You Are Not Your Writing
A quick thought before I hit the road to wild, wonderful Wyoming.

"You are not your writing." I think we've all been told this at one time or another, usually by a loving friend when after we've received the umpteenth rejection letter.

I've always had a hard time believing it. I am my writing, I've told myself, or at least my writing is the blood-ink smear of my soul's best effort. That's close enough, right?

I thought so once, but now I'm not so sure. Let's examine the argument from the other side ...

Last week I was working on a gaming project and caught myself getting lazy. And why not? I had sold 6+ similar works, and publishers were asking for more.

But whoops. I was not my writing, or more accurately, My Writing Was Not Me. Who cared if it had the words "Harley Stroh" on the cover. If it was crap, it was still crap.

Fortunately, my edits hadn't been turned in yet, so I had the chance to re-invest myself and get the job done right.

But the lesson had been driven home. Whoever H. Stroh is, whatever he's done in the past, none of that applies to the work he is creating now. And conversely, the work I've done in the past doesn't apply to who I am now.

You are not your writing.
Your writing is not you.

So when you get those rejections, glean what you can, and move on, because you've grown tremendously since you sent in that last submission.

And when you get those acceptance letters, glean what you can, and don't get cocky, because you still need to hustle your little behind and make certain the NEXT story/module/supplement rocks. Quality isn't a given.

Today I'm published, but that's a far cry from being a professional.