Professional Writing Isn't Just About Passion

There are a ton of people around the world who love writing. It is a passion! I hear this all of the time when I attend conferences. I watch authors sitting in corners of the conferences sharing all of their excitement over their latest chapter or the research they have done. I hear it when they sit with me in pitch sessions or see it in their query letters they send to me. Passion is important. If you don't love sitting down at the computer and writing, this is not a career for you. 

HOWEVER...

Passion is not what is going to get you to a successful writing career. Like every other career out there, success does requires education and skill to go along with that passion. 

I worked at a middle school on one year where the P.E. teacher's son was in my class. His son was great and really worked hard. He would be, however, one of those students who would be considered a great B+ student. Nothing to complain about! Again, a great student. However, the dad wanted his son to be at a 95% or higher on everything that he did. Could it happen? Sure, the possibility was there, but not likely. My explanation to him was simple. I gave him an analogy. He was big into soccer so I told him I wanted to be a professional soccer player. I wanted to start training immediately.

His answer was. It wasn't going to happen. Professional soccer players have an innate ability. They combine that with training...

Woops....

He heard the answer.

Now, before I go any further, let me say that I don't want you to quit your passion. We just have to reshape some thinking.

There are a lot of authors out there who have that inherent ability to write great stories. They just get it. They only get better with training. There are also a lot of authors out there who love to write. They may have dreams and aspirations of becoming the next great American novelist, but they will simply not get there. It doesn't matter how many workshops they attend, or classes they take, or books that they read, that inherent ability is not there. 

But the passion is!!!!!

And because of that passion, they should not quit. It might simply be a time to reshape their thinking.

At a recent conference, I talked to a writer about her story. She was labeling it as women's fiction, but in reality, it was a story about her great grandparents. She was passionate about it. She loved the story. The reality is that the story would never make it as a true published book. This was something meant for her family... and that is a good thing.

Being a successful writer is to be someone who can put words on a page and create something. This is done with passion and should not be ignored. If this is what you love, I want you to be that successful writer. Quit pushing for something that may be out of your reach and cause you to quit what you love.