Writing

I've known for awhile now that what I wanted to do with my life (in terms of careers) is to be a writer. I also know that this market is incredibly hard to break into especially with so many things being done over the internet anymore. Most people just want to read something online, not a bulky book they'd have to carry everywhere with them.

But there's nothing I like more than to go to Barnes'n'Noble on any given afternoon (particularly rainy ones) and sit there and write. Sometimes I'll look through magazines first. Sometimes I'll just browse through a how-to or reference book first. But it always ends with me writing and being incredibly productive while there. If I'm lucky I get out of there without purchasing a writer's magazine. Generally speaking though, I'm unlucky that way.

Writing at Barnes'n'Noble is not the same as writing at home either. At BN you have book shelves FULL of books on all sorts of subjects. Not sure how to spell a word? There's a shelf with dictionaries and thesauri nearby. Need to know how to say something in Spanish or Chinese? There's a section on those languages as well. Most people would say: You can get that experience at a library. Yes, that is true HOWEVER...I've found that most of the local libraries don't always have up to date copies of books. Plus, you can't talk in a library-you're supposed to be quiet. If I can talk to someone, I can bounce ideas off of them, or ask them what they think of using this or that name for a character.

So this year at New Years time I didn't make any resolutions simply because I believe that while providing goals (if they are done correctly), they also set you up for failure. How many people have said "this year I'm going to lose weight". Ok, what they mean there is that they are going to diet, starting Jan 1st, and have lots of weight lost by the end of the year and look fantastic. Realistically, unless you only have about ten pounds to lose anyway, it's not going to happen. And that statement of losing weight is way to general...people could lose one pound and then gain ten. But hey they've still met their goal I guess.

Anyway one goal I'm setting for myself, as of this minute, is to atleast query a few different reputable magazines for assignments. To send in some sample articles to various magazines and begin to get my name out there and let them know that I want to be a writer. I'm not going to get anywhere if I don't, and as my favorite magazine pointed out: I have nothing to lose.

Speaking of that same magazine: This issue of it dealt heavily with personal essays. I had never thought much about writing essays but after reading this article I'm beginning to think it might be a good idea for me to look into them. I was writing basically a journal entry earlier and it could very easily be turned into a personal essay. However I have a question:

Who or what (books, magazines, the web, etc), publishes personal essays? Are there publishing houses like there are for books?