Between the Drafts and the Replies
On sending my work into the world, waiting for answers, and continuing to write anyway.
There is a difference between writing something and allowing someone else to read it.
For a long time, my work existed between me and the screen. I wrote, rewrote, built my portfolio, and tried to make something out of the words I had been collecting for years. It was a quiet process, one that required patience, but it was also one I could control.
Lately, I have been learning what it means to send that work somewhere beyond myself.
Putting My Work Out There
I have started reaching out.
Emails, pitches, introductions — small attempts to place my writing in front of people who might have a reason to read it. Each one asks me to explain what I do, what I can offer, and why my words might be worth someone else’s time.
It is strange, putting so much thought into a few paragraphs and then letting them go.
There is always the possibility that the email will be overlooked. That the idea will not fit. That the person on the other side will never respond. I know these are ordinary parts of trying to become a writer, but knowing something is ordinary does not make it feel any less uncertain.
Still, I send them.
Because I cannot expect my writing to reach people if I never allow it to leave my own space.
The Pitch, and the Waiting
One of the things I have been working on recently is an article titled Why Putting Our Feelings Into Words Can Change How We Experience Them.
The piece explores the relationship between language and emotion — how naming a feeling can help us recognize it, and how poetry, metaphor, and writing can offer another way to examine what is difficult to explain. It brings together research and personal reflection, with a practical writing exercise for readers.
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I sent the pitch to the Greater Good Science Center.
There is something different about pitching an article compared to adding another piece to my portfolio. A portfolio is a place where I can show what I have made. A pitch is an invitation for someone else to consider what I might make, and whether it belongs somewhere beyond my own website.
I have also been reaching out to other opportunities, trying to understand where my writing might fit and how to present it professionally.
And now, there is waiting.
I do not know what will come of the emails I have sent. I cannot call them successes simply because I pressed send. But they are steps I would not have taken if I had remained content with keeping everything to myself.
What I’m Working Toward
At the moment, I am still building.
I am refining my portfolio, looking for publications and potential clients, learning how to pitch my ideas, and trying to recognize opportunities that are actually suited to me. I am learning that becoming a writer is not only about writing. It is also about finding places for the work to exist, understanding how to communicate its value, and being willing to try even when the outcome is unclear.
I have not reached the point where I can look back and say that everything worked out. I do not have a list of accepted pitches or a collection of clients to prove that this is becoming something.
What I have are emails sent, drafts written, and a growing understanding of what it means to pursue this seriously.
Maybe that is enough for this stage.
Not because I want to settle for the beginning, but because I am learning not to dismiss the beginning simply because it has not become the ending.
Writing does not stop when the last sentence is written. Sometimes, the next part is finding the courage to place it somewhere another person might find it.
And until the replies come — or do not — I will keep writing.
More on my journey on https://nyxearchive.bolt.host/#/home
