Since high school, I picked up pencil and put it to paper as excitedly as any child with a bright and shiny new toy. Writing was an outlet for things I thought too foolish or unrelatable to say out loud, so I thought of it as much more than a simple hobby. On days when my head felt too full, I thought it all might just come leaking out of my eyes and ears- that maybe I would hemorrhage with what I couldn’t find anyone to say those things to-, and it all came out in graphite disasters, near 2-dimensional dust storms, and was slammed up in binder after notebook after legal pad before I ever took to a keyboard.
And then the day came when I went pecking reluctantly at an inherited and ancient laptop, running a dusty old version of Microsoft Word, and, seeing all those words so neat and orderly for the first time, I found myself wondering about whether any of them were worth reading. To me, they were worth writing, but were they worth reading…
Why shouldn’t they be? My childish desperation to find like minds finished off any anxiety that previous notion left behind, so, soon, I had set my sights on publishing, though I knew nothing of the field (and worried I knew even less than I thought I did). I was nervous, not confident at all in my own understanding or abilities, but fully intent on finding some place that would take my story and lay it out for others to rip into without taking away all the rights to my work and characters (by far, the most important part to me- then and now!).
My first publication opportunity was found in Writers’ Digest, a literary magazine. They were holding a contest for high schoolers, and, though I didn’t expect any real feedback, I threw my hat into the ring and held my breath for the success of a naïve and simple- even bland- little piece I can’t even recall the title of now. However, despite my fuzzy memory, I won a runner up spot, and my obsession began.
Literary magazines have long been treasure troves of opportunity for young artists, mostly, of course, writers but also photographers and a few other classes, and it is so incredibly, undeniably important that they remain such footholds! For the sake of creative new generations, I ask that all of us appreciate the goals of literary magazine, but, more than this, I hope we can find new ways to call to young people with things to say. If I had known about these contests sooner, I would have submitted, and I think this is the case with many teenage writers. “How chatty,” or “how quiet,” we say, smiling, and often forget the meaning behind the behavior. Young people have things they would like to express, but how can we expect those quieter to say something without any place to do so?
I beseech every reader we have… continue submitting! Keep looking for opportunity! Share what you find with like minds! It’s so amazing to think we all think and feel… how can we let our outlets slip away from us?
-SJ Bobo