The problem of too many aspiring writers flooding the publishing biz has been addressed here at this blog and by others like Melanie Benjamin and Rick Moody.
But, short of spending decades throwing manuscripts at agents, how can those who think they might have what it takes to write know whether or not they should add their drop to the deluge? We all know that our current friends and family are going to “love” our writing, so how can an aspiring writer get an honest assessment before heaping on to the slush pile?
Well, one way is to take the following quiz:
1. Have you ever made a friend of a stranger after and because he or she read your writing? [1 point]
- Follow-up: Are a majority of your current friends the result of someone reading your writing, either the friends themselves or the person through whom you met them? [an additional 2 points]
2. Has a long-lost associate contacted you from the past simply to praise writing of yours they stumbled upon online? [1 point]
3. Has anyone ever insisted on sitting down with you to discuss a story you’ve written? [1 point, 2 points if more than once]
4. Has your writing inspired fan art (for which you did not pay or ask)? [1 point per artist]
5. Has anyone ever confessed to dreaming about your characters or setting? [1 point per person]
6. Has anyone who has read and liked your previous works felt free to dislike a later one? [this indicates they were not merely humoring you the first time, trying to get into your pants, etc. and thus counts for 2 points]
Add ‘em up!
RESULTS
13+ Don’t rush your muse, and don’t query just to prove something to yourself. You clearly have something that touches readers deeply, and should nurture it to perfection.
9-12 Obviously there is something of the writer in you, and you move your readers. Keep faith and keep writing!
5-8 You may not be the next Steinbeck or Morrison, but you certainly have some understanding of quality writing. Have you considered work as a literary agent, or an editor?
0-4 You’re probably not cut out for professional creative writing, but there is no shame in being a connoisseur of literature, a gourmand of fiction. It’s an elite calling! Books need their super-fans as well: those spectators who love the sport so much they can’t help playing a little backyard football now and then. Keep reading, reviewing, and spreading the good word about good words.
