Losing yourself

Sometimes a person retreats to a cave or a remote croft to find themselves, worried that others might influence them, that their true self will be diluted.

Some writers are rather like that, not interacting with others. If their writing's good enough for them that's all that matters. Some become famous, albeit belatedly - Emily Dickinson for example, or to a lesser extent, Hopkins. But most writers like the company of other writers, thinking that it helps their writing. Many join their local writer's groups. Some reach out further, participating in the big world of literature, thinking that the advantages of joining a local group are magnified by interacting with more people. Maybe so, but the risks are greater too - writers risk being driven by market forces and social pressure, losing their authenticity by doing anything to be published, selling themselves out.

I'm one of those people involved with bigger groups. I look upon new styles not as a betrayal of Self but as a way of exploring new aspects of it. I think some compromise is inevitable - friendships depend on it, so why not the writer-reader relationship? But if you're worried about authenticity, here are some tips on how to survive out there without selling your soul too much.

• Find out about the magazines which accept work just like yours. There are magazines specialising in "Gothic Seaside", "Funfairs", "Angels", light verse, etc.
• Don't agonise about which magazine to send a piece to. Send it to a dozen magazines at once - most little literary magazines accept (even encourage) simultaneous submissions nowadays. Mix ambitious submissions with easier, confidence-building ones. Keep lots of submissions in the post - 20 or so. If you're a novelist, write Flash too.
• Let the piece find its own level - start by sending to the New Yorker by all means, but be prepared to send it to smaller and smaller magazines if it's repeatedly rejected.
• Be prepared to re-style your pieces to suit the market or editor (just as you wear appropriate clothes to different social events). If experienced editors make suggestions, listen to them. Don't let your ego get in the way. Try different styles: a chameleon has just as authentic a Self as a toad has - Self is more than skin deep.
• Don't forget that something of value to you - a piece where you feel you've expressed your feelings clearer than ever before, perhaps - may be of no interest to those who don't know you. Though novelty for its own sake isn't likely to fool people for long, neither is submitting work too similar to what others send in. Alexander Pope's "What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed" still applies, but many more thoughts have been well expressed since his day, so you need to read widely, not just write.