Should you wait to get published?

May 31, 2008 - 14:46 PM PST

I was reading an article on tips for teen writers. One of the tips that brought up some questions was about taking your time and not worrying about getting published. It went on to say how most writers don’t even get published before they reach 30 and if you get published before that it is said that your work probably isn’t that good. They related it to a dog painting a picture. The picture may not be good but because it was a dog painting it then we are amazed by.

Well that made me think about all the other writers out there that can’t afford to wait until they are 30 to get a pay check. What about all the teens like me that want to be a writer for a living. How are we supposed to keep food in our bellies for the next 11 years? Now I know the simple answer to this. Get a job and write on the side. The article suggested working on and perfecting our work as the time goes by until we old enough to get published. Well that just sounds wrong to me. What if your whole life all you wanted to do was be a writer? Should we just write a bunch of novels and when that big three-o comes around we should finally look around for a publisher? What difference would it make if you did that when you were 30 or 20?

I understand what the writer of the article was trying to tell us. Not to worry and have fun with your writing. And I wish it was just that easy. But the truth is in our economy it isn’t enough to do what you love. You have to do what you love good enough to get that pay check twice a month or else you live in the park. And most of the time when you start doing what you love for money you lose that love for it. So there really is no way to win…