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Justify Yourself, Blog! 2

So I’ve been deliberating this blog for a while, not wanting to simply replicate or undermine (heaven forbid) any of the really impressive blogs out there (Here and here and here and here and here . . .). But I finally got over that.

The problem is that I am an editor at a publishing house and I write fiction and creative nonfiction in my “spare” time. I don’t have a lot of time to devote. I’ve found that it’s easy enough to say “just write,” but it’s really hard to do. The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that was the reason I needed to do this. Have you ever considered what it really means: to “just write”? It means, “Beg, borrow and steal from all your other involvements—family, friends, full-time job, volunteering at the orphanage—and invest in this frivolous, unfounded, pie-in-the-sky, pipe dream of yours.” Writing may not be the most selfish, egomaniacal thing you can do with your time—but it probably is. And novelists? Don’t even get me started.

Aside from being someone who thinks the world is entitled to your opinion, to be a successful writer, you need contacts. For many who write, networking skill is not a shining strength. But the fact is, the writers who get published are often not as strong at writing as they are at selling and “performing” by the publishers’ modus operandi. Given the choice between a fabulous writer who doesn’t make deadlines, and a hack who consistently produces, guess who gets the cheese. Not that I’m against honing the craft and being the best writer you can be. But writing is merely the first thing you need to do well to be published.

And maybe that’s reason enough for a site like this one. An online writer’s group is just a natural use of the technology in my mind. So I’m glad you’re here. Let me know what you think of some of the other sites out there and how we might make this one the best it can be. Next time, I’ll share a little more of my “vision” for what we might accomplish here. Until then . . .

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