The other day I went for a lengthy walk around the city. It was not a route I usually traveled, and it took about 2 hours to complete.
It wasn’t until the very end of my walk, when I made a stop at my local grocery store, that I realized that I had misplaced the charging case for my Samsung Galaxy Buds.
For those not in the know: I constantly wear these black wireless earbuds to listen to music, podcasts, audiobooks, etc., especially during my walks. As a last-minute impulse decision, I stuffed the tiny, black pillbox-sized case in the front pocket of the backpack I carried with me as I walked. Regrettably; I found out too late that I hadn’t zipped the front pocket securely enough and saw the contents were slipping out by the time I reached checkout.
When I got back home to drop off my groceries, I did a cursory check one more time of my backpack and my usual spots for leaving the case, and when it could not be located, I went into a self-aggrandizing tizzy fit and bolted out of the house like a woman possessed.
I then proceeded to backtrack my entire walking route in reverse on the slight chance I would locate it on the ground. Yes, I spent an additional two hours retracing my steps to find the case, lest I would have to fork another $200 to repurchase everything because Samsung did not sell replacement cases (Smooth move, Samsung – way to jilt the consumer).
Feet sore, and hope dwindling with the fast-receding winter sunlight, I returned home defeated and empty-handed. As I grimaced at the dent this costly gaffe would make on my bank account, I received a phone call from the local grocery store. Apparently they had found the case in the produce section! I literally sprinted from my home to the store in 2 minutes flat to retrieve the case just before closing, and returned home to my partner an exhausted, hysterical mess.
So, you must be thinking to yourself: wow, what a miracle! How lucky were you to find such a tiny case in big-city Toronto!
Well, yes…and no.
While I was exceedingly fortunate to have located the charging case, luck had little to do with finding it. Here are the steps I took that I omitted from the original story:
- Though my route was long, it was not overly complex. I didn’t cross the street many times and spent several swaths of the walk going in a straight line that only occasionally would jut off the beaten path. Thus, it was easy to retrace my steps because I essentially went in a rectangular-shaped route.
- As I mentioned earlier, I knew I only had a few hours of daylight left. I assumed that I had lost the case late in my walk and decided to retrace my steps in the reverse order, as the foot traffic was heavier in the latter half of my route and there would be a greater chance for a stranger to snatch it off the sidewalk.
- My very first instinct even before setting out again was to call the grocery store and to notify them to look out for the case. I actually had called them twice, so it would be fresh in their mind and they’d be more likely to place it in the lost and found than in the trash.
I knew that chances were slim that I’d find my charging case again, but despite all odds, I had used the tools available to me (my phone, my feet, my common sense), to have events work in my favour and eventually succeed.
And that, dear reader, is the point I’d like you to glean from this lengthy anecdote. As writers, we go into this creative journey knowing full well that it will not be easy. We face a lot of stiff competition in our quest to get our voices heard and our works published.
Case in point: I’ve recently had a short story accepted for publication in an anthology for 2021, BLACK SCI-FI SHORT STORIES by Flame Tree Publishing:
Now you may be thinking to yourself: Wow! Congrats! How lucky are you to have your short story accepted!
Let me impress upon you this: LUCK HAD LITTLE TO NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.
Oh sure, in the context of timing and discovering the submission call prior to the deadline, yes, that is a fortunate happenstance. But consider the image below:
This is a screenshot of the spreadsheet I use to track the submission status of my short stories. The red sections indicate the rejections I received for a submission.
And that teeny-tiny sliver of green toward the bottom of the spreadsheet? That represents my one and only acceptance, for the anthology by Flame Tree Publishing.
To put it into perspective: my short story, “Suffering Inside, But Still I Soar” was rejected 30 times by 30 different publications before I got my first yes.
I wasn’t “lucky”; if anything, I made my own luck by doing my due diligence, researching the several publications that were accepting stories and comparing them against what was generally accepted.
- I subscribed to the paid newsletters Duotrope and Sonia’s Opportunities of the Week to uncover publications with a much smaller publication pool.
- I learned to avoid submitting to publications that had the word “Review” in their title, as that implied a level of writing that was a bit too high-brow for my intended audience.
- I submitted only to publications that were offering compensation.
Luck is the residue of design
John Milton
Did you know that celebrated author Stephen King had his first novel Carrie rejected 30 time before a publisher finally gave him a chance? It took the cajoling of his wife to rescue the manuscript from the trash bin and to submit just one more time…well, he did, and the rest is history.
I came across a quote that really spoke to me: “Luck is the residue of design”. Stephanie Pollock explains the meaning perfectly on her blog:
“Luck isn’t for the chosen few, it’s the residue of design. It’s created through conscious, intentional focus and clarity – and by being willing to make choices that support rather than subtract from your intended outcome.”
As creatives, we embark on an intentional path of self-discovery, where it is up to us to work hard to make the magic happen.
No amount of wishing or hoping is going to get that short story, that screenplay, or that novel off the ground; we are the captains of our own destinies. And if we want to someday enjoy the fruits of our labour, then, we’d better buckle down and do the labour part consistently. That means we’ve got to write, write, write!
I’m happy to say that I’ve FINALLY completed the second (technically version 1.5) draft of my novel. I’ve printed a physical copy that I can hold in my hand; make no mistake, the manuscript still has a LONG way to go before I consider it complete. But the journey is starting to feel real; I’ve reached the first incline in my mountainous path towards traditional publishing, and though the path is treacherous, the rewards at the other end will be oh-so-sweet.
So what do you think? Do you believe that luck plays a considerable role in an author or writer’s success. And will you purchase BLACK SCI-FI SHORT STORIES when it releases in North America in June 2021? Leave your comments down below!