Ratika Deshpande
I got 33 acceptances and published 194 blog posts in 2024, making it the most prolific year of my writing life. I took more chances; I experimented with writing different stuff. I applied to writing jobs and grants, submitted flash fiction, participated in contests, and wrote articles and essays I’m very proud of. Below are some lessons I learned throughout the year and which contributed to these numbers.
Before I proceed, I must acknowledge that we writers don’t work in isolation; what’s going on in our lives impacts our writing. I went through both good and rough periods last year, and both affected how much I was writing and publishing. Nevertheless, when I remove those factors, this is what helped me make 2024 a prolific year:
Narrow down your list of target publications. If you aim to get 100 rejections in a year like I did, it’s tempting to try submitting to a lot of publications, in the hopes of having a higher chance of acceptance. That may be mathematically true (I’m not the best with numbers) but it’s not the best strategy in the writing world. Familiarity with the publication to which you’re submitting matters more, which requires extensive reading. So if you aim for a long list of publications, you’ll need a lot more time.
This broad approach also creates confusion and overwhelms, and encourages perfectionism. When you have a smaller list, you can study those publications in depth. And with deep familiarity comes the confidence that submission requires because you’re no longer shooting arrows in the dark.
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Relatedly, stop trying to find a better method. Writing, at its core, is quite simple: we must read a lot and write a lot and submit a lot. The how can vary, but it’s more efficient to stick to a method that we already use rather than waste hours trying to discover The One Correct Method to help us achieve all our writing goals. While it’s important to keep developing our skills, we need to understand where it stops being learning and starts being procrastination. It’s an easy trap to fall into and one I wish I’d gotten out of earlier; I’d have written and submitted more had I done so.
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Don’t let the research get out of hand. Regardless of the genre you write in, there will be times when you’ll want to learn more about a topic before starting to write that story about consciousness-stealing fungi or an essay on the feeling of awe. But research is a never-ending process; you’ll always feel like you should learn more before you start writing, especially when it’s a topic you’re not very confident about
But the magic of implicit learning means that we learn some things automatically. So when you’ve learned enough to explain at least the basics, start writing. As you do, the information your brain has taken in will surface on its own. Moreover, if you’ve been reading other, unrelated stuff, your brain will offer you novel connections. It’s a process that happens only as we “think on paper”; writing becomes a tool for the brain to create those links. When you write this way, you’ll know that there’s a lot you already know for a particular project, and you’ll be able to see what gaps still need to be filled. Then you can go and research specifically to fill those gaps—a more efficient method than researching forever and never getting started.
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One trick that helped me get started, especially in the face of overwhelming perfectionism, was to set a timer for 5 minutes and write 5 sentences, as Beth Kaphart suggests. I started—and finished—more drafts than I could have without simplifying the process like this. This article is an example; I was afraid that I didn’t really know what I was doing, but once I started, I kept writing even when the timer went off.
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The fears don’t go away. You only learn how they manifest for you (such as perfectionism in my case) and learn to manage those (such as by taking more chances rather than self-rejecting my work).
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It’s okay to put projects on hold or to quit them. Last year, I took a hiatus from my blog for Psychology students after I found that I enjoyed writing essays more. I wrote a “book” on writing on my blog but quit it after 20 chapters when I realised it wasn’t giving me any joy and wasn’t taking me closer to my writing goals. Letting go of these projects allowed me to focus on the things I did want to write and publish.
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For the nonfiction writers: don’t look for inspiration in everything you do. Memoirs, profiles, travelogues, essays, etc. come from our experiences and observations of the world. Insecurity and fear can make everything start looking like a potential writing topic. Alternatively, if you’re young, it can lead to a feeling of helplessness that you can’t write nonfiction because you haven’t suffered or travelled the world or had exciting experiences.
Either way, depending on our lives to inspire our writing makes everything feel instrumental. I’ve made that mistake too many times—it stems from a fear that ideas are finite, that if you don’t write about this breakup or that night out with friends, you’ll lose a golden idea. But ideas are infinite; everything in our heads can be remixed in endless combinations to create something new.
As writers, we must remember to also just live. Our lives are not tools or resources—at least, not always. Some things must simply be experienced; if we deny ourselves that immersion, we lose joy, and making any sort of art can become difficult as a result. Our brains and our hearts deserve that space. Giving that to them made me more relaxed, less afraid of losing ideas, stopped making me feel frustrated that I didn’t have the kind of exciting life that would lead to gripping stories and therefore made me dissatisfied with my life, and pushed me to think of other unexpected things I could write about.
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Some of your favorite pieces will never find a home and that’s okay. Some will need more time to find a place. Others will never do so. It’s okay to hang on to our darlings because we write for ourselves too.
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What else? I quit trying to write every day. I stopped keeping track of how many words I wrote because it was the number of submissions, rather than words, that took me closer to getting more acceptances. Ditto for blogging every day; the blog was not the work, writing essays was. The blog ended up consuming a lot of my attention, distracting me from doing the writing that I actually wanted to do.
And it’s better to focus on the latter, to write the stuff you want to read. When you write solely for the publication and not also out of an interest in a topic, it shows in the quality of your writing and the amount of effort you make to get it out into the world. It leads to failure, which in turn is demotivating. And that’s the last thing you want if you want to be prolific.
And the most important thing of all? Keep the process as simple as possible. Everything else is extra (not unnecessary, but an addition, an enhancement.) No matter your writing goals, the core remains the same: read, write, edit, submit, repeat.
While I’m carrying these lessons with me into the New Year, I’m also trying to look beyond my usual writing habits and let go of certain reservations because I’ve been feeling stuck creatively. Following is a list of some ways I hope to do this, although I don’t have to do all of these all the time:
- Reading for reading’s sake, rather than taking notes on everything or analysing every text for any essays I could make out of it.
- Rereading more of the books I’ve loved in the past, to refamiliarise myself with the kind of writing I enjoy reading.
- Taking fewer notes, to allow myself to introspect and reflect more deeply while writing essays instead of worrying about getting my facts and citations right.
- Writing what I usually wouldn’t write—a hermit crab essay, a graphic essay, a poem. I want to worry a little less about what my target publications want and sometimes just play with words; see what I can come up with when I write on topics I usually don’t think about, and try forms that I’ve previously resisted trying because they felt too difficult.
- Also trying not to spend too much time scouring publications’ archives to check whether they have published the kind of thing I want to write. Someone needn’t have done what I want to do in order for me to do it, and I shouldn’t worry about whether it’ll get published before I even write that thing. I want to be unafraid to write stuff I haven’t seen anywhere else before; I want to spend more time writing what I want to read. It won’t necessarily make me a more prolific writer, but it’ll definitely make me a more playful writer. And I love playing with words.
What about you? Which of these would you like to try? And what lessons did you learn? Add a comment below!
Bio: Ratika Deshpande (she/her) just finished her free, online book on the art, craft and business of writing. You can support the project here.
Good thoughts. The one thing that I’ve gotten from you over some years is to keep submitting, over and over. I get discouraged when I realize the kind of thing that people want to read. But I think as long as I enjoy writing, that’s the important thing. Thanks.
Thanks for reading, Steven! I’ve struggled to every time I’ve focused on writing what I think will be accepted. Fitting the writing to the market–rather than fitting the market to the writing–has never helped me and I wish I’d learned the lesson sooner. I’m glad you’ve been able to find joy in your writing practice. Good luck!
These suggestions are a breath of breathable air! The heart of a successful/satisfying writing “career” is those minutes/hours interacting with words. As a dedicated minor poet, I find the moment I get a line/image right a powerful rush of joy–more than making up for the disappointment I experience
from rejections or failed projects.
This article is GOLD!
I enjoyed reading this very much.
I write romance novels, and reading how someone else’s writing process works is fun. : )
This may be one of the most clear, reliable and realistic pieces of advice that I’ve read in a lonnnng time. Perfect. It is easy to lose track of those great habits, sadly to say. Mea culpa…decades ago, I was much more successful in getting published in a variety of publications…because I knew them back and forth…what they covered, what their tone was, etc. This was wayyyy before email days. Life happened and career changes pulled me off the writing saddle and as i try to get back and in new types of publications…I “forgot” the lessons of familiarity with publications and other goodies. Thank you for this article with great tips/reminders. Just because a writer has good habits at one time does not mean we have them forever…alas. 🙂
cheers to your planning, perseverance, and publications.
was feeling like i was tangled up in too many open versions of a deeply personal essay when the email from Cailin with your words of wisdom appeared.
heard
thank you
Thanks for reading, Terri, and good luck with the essay!
I love reading what you publish! As I write, edit, edit, and submit and then get rejected (or ignored), write, edit, and edit again… I feel low but not defeated. Reading your tips helps. It hurts more when someone finally requests my full manuscript, and then… “No.” Sigh. In the last two years, I have written two other novels and some short stories and submitted them for contests and literary magazines. No bites, but I did get some encouraging responses to my submissions! And, on it goes. Sigh.
You’re writing and you’re submitting and the responses have been encouraging–I’d say you’re going in the right direction! Good luck with the submissions!
Thank you for the inspiring article. It landed right where I needed it. Authors Publish keeps me motivated and I do appreciate that very much.
Thank you for your newsletter…so many good and meaningful ideas! I have a manuscript written by my grandmother (now passed, over 50 years ago) recalling her childhood when her father worked in the lead mines in Idaho and how they transitioned to living on a farm in Washington. It is beautifully written and engaging, written from a 10 year old girl’s perspective. I am considering what to do with it and where to submit it….any ideas for me? I would welcome any input from you. Thank you!
This does sound interesting, but probably only to a narrow, niche , but nonetheless important audience. You would probably do best to approach smaller, local-interest focused presses, possibly even a university press. If this is non-fiction, then it is a historical ‘primary source’, even if written from the perspective of a young girl. But serious – and I MEAN deep-dive research into the period is an absolute MUST, if you want to publish your grandmother’s novel. My suggestion would be that you do no editing of her original words whatsoever, and rather add extensive footnotes, and possibly appendices to place the narrative historically, and perhaps explain your grandmother’s biases, and the things she turned out to be right or wrong about. That way you put your grandmother’s novel out as is, and do your own writing in the annotations. And do not edit out any words to avoid offending the delicate sensibilities of any modern readers, please! You would probably consider this as an academic work. And in turn, though, if you look into some of your grandmother’s characters, and maybe even do a little geneological research (or not), you could spin some fiction of your own out of that, especially after you have immersed yourself in the period. If you find her talking about her own grandparents, you might even find yourself writing a western one day!
I quite agree with your submission. Writers need to read this so as to learn from it.
You are correct—I need to close the blog. I was attempting to maintain it as a well-branded SEO property that I built over many years. But truthfully, it’s only detracting from the real work of submitting. The proverbial “sunk cost fallacy.”
Thanks for the reality check.
Thank you Ratika,
I echo what many have already said: your article touches all the right ‘sore’ points, while easing much of the guilt. It was well written, clear, and constructive in its suggestions. Extremely helpful. It also helps to know that others follow a similar path and that my own feelings are shared by many, that I’m not alone on this — sometimes — bumpy journey.
So, thank you! And many thanks to Authors Publish for providing a wealth of worthwhile courses, workshops, and general publishing information. All your efforts are very much appreciated!
Great stuff. Like having a conversation with a friend who’s been there and done that and is still doing it, like me.
I love how simple and honest this article is, I think sometimes as human beings we over complicate stuff.
I loved this and found it really helpful.
A quite successful writer who lived in my area used to hold free meetings to discuss writing. He was extremely kind and supportive and prolific. He loved writing. One time he said that if you weren’t having fun writing, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it, or you’re doing it wrong. I think the latter is often the case.
I appreciate what you said about writing freely, and not needing to count words or pages. Great reminder that writing is about writing and not numbers.
Lots of good thoughts. Thanks! One thing I do is to take a break from submitting because that “marketing” brain gets in the way of creativity. Then I’m happy to get back to it later.
It is really nice to hear someone say that it is okay to take a break from writing now and then. I find it helpful to recharge.
Thank you for writing this. So helpful. Just what I needed today . . .
I’bd been writing gif the pure joy of it! It’s why I started writhing Poetry and what keeps me loving it. Joy…it’s habit forming💕
Congratulations, Ratika. Very inspiring. Thanks for offering insight and encouragement- and information!
Aim for 100 rejections per year — I absolutely love that. Thanks for turning me on to that article.
I like the concept of aim for 100rejections
Off topic, but I just want to take the opportunity to thank you for opening up a whole world to me, in terms of markets to submit short fiction to.
very well written.points mentioned in it are good guidance for every aspect. you come a long way.keep it up
As a famous writer advised, “Write one short story a week.”
When the year ends you’ll have 52 short stories … they can’t all be bad!
Aye, Ray Bradbury said that, and I’ve found his wisdom on writing to be the most helpful of all over the years. I’d highly recommend his collection, Zen in the Art of Writing.
I appreciate everything you wrote here. I relate to not being insistent on writing every day; after a long writing career, I write with more focus and intention rather than every day. I also love the advice that not all work will find a home, although I am also surprised to find that many pieces eventually do find a home (especially after revising)–sometimes years later. I switched from trying to keep up a blog and mailchimp and FB to Substack, and it has been a joy instead of a chore. When submitting, I consider whether I am submitting to a journal I enjoy reading or just for the sake of trying to get published. Why submit to a journal I don’t invest in as a reader? And despite the fact that the sting of rejection never goes away completely, many factors are involved, it is not necessarily a reflection on the quality of the work. I learned this from editing an anthology and seeing the complex factors of what makes a piece work for it. (That’s why some pieces take longer to place; finding the right fit at the right moment.) We must be in it for the long haul, and persistence after rejection to me is key.
Hello,
I plan to hang on to this article and imbed the wisdom herein in my noggin! Answering your question:
2. Rereading more of the books I’ve loved in the past, to refamiliarise myself with the kind of writing I enjoy reading.
I will be revisiting Saul Bellow, who emphasizes desired points with restatement and a myriad of like synonyms to drive that point in a story further. I was a youngster during the time of the TV serials, The Flintstones and The Jetsons. Those episodes were viewed several times over the ensuing years, but enjoyment of each seldom waned when viewed. I will find out if the same thing occurs when rereading! Thanks!
David
Please, please post a link to your hermit crab essay! I would love to read it.
Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and your kind comments! I’ve read them all and I’m glad I could help a little. Good luck to everyone with their writing and submissions!
Blessed day. I enjoyed the point of “writing what I will enjoying reading also.” Because I am also writing for my self.