Last week, I sent in my first illustration submissions. How hard was that? It wasn’t too bad. I just had to remember to turn off my emotions, once the illustrations were done and the publisher chosen. Otherwise, the little voice in my head nitpicks every line in the drawings and that evil old curmudgeon, “Doubt” , denies they could ever be valuable to such an esteemed publication as SCBWI’s Bulletin.
This week, my first query letter is being reviewed by my critique group. I’ve written a three part story about our rescue dog, Ella and I hope to send it along with the query to Cricket magazine. Doubt mumbles I’m aiming too high. I refuse to have a conversation with this character until I hear from my writer friends.
It’s hard enough learning a new field and struggling to send your first attempts into the world, without the negative voices inside belittling your efforts. But for this week, at least, I pushed the mute button.
