Two Keywords for Writers

NOTE:  Before beginning today's topic, I have a request. The only people who are seeing this blog now are those who have signed on as Followers. Facebook is still blocking me on all their pages, which is where many of my readers come from. If any of you are willing to share the blog posts with other writing friends, I would appreciate that small favor very much. Scroll down to find the box to sign on as a Follower to receive the blog via email. It's quite far down on the right-hand side. Meanwhile, I am still waiting for Facebook to reinstate this blog. I can post anything I want except for my blog.

The poster today should be of some comfort to those who are writing, submitting, receiving rejections and repeating that process. It means you are working at writing. You haven't given up. The poster brought to mind my two keywords for writers. You've heard them before from me, and you'll hear them again and again. The reason? Because they are very important. 

Patience:  When little children want something, they want it NOW! Are we writers any different? When we want to be published, we hope it happens in a flash. Our head tells us things in the real world don't work that way. Our heart says It can happen. We must take time to learn our craft, to hone our skills, and to practice our writing on a regular basis. 

I've always been a rather impatient person. I sometimes wonder if God decided to teach me how to patient by giving me some skill as a writer. It's worked because my patience is much stronger now than it was in my earlier years. I had to learn that waiting to hear from a publisher was part of this writing game, that sometimes weeks and months might go by before there was a response. Same way with writing contests. Monts of waiting. Dare I say 'waiting patiently?' 

Patience is a trait that, for most of us, must be learned. Those people who come by it naturally are blessed. Those of us who must learn may be blessed, as well, but it takes a whole lot longer. I have learned not to dwell on whatever it is I am waiting for. I try to move on with other things. 

Persistence:  While we're practicing patience, we must be persistent in working toward the personal writing goals we've set. We can't try once or twice. Instead, we have to try over and over again until we succeed. The other day, I mentioned two writers I know who tried 70 & 80 times to find someone willing to publish their novels. Through all that rejection, they didn't give up. They persisted and self-published with fine results. 

You can't be a successful, published writer if you write one week, then not again for two months. Part of persistence is to write on a regular basis. One of the reasons I started this blog ten years ago was that I knew it would make me write five days a week. I had made a commitment to my readers, and I wanted to fulfill it. 

If you persist in learning and refining your writing skills, you're very likely to find some success. You can't go to Walmart and buy persistence. You have to dig deep within to find it and then use it. 

I don't think any writer will be sorry if they use both patience and persistence as they move along in their writing journey.