Writers dream of big things for themselves and their careers. When faced with rejection or roadblocks, however, some writers abandon their dreams. This doesn’t need to happen to you! If you want to make your dreams come true, you need to do what I did: hang in there for the long haul. Because I never gave up, several of my dreams have come true.
My first dream: Get published. I called the local newspaper and pitched an article. They liked the idea and I got to work interviewing people. Then I wrote, revised and edited the piece and sent it in. Result? My very first article appeared in the local newspaper with my name in the byline.
My second dream: Land a steady, paying gig as a writer. To make this happen, I scoured job boards every day and networked with writers. Instead of languishing over dead ends and rejections, I hung in there until, finally, that first steady, paying gig happened.
My third dream: become an official writer for a newspaper. Networking with other writing professionals is what made this possible; I landed a job writing for a national newspaper for the deaf. Even then, when I was writing for the newspaper, I had another dream: To have an article on the front page. I did the best writing I could, and eventually, that dream came true, as well.
My fourth dream: Getting a book published by a traditional publishing company. While in high school, my novel was published by a vanity press that went bankrupt. I wanted to give this author thing another go! So, I tried again with a different kind of book. Again, perseverance and networking paid off; one writer I knew informed me she was starting a publishing company and my book idea seemed to be a good fit. Several months later, my nonfiction book was published by a traditional publishing company.
My fifth dream: Co-author a book. After I ran into a dead end with a book project, instead of throwing in the towel, I contacted a fellow writer who wrote books and articles about the same topic. One thing led to another and we ended up co-authoring this book.
Other things eventually happened because I never gave up on my dreams: I got a paying gig as a manuscript editor for a publishing company, my failed first novel will see new life thanks to an independent publisher, I wrote a foreword for someone’s book, I co-wrote a charity ebook promoting breast cancer awareness, my short stories got published in anthologies, and, now, another dream I had is coming true: Ghostwriting books.
Some of those dreams may have seemed small or unimportant, but for me, they were a big deal. Accomplishing each one was a big deal. Other things came up and sometimes I had to put my dreams on hold, but I never gave up on them. Because of this, they finally became a reality.
Never let go of your dreams as a writer. It may take a long time to make your dream a reality, but trust me, it is so worth it to hang in there and see your dream come true. Put your plan into action and set on that path towards making your dream a reality. The road may be long and the journey may be hard, but if you hang in there and keep your eye on the prize, what you are going after with your writing career will eventually come to you. Most important of all, no matter what happens, never say never to your dreams!
Dawn Colclasure is a writer who lives in Oregon. Her articles, essays, poems and short stories have appeared in several newspapers, anthologies, magazines and E-zines. She is the author of ten books, among them BURNING THE MIDNIGHT OIL: How We Survive as Writing Parents; 365 TIPS FOR WRITERS: Inspiration, Writing Prompts and Beat The Block Tips to Turbo Charge Your Creativity; Love is Like a Rainbow: Poems of Love and Devotion; On the Wings of Pink Angels: Triumph, Struggle and Courage Against Breast Cancer; and the children’s book A Million Doughnuts. She co-wrote the nonfiction book, TOTALLY SCARED: The Complete Book on Haunted Houses with Canadian author Martha Jette, as well as the poetry book, DOGS FOREVER: Poems for the Dog Person, with her daughter, Jennifer Wilson. Her novel, Shadow of Samhain, is due out this year, as well as her poetry book, Wandering Soul. Her Web site is at https://dmcwriter.tripod.com/.