These may be a questions you ask yourself as a writer sometimes. Can I write all day long, even if it sucks? Can I figure out my target audience? Will my writing style sell? What differentiates me from thousands of other writers? Can I truly be a professional writer?
That's why we're all here, I assume. To get support and flourish as writers. However, like most jobs, are all of us cut out to be writers?
I was told before I started teaching that it's not simply a job. It's a "calling." Meaning you can either do it or you can't. I feel like writing, or creating art in any form, is just that. A calling. But it's a calling that's unique in that it's really up to the person on whether they make it or not.
Will we all become multi-time best-selling, millionaire authors? Reality check: no. But can we all be successful and widely published? Yes.
The main quality I see over and over again is this: persistence. You don't have to be a great writer, hey, you don't even have to be good to get published. Just write, write, write. Submit, submit, submit. I one-hundred percent guarantee you that someone, somewhere, will publish your writing. Talent only gets you so far. There are tons and tons of great writers out there in the world, but have you read them? No, because they're too afraid to be persistent and commit to their writing. Does this sound familiar? It does for me!
Confidence is a strange thing. If we have too much confidence, we get knocked down off our pedestal. If we have too little, then we never make the leap of faith. Temper your confidence. Make it your shield. Beat back your enemies (doubt, fear, self-loathing) with it. Take all the small victories you can manage. Your shield may be battered and bruised after rejections, near-misses, writer's block, and whatever other projectiles are slung at you, but don't let it fail you.
If you are rejected as a writer, it will not kill you. Will it dishearten you? Sure. Just say, "Well, that didn't work" and try again. Think of yourself as an inventor. The first idea you come up with isn't always going to be your winner. Thomas Edison probably had tons of crappy ideas before he started coming up with awesome stuff. So even if your novel isn't the shining vision you hoped it be (after the 1st draft) then you need to tinker with it some more. Editing is your friend.
So do you have what it takes? If you're here at Mythic Scribes, you obviously care about your craft. So yes, you have what it takes. It's just up to you if you want to be another great undiscovered writer, languishing at your overcrowded desk, or if you want to be another great discovered writer, languishing at your overcrowded desk.
This has been a Phil the Drill pep talk.
That's why we're all here, I assume. To get support and flourish as writers. However, like most jobs, are all of us cut out to be writers?
I was told before I started teaching that it's not simply a job. It's a "calling." Meaning you can either do it or you can't. I feel like writing, or creating art in any form, is just that. A calling. But it's a calling that's unique in that it's really up to the person on whether they make it or not.
Will we all become multi-time best-selling, millionaire authors? Reality check: no. But can we all be successful and widely published? Yes.
The main quality I see over and over again is this: persistence. You don't have to be a great writer, hey, you don't even have to be good to get published. Just write, write, write. Submit, submit, submit. I one-hundred percent guarantee you that someone, somewhere, will publish your writing. Talent only gets you so far. There are tons and tons of great writers out there in the world, but have you read them? No, because they're too afraid to be persistent and commit to their writing. Does this sound familiar? It does for me!
Confidence is a strange thing. If we have too much confidence, we get knocked down off our pedestal. If we have too little, then we never make the leap of faith. Temper your confidence. Make it your shield. Beat back your enemies (doubt, fear, self-loathing) with it. Take all the small victories you can manage. Your shield may be battered and bruised after rejections, near-misses, writer's block, and whatever other projectiles are slung at you, but don't let it fail you.
If you are rejected as a writer, it will not kill you. Will it dishearten you? Sure. Just say, "Well, that didn't work" and try again. Think of yourself as an inventor. The first idea you come up with isn't always going to be your winner. Thomas Edison probably had tons of crappy ideas before he started coming up with awesome stuff. So even if your novel isn't the shining vision you hoped it be (after the 1st draft) then you need to tinker with it some more. Editing is your friend.
So do you have what it takes? If you're here at Mythic Scribes, you obviously care about your craft. So yes, you have what it takes. It's just up to you if you want to be another great undiscovered writer, languishing at your overcrowded desk, or if you want to be another great discovered writer, languishing at your overcrowded desk.
This has been a Phil the Drill pep talk.