How Bad Do You Want It?

Writing is not easy. Being a professional writer is even harder. To be successful in this business takes a dedication and a commitment that, in all honesty, very few people have. This is part of the reason why we see so many people fall out of this career fast. This is why they quit. This is why they give up. This is why, as agents, we see authors just disappear from communications.

Publishing and writing is open to everyone, but to be successful means having the desire bad enough to fight for what you want. You have to be willing to look at those obstacles in front of you and do whatever it takes to get to that goal. No, this does not mean to cheat, but to push. This might mean a lot of sweat and tears. This might mean long nights, but if you want it bad enough, you will be willing to do whatever it takes.

This last weekend, I officiated a high school league swimming meet. There were a lot of swimmers there, but, in all honesty, very few would move on to the district level or the state level of competition. Sure, on the surface it would seem the reason was simply the time standards which, of course are the measuring tools to advance, but it was much more. It was the commitment these guys put in during their daily practices, and even during the warm-ups prior to the meet. I watched many spending more time talking to friends, flirting with the girl swim managers or their girlfriends in the stands, or simply "playing around" in the pool instead of working on speed, stroke count, turns and so forth. I saw some believing because they were on a certain team, there was an "expectation" they would simply advance because of who they swam with. But they didn't.

Would they change next year (if they weren't seniors)? Probably not. After they lost their races or didn't get their cuts, I heard more excuses than changes in heart. "The pool was just slow." "You know, I just swam another race right before that one." "Well, that swimmer had a tech suit." Not once did the swimmers look at what they did to get there, or what they would do to fix the problem.

So, how bad do you want it? I will warn you, SAYING you want it bad is easy to do. For many of you, it will be easy to simply type in the comment box that you want it badly. But this is not a matter of SAYING something, it is a matter of DOING something.

We are now in the month of February. Many of you made goals for the year with your writing. So, how bad do you really want to make those goals?