Summary

The article discusses the challenges of maintaining success as a writer and offers strategies for coping with the inevitable ups and downs of the profession.

Abstract

The author shares their personal journey through the highs and lows of the writing profession, emphasizing the common experience of falling from editorial grace despite previous recognition. The piece outlines three practical steps for writers to survive these periods of decline: embracing a level of insanity by continuing to write in the face of repeated setbacks, not taking personal the lack of recognition or perceived rejection from editorial staff, and managing one's emotional response to both success and failure to maintain a consistent writing practice. The author reflects on their own experiences with these challenges, including a period of invisibility to editors, the pressure of sustaining quality work, and the importance of resilience in the face of adversity.

Opinions

The author believes that persistence in writing, even after repeated failures, is crucial for long-term success.
They suggest that writers should not internalize the lack of recognition from editors, as it is often not personal but a result of the editors' time constraints and workload.
The author emphasizes the importance of keeping a level head during times of success to avoid a more painful fall when the tide turns.
They also stress that it is equally important to quickly recover from failures and to continue writing without being deterred by setbacks.
The author acknowledges the frustration of talented writers who struggle to gain recognition, highlighting the subjective nature of the writing industry.
Despite the challenges, the author remains optimistic about the opportunity for writers to create content and earn income on the platform, while also acknowledging the competitive nature of gaining editorial attention.

I Used To Be A Somebody

Ways To Practically Survive The Fall

Sometimes you fall. You fall long and hard. You fall back to a point where you first started. Sometimes you fall far past the point where you began your writing journey.

For many others before me and probably many after me, it’s been a somewhat frustrating trek— this writing gig. The fascinating thing about it is that I’m surrounded by a large body of talented writers, all traveling this road with me.

Some up the road ahead of me, some walking beside me (albeit six to ten feet away) and some behind.

The specific reason I mention this is because most of these very talented writers are experiencing precisely what’s been happening to me of late. We’re all falling from heights we’ve obtained, and none of us have the foggiest clue why.

Not only are some of us falling, but some really great writers aren’t even allowed to get on the freaking ladder and start the climb up.

I feel their frustrations.

I experienced this when I joined the community two years ago. At one point on my journey here, I’d written almost three hundred pieces without being recognized by anyone on the editorial staff. I know many fellow writers who, even to this day, have never caught the eye of the editorial staff.

And they’ve been writing here as long or longer than I have.

Don’t get me wrong, folks. I’m not bemoaning the fact that since the first of February this year, I seem to have fallen off the face of the planet as far as the editors are concerned. I’m just stating an ugly fact.

It.Has.Happened.

For me, after joining, it was a full year of writing. And a full year of falling. I think it’s safe to say I’ve learned how to practically survive the fall. It took two hundred and fifty-two articles before (only after an impassioned plea from me) the editors took notice.

I then experienced five months of the limelight where I was making some really positive traction, and then boom — here I am again, plummeting back to earth.

Some of you, many of you, are probably nodding as you read this. You’ve noticed it as well. You’ve thought the same thing I’m thinking, felt the same way I’m feeling.

Well, maybe you are, then perhaps you’re not. I can only speak from my perspective. Please feel free to leave a comment or weigh in with your own thoughts by writing an article about it.

At the beginning of my journey, I really saw an opportunity on this platform to create and, at the same time, make a little change in the pocket. It still is that opportunity. But I knew to make more than just chump change I needed to catch an editor’s attention.

So I set my sights on doing just that.

And I finally did.

Some of us have had the same success, and some of us are still standing in the queue waiting for that moment. But we all still have the same goal. Not a week goes by that I don’t read something a writer puts out about the subject.

The intriguing fact about hitting the mark and watching your read count go up is you’ve just raised the bar on your writing. Now you have to figure out how to stay there. Some of us do, and then like me, a lot of us don’t.

The problem is regardless of whether or not we continue to turn out marketable, quality pieces, we may not be able to hold on to the lofty position we’ve just obtained, and down we go.

The faucet, unfortunately, turns both ways, folks.

This is where we need to learn how to practically survive the fall. Now, these three steps I’m about to spell out work for me probably because that’s how my brain is wired. They may or may not work for others. And some of you exceptional writers may be performing these steps already.

If not, here we go.

Step One

Learn to Embrace A Certain Level Of Insanity

I once read where the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over and over again, but expecting different results.

As a writer, this is precisely what I do. I write. I fall. I grouse for about twenty seconds, and then I start writing something: another idea, another observation to share with the world. And I try to make it better than before.

I write something. Every.Single.Day.

Step Two

Don’t Take It Personal Even When It is

There will be times when you, as a writer, may feel you’re blacklisted or shunned simply because certain people dislike you because of who you are or what you look like. In my case, it may be because they don’t like my egg-shaped, bald head, which I consistently cover with a cowboy hat. Maybe it’s my writing? Naw, can’t be that.

Anyway, don’t take it personally even when it is. Keep writing.

The more likely situation is that the editorial staff on most of the publications has never heard of you. They don’t know your name or what you look like, and they’ve never seen a sampling of your capabilities. Which they really don’t care to do simply because they haven’t enough time in a sixteen-hour day to give you a moment of said sixteen hours.

Trust me when I say this. If the editors don’t know you even exist them ignoring you plainly isn’t personal.

Again, don’t take it personally. Keep writing.

Step Three

Don’t Go Too High And Stop Going Too Low

This is probably the most difficult of the three steps to manage. For the most part, I find I’m able to even out my emotional state pretty well. I diligently try not to take off like a rocket from success no matter how big it is (said no one, ever).

But every now and then, I find I’ve allowed myself to blast off into the stratosphere, and I quickly tell myself crap, I need to get down in a hurry. From way up here, the fall when it comes, and it will come, is going to be a killer.

Conversely, I make every possible attempt to ensure I shrug off the failures, the times I stumble and fall. Yeah, sometimes you have to adopt an “okay, so what” attitude when you fall.

It’s the getting back up (or back on the horse round these parts) that’s important. And how do you get back up on the metaphorical horse? You walk off that compound fracture of yours, sit down (because you can’t stand), and write something.

And there you have it y’all. Three very simple but challenging steps to level yourself out so you can keep doing that voodoo that you do so well.

You’re a writer, remember?

Write something.

Thanks So Much For Reading

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