Artwork, Poetry, or Both?
The decisions you make now may not effect you right away, but they will one day, and for the rest of your life! Hehe... but seriously, if you choose to work on your artwork you will have a long road ahead, and if you choose to work on your poetry you will have just as long a road ahead, and if you try both you may not get as far along the road. I tried a little artwork but know that I am sadly lacking because I have not spent the time and patience perfecting it as much as I have my poetry. So work on it a little every day, and get the words right. All the better to not be having second thoughts about "How could I have done this better? I wasn’t ready!" when those rejection letters come pouring in from the publishers. And they will come in... most people who submit to big publications will learn right away that either 1. the publisher doesn’t like the way you write, 2. the publisher doesn’t want the kind of material you write, 3. the publisher doesn’t have the space to publish your work alongside as good or better ones from many many submissions...
It pays to 1. get what you write down the way you think will look best in print, for the audience you want to ready, 2. send to publications that are actually looking for the material that you have to submit, and 3. take rejection with a grain of salt. If you find out what was the barrier between you and being published from a rejection letter, feel lucky. You would be surprised at how few rejection letters include their reasons besides "We cannot publish this at this time." if they’re polite, or "We suggest you look at our guidelines and learn to write!" if they’re not.
The decisions you make now may not effect you right away, but they will one day, and for the rest of your life! Hehe... but seriously, if you choose to work on your artwork you will have a long road ahead, and if you choose to work on your poetry you will have just as long a road ahead, and if you try both you may not get as far along the road. I tried a little artwork but know that I am sadly lacking because I have not spent the time and patience perfecting it as much as I have my poetry. So work on it a little every day, and get the words right. All the better to not be having second thoughts about "How could I have done this better? I wasn’t ready!" when those rejection letters come pouring in from the publishers. And they will come in... most people who submit to big publications will learn right away that either 1. the publisher doesn’t like the way you write, 2. the publisher doesn’t want the kind of material you write, 3. the publisher doesn’t have the space to publish your work alongside as good or better ones from many many submissions...
It pays to 1. get what you write down the way you think will look best in print, for the audience you want to ready, 2. send to publications that are actually looking for the material that you have to submit, and 3. take rejection with a grain of salt. If you find out what was the barrier between you and being published from a rejection letter, feel lucky. You would be surprised at how few rejection letters include their reasons besides "We cannot publish this at this time." if they’re polite, or "We suggest you look at our guidelines and learn to write!" if they’re not.