My Start
by Maya Rodale

My writing career began in my diary. Writing became a habit, thanks to regular journal entries. Using myself as a subject, I got practice recording my thoughts and feelings, describing events, scenes, secrets and wishes. In an incredibly rewarding class I took, “Writing For Autobiography,” I learned how to take that mass of emotion and actions and words and shape it into a coherent short story. It was in that class that the teacher said one of my stories was publishable—a first for me. “Hmm…” I thought.

And then I got bored with myself—not enough action! Not enough drama! So I started making stuff up. And so began my fiction career.

I wrote two different manuscripts and promptly hid them under the bed (they might, just might, get dusted off one day). Great ideas; extremely flawed execution. But hey, I was only beginning. I was, however, getting better.

In a college class on fiction writing, I had one of the most amazing moments of my life: when it came time to critique my short story there was a pause and then the class of eight girls exploded with passionate comments. They loved this, they totally got that and the description on page four was so true to life, etc, etc…

I say this not to brag but to illustrate two points. First, positive feedback was fuel for my journey as a writer. (If you read something good, tell the author!) Second, people complimented my work because I showed it and asked for their opinion. It’s scary for an author to open themselves up to rejection but it’s how I got better, how I got that positive-feedback-fuel and it’s also how I got published.

But some of my stories fell flat in critique groups. One of those manuscripts under the bed was rejected by twelve agents—out of the twelve I sent it to.

Right after graduation, my mom and I scored a book deal to write a self-help book called It’s My Pleasure: A Revolutionary Plan To Free Yourself And Create The Life You Want. We told the story through short personal essays and biographical sketches, so I made good use out of my diary writing experience! One topic we wrote extensively about was romance novels. It wasn’t long before I wanted to write one, instead of writing about them.

So I wrote my first romance novel. It took three months to crank out a first draft because I was unemployed and could—and did—write all day, every day.

An author friend was so gracious as to critique my first three chapters. She ripped them to shreds, bleed all over them with her red pen, ruthlessly examined every sentence on each page. I learned more about writing in that half hour than in all my writing classes combined. And why did this author favor my writing with her attention? Because after hearing about my 12 for 12 rejections, she knew I could handle the hard truth. Suddenly, those twelve rejections weren’t such a setback after all.

So I re-wrote the book. Sent it out to publishers. Got mostly rejected, but received one “revise and resubmit.” I duly did as told, and promptly got rejected. And then I waited and waited, and one day, my novel rose out of the slush pile to the attention of an editor who saw potential. And then I sold my first novel!

Just yesterday, I went out to lunch alone with my diary. It’s an old, old tradition of mine. I wrote about the usual suspects—me, my friends, my love life, and my writing career. This time, I was recording the progress on my third novel (well, fifth if you count those two under the bed). Some things that have made it happen for me—write about anything, do it often and regularly, and don’t be afraid to let your writing fall into the hand’s of strangers…

Maya Rodale is the author of two Regency-set historical romance novels, The Heir And The Spare and The Rogue And The Rival (yes, sex scenes are included!). Visit her on the web at www.mayarodale.com.

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