WHAT IS A WRITER?

"A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit." ~Richard Bach

What is a writer? Writers write! There - that's simple enough! So, I have been a writer for as long as I can recall. It's something I've always enjoyed, but for a long time I would have never thought to identify myself as a "writer." That word was reserved for the famous writers, the authors.

Somewhere along the way at one of the first children's writers' conferences I attended, a presenter encouraged us to say, "I am a writer." I could say it to myself, but couldn't say it to other people outside that venue. I did write it on a piece of paper and propped it up on my writing table. First step in my process.

I wrote. I studied about writing. I read. I wrote. I took writing classes. I wrote. I studied the markets. I read. I joined critique groups. I wrote. I submitted manuscripts. I wrote. I accumulated rejections. I got discouraged. I wrote. I read. I got excited. I wrote...and the process continues like a never ending cycle.

In June, 2017, I started submitting children's devotional pieces to Keys for Kids. I set a goal to submit one each month. Early in January, 2018, they requested revisions on two. I was thrilled! A couple weeks later another email came saying they wanted to accept and purchase another devotional I'd submitted. I will admit I was so excited that my eyes leaked! Now, in my mind, I could say out loud, "I am a writer." Published and paid! That first acceptance appeared in August, 2018, a little more than a year after I submitted it. What a thrill to see my work in print...published!

Today on Keys for Kids (www.keysforkids.org) you can read and/or listen to my devotional piece "Questions, Questions, Questions." I hope you enjoy it. So far, seven have been accepted. This is the third to appear in print and on their website. And I have more ideas for future pieces.