Remember that amazingly awesome computer game Oregon Trail?

Maybe it’s because I’ve been up too long, but to me it seems like the path to publication is a lot like the Oregon Trail:

You Load Your Wagon

How many oxen do you need? How many shotgun pellets?

When writing, the oxen are the projects you’re working on, and the shotgun pellets are your knowledge base. You can kill more buffalo (or squirrels/rabbits if you are in a non-grassy area) with more bullets. As a writer, you will be better supplied if you read widely, try writing in multiple genres to discover your best voice, and research individual publishers and agents to discover their needs.

And like publishing, sometimes it just takes that one ox to get you through to the next part of the game.

You Determine Your Pace

Are you going to travel at a slow, medium or fast pace? Are you going to eat meager portions or full portions?

When is it time to submit your material? In the Oregon Trail, if you leave too late you risk being caught on the trail during the winter (thus decreasing the amount of things to hunt.) If you’re writing and you revise, and revise, and revise… you risk revising until the original voice of the story is lost. But if you submit too early, you risk eliminating potential submissions when the work is up to par.

If you eat meager portions on the Oregon Trail, your food supply will last longer (unless it rots) but you will be frail. As a writer, if you submit sparingly, your odds of being picked up in the slush are slim. At least 98%-99% percent of our slush pile is rejected. But again, if you submit a large round of submissions (say 10 publishers) and then the first three rejections say “I like this, but your problem is [this],” — you now have seven submissions out when you know it’s time to revise.

You Hunt for Food

Let’s be honest, the hunting sub-game was the best part (other than putting someone you dislike in your party, and then waiting for them to get electronic cholera.) You had to be a cautious hunter though — if you killed everything on screen (knowing you can only carry back 100 pounds), chances were the next time you needed to hunt there wouldn’t be any buffalo or rabbits around.

As an author, you have to be cautious about offers that are presented to you. If an agent says they need money up front – it’s a scam. If a publisher says they need money up front – it’s a scam. The rights to your work are precious, you have to be careful who you sell them to. If you jump at the first offer, you may be doing yourself a disservice later.

Your Wagonmates Get Typhoid

Or they get bitten by snakes, and in the next game you see their tombstone lying next to the trail.

As a writer, your writing is your wagonmate, and sometimes it might get ill. Not every project might be marketable. Not every word will be fresh (and typhoid free.) But, like on the trail, you learn from each work. Each piece makes you a better writer.

You Make It To The Finish

I don’t know that I’ve ever made it to the end of Oregon Trail. I usually died around 3/4 of the way through.

But that’s probably just as well. I think every writer has their own end-point. So happy trails, my fellow wagoneers! I hope you reach your finish!

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[Originally posted on My VerboCity.]