Writers and Persistence

We all have dreams of what we hope to accomplish in our writing journey. For many, the big dream is to write a novel, sell it, and spend time promoting it. We have plans along with those dreams. As today's poster illustrates, those plans are seldom trouble free. 

If your town is like mine, after a winter of freezing and melting, the potholes multiply rapidly this time of year. Doing errands requires drivers to play a game I've named Dodge the Potholes. We play the same game when writing a novel, or even shorter pieces. 

Many novelists have said that their first book was a learning experience, one that will never see publication. Despite that, writing the book was an invaluable help in finding their way through writing the second, third and next books. There's probably a lot of truth involved, but it would be hard to push that first book aside. That's the one you'd dreamed about for a very long time. In the long run, it might be wise.

Writers meet pothole after pothole in the form of rejections. I read an interview this morning about a woman whose YA novel Gravemaidens will be published in October of this year. Kelly Coon had been rejected 106 times over a period of 9 years and 4 novels. Yet, she persisted and was rewarded with a contract. In the interview, she says that she knew she was a good writer but maybe she wasn't a good novelist. Once she'd admitted this to herself, she defined her failures, prepared to educate herself about writing books and opened herself to write a story that would be someone's choice to read. Ms. Coon was surely persistent, but she was also willing to humble herself and admit her failures, then looked for the key to the final success. You can read the entire interview here.

Writing a book, or a book of essays/short stories takes time. Add some time for editing and revising. There is more time involved in finding an agent or a publisher. Writing a book is a lengthy process. We read about famous authors who turn out a book a year (or more!), but those authors have researchers working for them, they often write formula types of books. Fill in the blanks, and suddenly there is another book ready to go. Even these authors practice persistence. 

Persistence is one of the keys to being a successful writer. It's not only days, weeks, or months that we must invest. It is often years. That bottom part of the photo quote above lets us know it is going to take a long time. 

Ever heard a writer say something like I've been working on my memoir for 3 years. In the book world, speed is not a factor. When you're writing a novel, a memoir, or a nonfiction book, you know it's not going to be a quick, hurry-scurry project. If it is, it probably shouldn't be. 

Because you run into myriad potholes along the way, should you give up your dream of writing a book? Absolutely not! You may have to take a few detours. You may need to stop and re-evaluate now and then. You may need to give yourself a lecture occasionally. If you are intent on realizing your dream, be persistent.