Dear Editor,

Let me start off by saying that Teen Ink is amazing for young writers like me who want to share our work with others, receive critique, and be motivated to work harder in order to be published. Your site motivates us to keep pushing to create even greater works and inspires us through the talented community on TeenInk.com.

However, is there also a downside to Teen Ink? With the yearning to be published in print comes a bundle of stress and insecurity. I can admit to keeping TeenInk.com on my computer screen and refreshing the page every few minutes just to see if the work I submitted a few days ago had been accepted as an Editor’s Choice or if I received more views or comments on a piece. I’m not sure if many people deal with this, but I have seen people write about the pain and disappointment when they are certain they have written “the one” – the piece written by their heart and soul that will finally be printed in the magazine – but then they open their e-mail only to be faced with a “Your submission to Teen Ink has been posted ...” AARGH! ME SO MAD ME CAN’T WRITE WITH GRAMMER!

Okay. Angry phase over, I began to think about writing more to increase my chances of being chosen. I spewed out a few haikus that gave me no satisfaction. I came to a terrifying realization: Have I started writing just to put words on a document? Just to submit something to Teen Ink? Have I been killing the writer within me?

I don’t know if there is a cure for the drive to be published. If there are any successful antidotes, please tell me before ... me spell grammar with an “e” again.