Judging Ourselves-Money or Merit?

by Carol McNairy Wight

"I'm a published author!" How we yearn to be able to say that! When I say I am a writer the next question is , "Are you published?" We feel highly inadequate if we can't say "yes."

And yet, why should this be? We know editors look for material that will make money. We know that what is bought for publication is based on a capricious need by the publisher. If we are not published does it mean we are not good writers? We all know this is not true. Being published is more a matter of being at the right place at the right time.

We know if our work is good. We know when we have hit our stride and have written a fine and publishable work. We write because we love it and because it is , to put it plainly, good stuff!

We should not judge ourselves by the recognition given or not given by the business world. After all, our craft is an artistic one. It is sad that we have to depend on the world of commerce to validate our efforts. Ok, so we may need them to help us put bread on the table. We may crave the recognition given by a published work. But, we need to validate ourselves! We need to validate eachother! When we see something of merit we need to say so. We need to applaud eachother for our good work, not wait for the publishers of the world to take note.

Let us take pride in what we do!