Them Old Submission Blues: On Blogging, Writing Communities and Keeping Spirits Up
Dear Black Gate Readers,
Something really cool just happened over on LiveJournal.
Since I’m sort of still grinning about it, I thought I’d take this opportunity to write about the importance of finding or creating a community of friends and artists who — even if they can’t do anything about your stack o’ rejections, those self-imposed deadlines you keep failing to make, or the number of times your head thumps a desk (in my case, the wall. I don’t know why, but I just find walls more… thumpable… somehow) — are there for you, in whatever way they can be. Even across the miles. Even across state lines! Or oceans!
This is a great age for long-distance friendships, isn’t it? I love it.
Writing is lonesome. And, you know what? THAT’S WHY IT’S APPEALING! You’re one on one with yourself, dueling with your demons, exploring your dreamscapes, loaded to the max with your Tools of Toil: laptop, fountain pen, coffee mug (in my case, tea cup, ’cause coffee? GROSS!), notebooks, dictionary (or dictionary.com), and nothing to disturb you except maybe the dishes, the laundry, the kids (well, NOT in my case, but I know plenty of writers who are parents), the bills, and everything else we have to deal with.
That great escape into lonesomeness is one of the best things about writing.
But sometimes you get discouraged, maybe. And maybe that’s when the lonesomeness is not so great anymore.
So you go to your community. Maybe you post about it on your blog. Anything to make the burden lighter.
And then, in the midst of your writer pals’ commiserations, something like this might happen…
Once upon a time last November, I quoted a 
After hearing “Hey, Little Songbird,” I sort of gallumphed over to Amazon and laid all my pretty pennies down in a row.
