This Hidden Skill Can Improve the Odds of Getting Published
Recently, I was talking with a friend about how she was trying to update her resume. I suggested a method for her to try that would enable her to create a resume for any position. Her two essential tools would be a spreadsheet that held data about her previous positions and a resume template.
The issue? Confidence.
Can you justify everything you include in your draft?
Part of the beauty of the technique I gave my friend is that you can build out the template in any way you like. It all depends on the job you want to apply for. The catch, however, is that everything you pull from the spreadsheet to build out the template requires a justification. You have to know exactly why it deserves to be put into the template. Rather than stick to a format someone else says is ideal and simply checking boxes, you must assess for yourself whether the document achieves the result you want. For my friend, this was difficult!
It’s not, however, an uncommon problem for writers. Sometimes, when we’re creating a draft, we’re not confident about why a scene or detail should stay or go. We don’t know how to truly justify it. So, we don’t. Instead, we stick to what others say to do. We get paralyzed when we no longer have the safety of their example. As a result, our drafts languish unless an editor or agent tells us what to do.
The skill of justification delivers purpose and defense
My point is not that you should never take feedback. Rather, my point is that, if you want the true originality that will offer a differentiator and set you apart to readers, you must learn to look at your details or scenes and ask why they matter. What makes it necessary to include this but not that?
When you know the answer to that question, it becomes possible to stand up for the version of the content you offer. In the end, an agent or editor might give you a rationale that helps you see there’s a better path. But if you cannot explain the reason you included something, your drafts can be messy and bloated. You also run the risk of having no defense when the agent or editor says content has to go. Learning the skill of justifying means that you can present your story or other material as it is. You can know that every word has a purpose.
You might still lack full confidence, but at least you’ll be able to submit your work
Of course, confidence in a draft is not quite the same thing as being generally confident in your ability to write. You can work on a piece, tell yourself its as good as you can make it, and still wonder if people will care about the work. You can be able to explain the inclusion of every sentence and still get cut with pangs of inadequacy or worry that, tomorrow, you’ll wake up to a bad review that’s going to kill your career.
But half of being a writer is just getting yourself to the point where you feel ready to submit something. Confidence in a draft through the hidden skill of objective justification is what allows you to hit send on a query or mention the work to someone else. And if you are sharing your work, your odds of publication are a heck of a lot better than if you are in paralysis.
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