Hello: What is Your Tune?

Taylor Jones with his Crumrine buckle at the Labor Day rodeo in Okeechobee, September 4, 1995. Bjorn Lusth Collection, Flickr

Hello on this Labor Day, 2022! I hope you’ve had some time off to do the things you enjoy. Or if not, will have a few hours or a day or two in the coming week. Refreshment is critical.

I’ve taken the weekend to think about the things that motivate me as a writer. I’ve been trying to go the perhaps more accepted and expected route of composing “privately” before trying to get published. But I find that a false way of being in the world, at least for me. I’m all about sharing and feeling a sense of connection with others.

Of course, I do compose privately, but often it is a long time coming to match my work with someone who wants to see it in their publication. And once you put your work out there, there are some journals that don’t want you to share it with other journals while they are considering your work. Sometimes those considering work can hold onto it for weeks or months. I’ve heard of cases of years. Sometimes they hold onto your work for so long, only to reject it. Journals: Do you know some of us are, you know, a bit long in the tooth?

Anyway, I tried the “writer is in a bubble” for a few months now and found it not to my liking. People are not as connected as they once were, and I need that sense of connection with the outside world. Often, writing and blogging have given me that sense. Reading the work of other writers also lets me see that many of us have more in common than things that distinguish us.

What I had decided a few years ago was that I was the boss of my work. I could put it wherever and try to publish it if I wanted to, but I would use my sharing time constructively, as a time to measure what works, what lands or what falls. Then I got burned by a journal that I think takes the played notion of publishing. They were just about to publish a piece of mine but I had to sign a contract my story hadn’t appeared elsewhere.

For a non-paying market, I find that out of touch and ludicrous.

Once more, I’ve decided to come full circle and be the boss for my own mental health. While modern life is fracturing, isolating, I’m not going to play into that by revering old notions of “The Writer,” bowing down to outdated norms and expectations. Many markets, especially non-paying markets, get that. If life changes for me, my tune may change, but for now, this feels like a good tune to whistle while I work.

I wish you all a peaceful Labor Day and time with friends, family, pets, or just your lonesome, but knowing we are all connected and yet unique in our own ways.

Sincerely— Margaret

p.s. I found this today and wanted to share.