An excerpt from http://www.sitepoint.com/editor-confessions/, by @LaurenH
I’ve been writing since before it was cool.
I discovered my passion at the ripe age of 20.
It started in 2010, when I admitted I hated my college major. I applied for a spot in University of Central Florida’s (UCF) journalism program. Shortly after, I was accepted.
And shortly after that, I failed my first class – Introduction to Journalism with Prof. Speere.
When I tried to talk my way out of retaking the course, Speere wouldn’t budge, and I retook the class the next semester.
I couldn’t get published to save my life. My writing sucked, and it was devastating.
For a few months, I really felt stupid. I felt like I had faked my way into this exclusive program – that I wasn’t possibly good enough to belong here.
I debated running away from writing, but then I realized something – I really, really enjoyed it.
Looking back, failing Speere’s class was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Up until then, I coasted through life. Failing motivated me to be better.
During the next two years, I wrote two cover stories for a prominent local newspaper, became the relationship columnist for the school newspaper and scored a quote from UCF’s President Hitt, who hadn’t spoken to a student journalist in a decade.
The first cover story my classmates laughed at me for pitching. As did the first publication I pitched the idea to (Chicago Tribune’s Orlando Sentinel). Sugar-coated turned out to be a hit though, and literally hours after it was published, a nationwide radio show asked for an interview with me.
In a remarkable turn of events, I was a published writer, who interviewed the same people prominent New York Times writers had. I began hearing things like:
You wrote that story?! I loved that story.
You’re that girl, who wrote (insert title)?!
Since then, nearly five years later, not only have I been published a decent amount of times in places you’ve likely heard of, but I’ve also become a pretty good (i.e. tough) editor – one I think Speere would proud of today.
With that being said, it definitely doesn’t mean I don’t get rejected anymore.
In the past three months, it’s been a “close but no cigar” to getting published in TechCrunch – not once, but twice. And I’m still a ways off from getting published in NY Times’ Modern Love column (a huge dream of mine).
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