Loved this! How many pieces did you publish before you got acceptances from agents? And did you stick to certain themes related to your memoir or just write anything you felt like?
This is a great question! I actually didn’t find my agent through the slush pile — my agent reached out to me after reading several of my pieces. (At that point, I’d probably published around 30 essays). I wrote often about themes related to my memoir, but I did occasionally branch out and publish essays that were unrelated.
Love this! I, too, shy away from writing certain things because I’m scared of the criticisms and not sure I want to invite any extra chaos into my life! But you have shared such great perspective as well as your usual helpful tips. Thank you!
I totally understand the desire to not invite extra chaos into my life! 😆 I would say that is a huge value for me, as well. Thanks for reading and for such kind words, Joy!
So good. I plan to one day write a memoir so I need to get better at this. More often than not, I plan to bare all, but don’t! I think maybe it’s a vulnerability muscle that needs strengthening?
Thank you for sharing this message. It really speaks to me as I have had a lot of worry about sharing my writing and the possible criticism that may come from doing so. Your article gave me perspective on this and made me think about how much attention I choose to give to comments.
Loved this! How many pieces did you publish before you got acceptances from agents? And did you stick to certain themes related to your memoir or just write anything you felt like?
This is a great question! I actually didn’t find my agent through the slush pile — my agent reached out to me after reading several of my pieces. (At that point, I’d probably published around 30 essays). I wrote often about themes related to my memoir, but I did occasionally branch out and publish essays that were unrelated.
Love this! I, too, shy away from writing certain things because I’m scared of the criticisms and not sure I want to invite any extra chaos into my life! But you have shared such great perspective as well as your usual helpful tips. Thank you!
I totally understand the desire to not invite extra chaos into my life! 😆 I would say that is a huge value for me, as well. Thanks for reading and for such kind words, Joy!
So good. I plan to one day write a memoir so I need to get better at this. More often than not, I plan to bare all, but don’t! I think maybe it’s a vulnerability muscle that needs strengthening?
Thank you for sharing this message. It really speaks to me as I have had a lot of worry about sharing my writing and the possible criticism that may come from doing so. Your article gave me perspective on this and made me think about how much attention I choose to give to comments.