Well, I’ve done absolutely no reading, note taking, plan making, or editing of fiction of any kind so far this month. And so, because I am discouraged and everything is hard, I am leaning into this reblog: A.D. Nauman’s 6 Tips for Jumpstarting a Stalled Writing Career. Here’s to hoping that some day I’ll get far enough into a writing career for it to even be at risk of stalling out.
6 Tips for Jumpstarting a Stalled Writing Career
OCT 11, 2023
When I was in my 30s, literary success felt close. My stories were appearing regularly in literary journals and winning awards. One story was produced by Stories on Stage and broadcast on NPR. I had an agent I adored. My first novel had been accepted for publication by a hot indie New York press, and of course it would be a world-changer, destined for both the bestseller list and the literary canon. I was soaring down the highway to literary triumph.
Then, everything drifted to a stop. My novel Scorch, released in 2001, did not change the world. My agent left agenting. And over the next 10 years, I managed to place only two stories. I wrote a rockin’ middle-grade novel and secured another agent, but she couldn’t sell it. I wrote a cool, creepy YA novel, but the agent didn’t like it, and she dumped me. I have a vivid memory of sitting at my dining room table in late summer of 2010, sobbing, knowing I’d missed it: I wasn’t going to have the life of a writer after all. It was all I’d ever wanted. I’d made so many sacrifices for it.
Now, in 2023, I am finally launching a second novel, Down the Steep, published by Regal House. Once again I’m regularly placing stories in literary journals, including TriQuarterly, Willow Springs, Chicago Quarterly Review, and many others. One of my stories recently received a special mention in Best American Short Stories and the Pushcart Prize anthology. I don’t have an agent, but I’m succeeding without one. Granted, I’m no longer racing down any highways to literary stardom, but I have successfully restarted my stalled career, and I’m happy again—in fact, I’m happier than before, because now my expectations are reasonable.
Ready to read on? Head over to Writer’s Digest for the rest of the article! And until next week, wish me luck that I’ll actually find the time to do anything fun with my life ever again. I need it. Happy writing!
Jill Marcotte 