is Hard, M’Kay?
Making time and space to sit and write every day. Consistency of output, finishing what I’ve started. The confidence to keep making, moving forward, having the team and capacity to rate. All of these things. Are. Incredibly common among us. It’s very difficult. To take words. And create worlds.
And create interesting characters. And put them in fascinating situations that have twists and turns and can hold somebody’s interest. And we all read these wonderful books that have been published that have been through the polishing process and the revision process and the draft after draft, to get them to be
brilliant and twisty and fascinating. And much less often do we get to look at first drafts. Second drafts. Or to hear from writers who are going through that process.
It turns out that.
[00:03:06] Mythbusting
Everything we think we need to do in writing usually comes with an asterisk. Yeah, you have to write a polished draft that goes through multiple revisions. Except some of it may not. You might actually. write a great couple of scenes that stay intact all the way through the process.
Yeah, you have to write consistently, but consistently doesn’t mean every day.
It means keep coming back to it. Don’t leave a three year gap between stories that you’ve written.
[00:03:37] Fear is Managable
People who are retired or out of work will tell you that simply having space and time for your writing does not guarantee that you’re going to be able to sit down and write, because once you’ve solved the time and space issue. Then you have to deal with all the inner stuff. Am I good enough? Do I know what I’m doing? The fear of of not being good enough.
Which is by far the harder problem to solve. It is solvable. Because. Those kinds of fears. Am I good enough. Am I going to be able to, am I interesting enough? I’m going to be able to write this way or that way, these. Once you acknowledge that chatter is happening in your head. You can give it a name and that name is fear.
And once you have a name for it, you can start thinking about it. And once you start thinking about it, you look at these questions that are popping up in your head about, are you good enough? Can you do this? Can you write an eight? Eight 80,000 word novel. Can you tell an interesting story? All of these things are skills.
That you can acquire that you can build that you can polish.
And the thing about fear as the bravest people in the world will tell you. Is that it doesn’t go away. You just get better at managing how much power it has over you and the way to manage that power that it has over you. Is by taking action and doing a thing. So if you’re feeling fear,
The best thing to do is just to write anyway. It won’t be as bad as you thought and the , next time you feel that fear, you will know that you can push through it. And the more you do that, the less of a hold fear. Has over you.
So if you are. Avoiding your writing for some reason, if you are sitting down at your desk and then stepping away to do something more easy, clean the kitchen or do the laundry or make a meal. These are things that you know how to do. So they are easier, even if they’re not more enjoyable, they might be, but I don’t know who you are. If you enjoy cleaning the kitchen
more than you enjoyed writing. The point is. That. If you don’t know why you’re getting up and running away from your desk. Whenever you want to sit down and write it’s possibly fear-based. So call it that and then have a look inside and see what those fears are. Are they about. You’re afraid that you’re going to write a boring story. Okay.
Then write a boring story and then go and figure out how to make it more interesting. Don’t wait for it to come out perfectly, and be interesting on the first shot. Write some characters don’t put them in a setting, ask them some questions. What do you want and why can’t you, why don’t you have it already? And then start listening to what.
What comes out of your brain as you write, and you have to be writing for those answers to appear.
And once you’ve written your boring story, you’ll discover that the world did not end. And you get to write more stories or you get to revise this story. But nothing permanent happened. And if you feel like nothing happened in your story, then you go and you read some articles or a book about story structure, or how to add tension to a story or how to inject conflict into a story.
And you go and ask other writers, how do you do this? I had an example of this the other day. I’m writing. I’m writing a romance. I got a little stuck and I talked to a friend of mine who specializes in romance.
And I told her the story and I told her what was happening and how I’d set it all up. And she immediately asked me one question that made me realize what my story was lacking. And it was just, she just has that skill in her toolbox that she understands that genres so well that as I was fumbling through telling her my story, she realized there was a huge piece missing.
And she asked me where’s this piece. And I said, I haven’t written it into the story. And she went well, start there and it was just a very low key question from her because she understood. The skill she has these tools. And she asked. The right question.
If you have fear about not being good enough, It might just be a lack of skills. You just don’t know if you have the skills you need, in which case you get to pursue the skills, you got to go find them. You get to ask people questions and say how do you do this? And if you’re hanging out with other writers, you’ve got a wealth of people to do that with. The good news for you is that the internet is full of writers who are very happy to talk about their process. So there’s tons of interviews and there’s tons of classes you can take. There’s tons of groups you can join to find other writers.
Even if you’re introverted. Joining a group and being with other people who are pursuing this difficult thing. Has been transformational for me. And for, I think a number of people. In the story of the superstars, which is opening up again soon. So keep an eye on your emails for that.
So if you have time and space to write and you’re running up against that fear there. There are some things that you can do to help yourself keep moving.
[00:09:09] Finding Time
I think one of the things that we all have to do, and this will. Address those of you who said that you have. Trouble finding or making time to right now, there are genuinely lives out there that are very busy.
And especially those of you with young children or people, other people that you’re looking after or demanding jobs, or maybe three demanding jobs. Making time is tricky.
For some of us that is less tricky. But for all of us. The thing that will make it more compelling. For us to make time for a writing. Is to manage the motivation question. This was another one that I saw coming up for people was that they were struggling with finding the motivation to write, keeping the momentum going.
All of these kinds of words, cropping up in the survey. And the most powerful thing. I have. Discovered in this area. Is to think of other people.
To remove yourself from the equation a little bit. And weight more heavily the people who will be impacted by your story. And you can think about when you were a kid. And you read that book that just made you feel seen, that entertained you when you were down, that. Just moved you. And this doesn’t have to be when you were a kid, it could be last week.
If you think about that. And if you can keep your thoughts, cause I know you’ve got your thoughts, recent mailer minute. That’s why you’re a writer. You’re very creative. You’re very imaginative. I knew tend. I am speaking for myself. When you start thinking, doing this thought exercise.
It’s very common to think about. Oh, I want to create something like that, that, that moves someone and then respond to oh, but. Oh, but oh, . I have to write it all, but I have to finish it, or, but I’m not good at this, or, but I have to figure out how to get it published and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But that stuff is a different skill set. That is managing the business of being a writer professionally.
And you have to learn to put these things in silos and move that one over there. Let’s not think about that today. What we’re thinking about today is really. Thinking about your. Ideal reader. And.
Feel the love. For that ideal reader.
I know, it’s motivating to think about, getting checks from publishing houses and production companies and all of that kind of stuff. That’s great. That’s fine. That’s motivating. That gets you excited. Go for it. But it doesn’t tend to last as much because we’re all sensible people and we’re aware that there’s a certain amount of luck involved in there.
And you can’t guarantee that’s going to happen. You can guarantee that you can write something that will move someone. And if you have that, someone in mind, even a a theoretical person or somebody real from your life. It may be somebody who’s departed from your life already. And focusing on doing your best work
and trying to move that person, trying to reach that person, trying to help that person.
We’re pretty altruistic. I think. Most of us. And the idea of helping someone else is a really good way. to. Get over. A lack of confidence in ourselves.
If I was standing in front of you, and I cut my hand and I was bleeding and holding it out to you. I don’t think any of you would go, oh, I don’t really know what to do, but I’ll just, you just stand there with your hand bleeding. No, you’d grab a paper towel and you’d. Hand it to me and save, I don’t know, put pressure on it because , you know, that much.
And I don’t think anybody who’s listening to this, wouldn’t do that for me.
You don’t need to know how to do things perfectly, to be able to help people, touch people, move people, see people. If that helps you. Shift, focus from your shortcomings as a writer. To your aspiration. To help someone else. If that is motivating to you. Then hang on to that one.
And once you have that kind of motivation, whichever one you choose that really. Grabs you and moves you. Once you have that motivation in your mind.
You will. Find it harder to not find the time to write. So if you’re struggling to make time to write.
Keep in mind that deeper purpose that you have for writing. And you will find yourself much more motivated to cram little bits of writing into the little bits of time you can find. And two. Carve out pieces of time. Elsewhere.
[00:14:11] Overwhelm
We do have big dreams. And a lot of answers from people who have this big dream of publishing a novel. Getting the movie deal, but. They are. New mothers or. Have elderly parents to look after. And so the whole big goal of writing or finishing the novel, or this is also for people who’ve lost momentum and are one person said, which I think is brilliant.
When I’ve lost momentum on a project, getting started again feels like standing at the base of Everest in flip-flops. Tell me that’s not a writer.
Overwhelm. It’s really common. And. This will not be news to you, but the idea of chunking things down, making them manageable, doing what you can today and not worrying about the whole project,
is really the only way to get anything done. If you are feeling like you’re not being consistent enough or that you don’t have enough time, that you can’t imagine rating. 80,000 words on one project, you don’t have to. Not today. You have to write the next scene. Or you have to think about the next scene.
Maybe map out the next scene, what does it need to achieve? Who’s going to be in it. Where are they going to be standing relative to each other? Maybe that’s all you can do today. But that means that when you sit down tomorrow, you’ll have that roadmap and you’ll be able to maybe write. 500 words, 300 words of that scene.
We tend to be very ambitious, which is good, but we also tend to be ambitious, which is bad. Because we want to write 2000 words every day and we want to finish a story every day. Now I’m going to encourage you to do that during May , but that’s not a sustainable goal for the rest of your life. And that’s part of the reason.
That I do story a day, because I want you to understand that some days you’re going to fail and some days you’re going to write badly and some days you’re not going to finish and you just get up and keep going the next day. And then at the end of a month, Look what you did. You wrote all of these words, all of these stories or partial stories and you weren’t perfect.
And. You still produced a bunch of stuff and you had fun.
You know what I’m going to say next perfectionism. Whether or not you think of yourself as a perfectionist. I certainly don’t think of myself as a perfectionist and yet. Perfectionism creeps in. We have to battle it.
You don’t have to be consistent in a way that doesn’t feel right for you. You don’t have to finish everything. You don’t have to write a good story.
You don’t have to have a perfect writing practice. You don’t have to have a perfect system, for getting your stories out to market. You just have to keep coming back. And B. Optimistic and hope filled about it.
[00:17:14] Want More Julie?
There’s so much more and I’ll be coming back to these questions on your responses. In future episodes.
I’m always really touched when people contact me after I released these podcasts and tell me that I said just what they needed to hear. Inspired them to keep going, something like that. But it’s not magic. The reason I know what’s going on in your head is because I spend a lot of time with writers.
These kinds of questions come up in our StoryADay Superstars group, which is a group that gets together monthly for Hangouts to talk through issues like this. But also during the week, we have lots of writing dates where we get together and we actually hold each other accountable. Actually sit and write together on zoom calls.
And in the breaks in those calls, these kinds of questions come up as well. And we talk about them. You’re able to, if you’re in that group, you’re able to ask me very specific questions about your writing and the particular project you’re working on. And I, and the other writers in the group are able to ask you very specific questions about what exactly is going on, where the problem arises.
What, what is stalling you? What particular, you know, character issues are you having that kind of thing? So as well as the workshops that we do together really the benefit of. Being in the Superstars group, which is, as I have mentioned, opening up again soon. Is that you get. Basically more me.
You get more eyes on your specific problems. You don’t have to listen to me talking about these generic writer problems. You actually get. Coached on your specific. Issues. And. You get to celebrate with people who understand. The nuances of the writing life. So, if you are interested in. Finding a group like that in getting more access to me to get my eyes on your particular writing practice.
Come over to story day.org. Get yourself on my mailing list by putting your name in one of those sign up boxes. And I will email you this week to let you know more. About how you get into this group, which is like being at the best writers conference or workshop, but all year round.
Remember StoryADay May start soon so make sure you’re signed up for that. at StoryADay.org/signup
[00:19:45] Support the podcast
And finally a remainder that know you can support this podcast, if you would like to, which some people have asked me about and to do that, you go to glow.fm/storyaday, and you can make a one-time or recurring donation to keep the show going. And I really appreciate your support. That’s it from me this week. Happy writing. And I’ll see you again soon.
Find out more about the StoryADay
Superstars
The only qualification to be a ‘Superstar” is a desire to write and support your fellow writers.
A supportive group of committed writers, who meet virtually, support each other’s efforts, and inspire each other.
