Be careful what you wish for...

Coming to England taught me the 'serious' side of writing. In the last two years, I've learnt all about 'markets', 'queries' and the art of pitching to editors. FBSR and similar abbreviations make sense now. I even own a copy of the Writers and Artist's Yearbook.

Two years ago, I was oblivious to the existence of any of the above.

In India, wannabe writers write first and then send off their writing in the hope of publication. That's the wrong way of going about it, but I know that now. Thanks to the Internet, I've broken into this dream world of publication. In the last year alone, I've had more commissioned features than in all the 15 years or so that I've been writing.

In the last week, I've had two editors write to me asking me to send more ideas and queries for future articles. For me, that's an amazing achievement.

It's still bloody hard work though! It still means conjuring ideas out of thin air and making sure that they are suitable for each individual market. It means staying on top of recent developments and paying attention to what your editor is saying. It means sticking to deadlines and standing by promises you've made. It means hours of research, note taking and editing.

The byline makes it all worth it.

Be careful what you wish for, they say. I agree. Wishes do come true.