I am sure you have all heard this before. Once you tell someone you are a writer, or in my case, when I say I am in publishing, people immediately tell you they have a novel they are working on. It is like the words, "self-disclose" are written all over your face. I think this is great. it is as if these people have been waiting for the single chance to tell people they are a writer! This is awesome.
And yet, I always have listen to what they say with simply a smile on my face and most likely, a simple nod. Why? Because for far too many of these people, telling someone they have a story they are working on is as far as they will get on that story. What they are really lacking is the passion and the desire to proceed beyond that statement.
Although I am not someone who believes in the process behind the NANOWRIMO, I do have to applaud those people who dive into the challenge and live up to completing that darn book. I applaud them simply because they see what they want and they have gone for it! No exceptions. No excuses.
For anyone to be successful, it requires that passion and that desire to succeed. Along the same lines, it takes having the initiative to get out there and do something about it. It can be a sport or a hobby. It can be losing weight or breaking a habit. Heck, it can be cleaning the house. In all of these cases, it simply takes the desire, the passion and the initiative to do it.
When I think of the writers I have at Greyhaus, these writers did not simply write a story and toss it to the wind. They worked for it. They pushed. And most importantly, they did not say no. Sure, they have all hit roadblocks along the way. They have gotten reviews that might not have been that exciting. And yes, they got rejection letters early on. But they did not quit!
So as you head into this holiday season, I want you to make that decision for yourself, because no one else can do it for you. Do you want to write? Do you want to be published. Then do it!
This is so very true.
ReplyDeleteI was at a writer's conference once and was howled down when I made the comment that one of the biggest roadblocks to becoming a successful writer was the fear of success.
Nothing in the intervening years has changed this opinion.
For a lot of would-be writers, this fear prevents them persevering until they finish the novel, and then opening a new file and starting on the next one.
Writing takes perseverance and commitment, but most of all you have to have the self-belief that you will succeed and you can live with the pressure success brings.