J Luukkonen: Writer
the blog of j.Luukkonen
behold a pale horse
One of the things that's plagued me most of my life is that I've never been very good at anything. I was a good student, but not a great one. I was good in radio, but not excellent. Good drummer, but not the best. On and on and on. I'm thinking that my personal motto should be: "Medocrity is awesome."
So what's a bit frustrating with taking writing seriously is that I know that I could be better. I know that I'm not completely terrible, but I'm also not going to win the Nobel Prize anytime soon. It's not false humility, or me trying to get sympathetic praise by saying this. It's just true. Middle of the road, baby, So there was a moment early on after my daughter was born where I took a look at myself. I knew this about me. I knew that it wasn't ok to be only an "ok" dad. So I tried the best I could to be the best dad I could be. And over time, I think I've really done a pretty good job. The same goes with my writing. When I began to write more seriously a few years ago, I knew I wasn't going to be very good. And I wasn't. But over time, with work and trial and error, I got better. I'm getting better. This is a great cause of inspiration for me. I may never write the next great American novel. And that's ok. But I'm working on making my way into the world in the way I choose. The way I want. I don't need to compromise because I know that one day, something will work out for me. I think all writers can take solace in this. Keep working. Keep writing. It's all we can do to make it. You will not be discovered after a week of blogging on Wordpress. Sorry. Not going to happen. So as I continue to submit poetry and my novel for publication, I know and expect many rejection letters. They're coming in. But what's cool about that is that it means I'm in the game. I'm trying. I'm getting better and one day, perhaps I'll get something published. If you're a writer, you can too. Just keep going.
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I've begun submissions of I Am Zombie to literary agents for representation. A few rejections so far (expected), but I'll keep submitting and see where that goes. I spent part of the summer editing the novel again to iron out a few spots that needed ironing and to finalize some of the plot devices.
In other news, I've compiled a collection of my poetry, and so far I'm calling it See Also: Individual. I've submitted it to one publisher for possible acceptance, but was declined. I'll keep working on that, forming it into a better, stronger manuscript. I've also started submitting individual poems to publications as well. Got an immediate rejection already, but I guess I've got to start somewhere. I'm participating in a year-long challenge called, aptly, 52 Week Writing Challenge. It is just that--a challenge to write something every week. I've comitted to write a poem a week (at least) for the next year. As I'm on school break now, and motivated, I've already put in two or three poems, and it's only January 2nd. I don't expect the flood to always keep going. Hopefully some movement will happen at some point, and I'll have good news to report here. Until then... |
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January 2017
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