In our workshops, we discuss: freewriting, the craft of writing, revising/editing, and how and where to submit, but usually not at once! Many writers join our community with a few polished pieces but no idea where or what to do with these essays or stories or poems. We thought we'd take use this time and space to outline the journey, or at least a possible journey since each one is truly unique:
You board the train (or bus or car or trolly, choose your favorite transportation for this metaphor): You either take a prompt workshop or freewrite at home. You appreciate what you created out of nothing or perhaps the members in your workshops oohh and ahh over your new material.
Next stop: Your instructor goes over revisions strategies or you read a Substack article or listen to a podcast about how to edit and revise. You spend a few days or weeks (or dare we say years), on this piece of writing and moves from freewrite to draft.
Next few stops: You workshop the draft in another class or with a beta reader or writer friend or by simply reading it aloud to yourself (or having your computer read it aloud to you). You make more revisions based on this feedback, yours or someone else's (while being careful not to listen to ALL of the voices). Along the way you learn to trust certain voices who really get your writing. This comes with time and experience.
Penultimate stop: Now you begin researching where this piece of writing could find a home. You read online journals, study lists of places to submit, and begin to build your tiered list. Perhaps you take a workshop on How To Submit and add this knowledge to your growing list of practical writing tools.
Your Destination: Note we didn't write "final stop" as this is a fluid process. Your route will be different than your classmates and other writing friends. You may win a contest or land your piece in your favorite journal! Or, you'll submit the piece to ten-fifteen places (this is more likely) and get some interest. If you keep submitting and incorporating any feedback you receive along the way, odds are you will find a home for your writing. This process certainly requires patience and endurance, but we believe in you and we're here to help you along your journey...