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Pick up the next issue of Asimov's or F&SF. Are there EVER any pieces in there where the bio says, "This is Bob's FIRST publication credit in his life?" No.

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Sorry, just noticed that reference above. I can't speak to those two markets, but I do know that IGMS was my first ever publishing credit, and I do know that Clarkesworld has published at least two authors who have never been published before, and I know of at least one case at Strange Horizons. I strongly suspect other examples could and would come to light if I looked hard enough.

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No, look more closely. I said that I don't feel applying objective value judgement based ideas like "good" and "bad" to writing works particularly well, because it is mostly a matter of taste which is subjective. The technical aspects such as grammar and spelling are the only aspects that can truly be judged in an objective way. And even then, its not a matter of good or bad, its a matter of correct or incorrect. cat is spelld C-A-T for everyone, that isn't a matter of taste, opinion or point of view. Most or all of the artistic aspects of writing/storytelling are however.

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Individual tastes are subjective in terms of writing style and story lines, but I can judge my own work as good or bad.

I consider my writing good if I am able to transfer my vision to paper and if I am able to convey the ideas and emotion to at least some of my beta readers. Not all because I do know that some people will never like my stories, but if no one gets it, then I have to admit failure.

These "rules" of writing that you always argue against have helped me tremendously. I don't use them as strict guidelines but more as diagnostic tools. There are times when I knew that a scene wasn't working, but I didn't know why or how to fix it. When I learned about "show don't tell" and "beats" and using strong verbs instead of verb adverb combos, etc., I finally had the tools to diagnose and fix the problems.

I understand getting frustrated when people act like these "rules" must be strictly adhered to at all times, and I by no means believe that they should be. The writer should do what he or she thinks is best for his/her story. But I do think that every writer should be aware of them and have a healthy amount of respect for them. They are tools to be used when needed.

Anyway, I can't speak for anyone else, but for me when I say my writing isn't "good enough" it isn't lack of confidence but because it doesn't meet my personal standard. I just thought that others that said that might feel the same way.

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Emotional resonance is VERY subjective. Yes, there are many things that are probably going to resonate with a lot of people but for instance, I find Tolkien's work deeply emotionally moving, but I know more than one person that finds it boring and uninvolving.

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Sure what resonates with one person won't resonate with others. I know that after I became a parent suffering of children resonates so strongly with me that I cannot even sit through a horror movie if a child is involved (like Poltergist which was my favorite horror movie in my pre-children years). We all have our own individual tastes and life experiences.

But there are techniques that can create resonance with your target audience, relatable characters vs. flat stereotypes, showing a character being sad instead of telling us that he is sad (I am not saying that everything should be shown only that showing can draw a reader in to make the scene more emotional).

Not every story requires emotional resonance with the reader, but it is important for us to know how to do it when it does.

I think my biggest frustration is the amount of time required to keep stories out. I have only submitted a few to the big boys, so for the most part I am electronically submitting to the minor markets. This eats up alot of time; researching suitable publications for a particular story, sorting and reformatting for the annoyingly subtle variations in submission guidelines, and keeping track of so many emails, etc...

Secondary to these frustrations are inner conflicts which I am sure most of us share. There is the whole "Is my story good enough" complex. Then there is also is it really worth all the effort to keep these stories out, seemingly only to be rejected twelve times before possibly making it into print a year later for five bucks. I have seven short stories, poems, etc out in print. I have made very little money with them. I did make five thousand dollars writing the memoirs of my chef mentor, and I do have a pro-rate story due to publish in January.

I think the biggest motivating factor that has kept me writing was my Honorable mention which I received on my second attempt in entering WOTF. I guess it was the fact that I had only been writing for a few months when I received it was encouraging, especially reflecting back upon that story and realizing how far I have come in my craft since that story. What is sad is that I haven't entered anything in WOTF since. I have several great stories completed and I intend on entering this quarter, but as I mentioned before I got really busy with the restaurant opening and for the past six months I have not been very productive.

Hopefully, I can turn that around because I feel really good about the quality of material I have been producing lately.

Now, I intend on submitting to the top tier publications first. Pro-rate and then work my way down the ladder as I get rejected. Hopefully I will do well in WOTF this quarter or this year and it will help launch this endeavor.

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Pick up the next issue of Asimov's or F&SF. Are there EVER any pieces in there where the bio says, "This is Bob's FIRST publication credit in his life?" No.

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All of the Top tier publishers have been known to launch unpublished authors

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Asimov's will consider material submitted by any writer, previously published or not. We've bought some of our best stories from people who have never sold a story before.

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Analog will consider material submitted by any writer, and consider it solely on the basis of merit. We are definitely eager to find and develop new, capable writers.

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