Credo
September 27, 2018

A credo is a statement of one's guiding principles and comes from the Latin for
"I believe." While most often used in a religious or political sense, there's no
reason why a writer can't have a credo about the craft and business of writing.
Here's mine:

A Writer's Credo

  
    o I realize I am not entirely in charge of my fate. No one is required to
publish what I write. I must earn the privilege of publication by producing the
best work I am capable of writing and then submitting that work.
    o I will focus on what I can control. Epictetus wrote that men should only 
concern themselves with what is within their power to change. I will do this 
in relation to my writing, focusing on what I can control: the quality of the 
writing and the number of submissions. Each piece I write will be the best I'm 
currently capable of producing, from word choice all the way up to the overall 
organization of the work. Even the best writing, however, adds nothing to the 
world if it remains unseen. Therefore, having produced a piece of work, I will 
submit it to the appropriate markets.
    o I will never stop learning about my craft. I will read books on writing 
and attend such conventions and classes as my life and funds allow. Most 
important of all, I will write daily, because as Jacques Barzun has
said, all good writing is ultimately self-taught. I take the sixteenth-century
printer Christophe Plantin's motto as my own: Labore et Constantia (Through 
Work and Perseverance).
    o I will be professional in all I do. The process of publication is an 
interaction between an editor and a writer in which both parties share an equal 
dignity. I will read the magazine's or website's guidelines before I submit to 
see if my work is appropriate and if it is currently open to submissions. I will
format my manuscript in accordance with the guidelines, or in the absence of 
guidelines, use standard manuscript format. If rejected, I will remind myself 
that rejections are the dues paid by every writer; if accepted, I will work 
with, rather than against, the editor to improve the piece and make it fit the 
magazine's or website's voice and style. In my communications with an editor, I 
will always be polite, professional, and prompt.
  

These are my beliefs. So may they be until the day I permanently lay down my
pen.

(c) 2018 by Andrew Gudgel 
email: contact [at] andrewgudgel.com