Dreams of a Doubtful Writer

I am asking myself the hard question, "How do I plan to jump start my writing career?" And to be honest, I don't have a writing career, yet. I'm still a struggling writer that no one has heard of except friends, family, and classmates. I don't even know if I have enough credentials to call myself a writer, but I am one (I've been one ever since I was in elementary school). I dream of penning a book that becomes a best-seller. I want to earn tons of money and travel the world promoting my book. I want to be interviewed by the best journalists and have my photograph donning the front cover of Poets & Writers. At least, that is what I want, but will it happen? Right now, I'd be satisfied with having one of my works be published in a major literary magazine, but I don't know if this is achievable. Right now, I know that I need to write more, but I feel blocked. Like the blank page is a challenge. A test. And I don't want to fail. To put it bluntly, I'm a very practical person, and sometimes the idea of being a fiction writer seems too lofty. To write a well-written piece of work takes a lot of time and effort. And in spite of your hard work, there are no guarantees, and it is this realization that is preventing me to write. For example, I really want to turn in a manuscript to The New Yorker, but there is a huge part of me that feels it is a waste of my time, but we never know unless we try, right?

The Fame Game

You've sent out your manuscript to your favorite literary magazine. You imagine yourself reading the email, "Congratulations, we have selected your story for our publication..." And to top it off, you get paid a couple of hundreds, and before you know it, you become a household name...okay, I'm getting carried away. But honestly, who doesn't wish that one of the above scenarios wouldn't happen? What prompted these fantasies? I have submitted a collection of prose poetry entitled, "Black Codes," for Tin House's issue about class in America. I guess, I'll find out, if my submission made it by August. If not, the game continues. If so, YAY! I gotta be like Jesse and keep hope alive. What is your motto that motivates you to keep writing?