Submission Guidelines — ‘Struggling Forward’
Helping each other to go through the struggle, on the way towards our dreams.
Everybody wants to fulfill their dreams.
But few have patience and self-control needed to survive the first years of struggle. That period of time, which is needed to build up the necessary skills and lay the foundations for success.
During that time, life is defined by hardship. Financial struggle, an unclear future, and a lot of social pressure from all sides about what you are doing.
Few people survive this period of time.
They dig a hole into their hearts and bury their dreams so deep down that they can only hear it occasionally whispering: “have you forgotten me?”
If you don’t want to be one of these people. If you want to be one of the few who actually manage to achieve their dreams, then you will have to embrace those years of struggle.
As Malcolm Gladwell has said:
A lot of what is most beautiful about the world arises from struggle.
I want to build a community
I’m tired of being a lonely writer, who only sits in front of his laptop, and shares his ideas with the world.
Don’t get me wrong here.
I love the process of writing.
But I am tired by the long years of publishing, without having anybody’s support. The long years of working from morning till night, without making any money from my writing.
The long years of not knowing, whether or not I am ever going to succeed at writing. The long years of working alone from home, without having anybody around me.
For most of these things, there is not much we can do.
Creative types simply can not predict whether or not they are ever going to make it financially. It is a part of the process.
But at least, we don’t need to be alone.
We can create a community of people, who are going through the struggle together. We can share our stories with people, who are going through a similar process like us.
Together, we can learn to…
… embrace the struggle.
… stay committed to our dreams.
… keep pushing forward, no matter what.
Make a contribution
Right now, struggling forward is only an idea in my head. This publication would be the center of it all. The place where everybody comes together, shares their stories with one another, and helps each other to achieve their goals.
It is still just me, the lonely writer.
As always, my best friend is nothing but an idea.
But I want to change that. I want to turn this into an active community, where everybody can share their problems, share their progress, and get ideas and inspiration for how to overcome the obstacles they face.
But to do that, I need your help.
I need people to take the first step, and make a contribution to this publication. Not to get thousands of views, because that’s not something I can promise, at all.
But to start a community which (hopefully) provides real value to everybody involved.
Are you going to be the person, who is going to take the first step?
Send me an e-mail with a short intro about yourself, what you are working on, and a link to your Medium profile, and I will add you as a writer to the publication.
Any kind of articles related to the struggle of turning one’s dreams into reality, are more than welcome.
Here is my e-mail: rettigtim@gmail.com
Thank you so much!
You don’t need to submit articles to be a member of this community. You can start by following this publication, or by subscribing to our newsletter.
My guess is that for a while, it is still going to be just me.
The lonely writer.
But I will struggle my way forward. I will keep pushing ahead, until this becomes an active and vibrant community. I will commit to this process and make the necessary sacrifices, until my vision becomes real.
Because that is the only way, in which you can turn your dreams into reality.
If you have any kind of feedback, please do let me know. You can always reach my under my e-mail: rettigtim@gmail.com.
Until then, keep struggling forward!
Little update:
Since I wrote this article, a lot has happened. Jordan has joined the editorial team, and Struggling Forward is no longer a lonely effort. Plus, we’ve got plenty of great contributions, and the community keeps growing every single day.
Thanks a lot to everyone who has made this possible!
As Struggling Forward keeps growing, we have decided to use social media as well. Articles published in the publication, are now going to be shared on various different social media platforms.
Please let us know in your introduction e-mail, in case you don’t like your articles to be shared on social media.
Best wishes,
Tim and Jordan.
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