Friday, April 9, 2010

It's A Difference In Attitude

I love going to the major writing conferences. Why? I love to people watch. I can sit for hours in a hallway watching writers go by and carry on conversations. It is always during that time that I can see the writers that are successful or will be successful with their writing. At the same time, I can also see those that in no way will they every be successful. It is all in the attitude. Sure some of these writers that won't make it may have sold books, but their career is going to be limited.

I have found that those that are successful have a confidence and a "can do" attitude. In fact, you can often find that with individuals in any profession, sport or activity. There is this belief that they can do it if they stick to it. No, this is not an egotistical attitude, or a belief that they don't have to work with it. These individuals clearly know from the beginning that they are success stories.

For beginning writers, it is important to start working on that attitude early on in your career. No, there is no one exact way of accomplishing this - you have to figure that one out on your own. One thing for certain though is that developing this attitude is not a sometime activity and certainly not an activity that happens overnight. It takes work and it take practice.

Several years ago, I had a writer sign on with Greyhaus. I was attending a small conference and during prior to even meeting this author, I could see that she would be successful. Even though it was a working conference, she was still there in professional clothing. She asked intelligent questions of the guest speaker (it happened to be Cherry Adair). When she would enter a room, she walked with confidence and people around her respected the confidence. I should note though, she was young and there were certainly other writers around her that had been doing this for a while. Still, they respected her.

When we got to the pitch sessions the next day, she came in and blew me away with her presentation. She knew it was her first story but she knew what she wanted and she knew how she was going to get it. I asked for a full and eventually signed her. Sure the story was great, but that attitude got her a long way.

Now here is a twist, and certainly the downer of the whole thing. She lost that confidence. We submitted the story to a couple of editors and they turned it down. Not because the writing was bad but it was a matter of "bad timing." No problem, we were going to move on. But by then she had lost her momentum. She forgot that energy she felt when she walked into that conference months before. So she quit. That was a bummer.

While there may be some downer days when it comes to your writing career, it is important that you maintain not simply a positive attitude but a level of confidence that says you are just as good as the next writer. Some may be on best-seller lists but that doesn't make them any better or you any less.

Keep up the great attitude. Without it, your writing career is over before it gets started.

9 comments:

  1. I don't want that to be me. Ever. I've always had the belief that writing is what I'm supposed to be doing...and I haven't looked back. But it does hurt when I receive a rejection or a critical comment. The difference is it makes me want to fight for it that much harder.

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  2. That's sad. I wonder if she regrets it. If she finished and polished one book, then she loved to write. She should've started a new project. There's nothing more exciting that being buried in a new story. It's like, yeah, I love that first one, but I love this one more.

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  3. Very interesting. Being signed should be a real boost for a new writer. Perhaps she had used up her store of confidence and had nothing left to give. Perhaps she wanted to focus on something with a greater chance of a payoff, relationships, marriage, children. Writing unfortunately is a very selfish profession-requiring one to stand firm about time alone and refusing requests for help on all levels. Women are NOT rewarded or admired for this behavior, Especially by family members. My heart goes out to this one. Perhaps when she is a grandmother she will find a chance to get back to those kidhood dreams. Several of the guest speakers at the last conference said that their husbands supported them financially so they could try writing professionally. Maybe she will find that kind of a husband. or maybe he will be the one that wants to write in the family. The human comedy continues.

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  4. Interesting post. What a shame that young woman gave up. I wonder if she had been a more mature adult, whether she would have done.

    My confidence is on the rise. The more feedback I get from my supporters, the more determined I am to finish and submit.

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  5. This was very timely, Scott. New writers do have momentum, but the real test comes after that initial push. I am a young new writer just as you've described and my heart really ripped when you said she quit. I hope I never become that discouraged. She was just so close.

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  6. This one has got me thinking in hindsight. I used to work with a co-writer who was a networker and marketer. He'd go to a writer's conference and chat with everyone, get cards, and such. But he always had to approach the agents first. They never walked up to him and initiated contact. They did with me.

    I'm wondering now if that was a warning sign of what was to come. We broke up with a finished novel in submission to agents. He turned passive-aggressive and did some really bizarre things that made me glad the one full request we got was not accepted. Makes me wonder now if, in person, the agents picked up on something I didn't.

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  7. I have a sticky note on my monitor at work. “Attitude is everything.” I strive to make mine good and not bad. With a high-stress job and long hours it’s not always easy, but I’m determined to smile.

    Why are we receptive to negative thoughts and comments and doubt anything positive? Talent and creativity should not be wasted. Any author, aspiring or published, needs a network of supportive friends for days of self-doubt, rejection, and humiliation. Everyone should make a list of their accomplishments and put it on their bathroom mirror. At the top note: “I am a goddess and I can do ANYTHING.”

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  8. I can't get that girl out of my mind. I wonder if this was a matter of being disoriented (don't know how else to put it) by the fact that she apparently did everything right, had a good story, was signed, and then hit the wall over and over again when it came to actually selling the story to a publisher.
    Having seen friends in this situation, I can only say that it really feels like a dead fish right in the face. This is made worse by the fact that agents are overwhelmed with stuff, and don't have time to say more than "nah, don't like it." This is really confusing to the writer. Boring plot? Not good enough? Bought one like it last week? Bought one like it last year and it tanked?
    I'd love to know what she said, if she said anything about dropping out of the struggle so early. Again, young women have lots of options when it comes to getting a worthwhile return on the investment of time and effort, and I would guess that when some realize how tough this will be, hoping to be published simply looks like a poor investment of any more time. Perhaps this is where SP comes in for some now, but I would guess a job with set hours, health insurance, and a dependable paycheck every week begins to look like the only way to go. I believe this brutal process of weeding 'em out results in better writers in the end, but believe it is a miserable & painful process for most. I can hardly imagine walking away after being signed. Yow.

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  9. . Women are NOT rewarded or admired for this behavior, Especially by family members. My heart goes out to this one. Perhaps when she is a grandmother she will find a chance to get back to those kidhood dreams. Several of the guest speakers at the last conference said that their husbands supported them financially so they could try writing professionally. Maybe she will find that kind of a husband. or maybe he will be the one that wants to write in the family.
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