Climbing Higher

Yesterday we talked about building our publishing history. Ultimately, what we're trying to do is advance our writing career, especially so that when we write a query we look professional. A growing publishing history is just one aspect of that.

What are other ways to climb higher, so that when we send our queries we don't look like amateur writers?

Here's what we're encouraged to do: join writing organizations (ACFW, RWA, etc.); belong to critique groups; attend writing conferences; start a blog and/or website; build a reader base; enter writing contests. (Did I miss anything?)

We strive to accomplish all of these things and more in order to advance ourselves, to be able list them on our queries, to prove to agents and editors that we take our writing career seriously. But. . .

In the end, the sell will come down to one thing. . .the STORY. In the modern publishing industry, a newbie author has to craft an incredible story to get noticed. It doesn't really matter how many conferences we've attended or how many writing groups we belong to. If our story falls flat, we will too.

Let's work to advance our careers in whatever way we can. But, first and foremost let's get busy writing an excellent story, a story that will stand out from the rest, a story that will push us higher than we've ever been before.

Let's start now! What is your writing goal for the weekend? Tell us in the comments, and then on Monday let us know how you did; we'll all check back to make sure you followed through!

My weekend goal is this: to complete 1500 words on my WIP