Persistence Should Be A Writer's Keyword

The fairy in today's poster has some good advice for writers, most especially newbie writers. Even intermediate level writers and beyond should give this poster quote some serious thought.

The poster indicates that the sweet little fairy has had failures and doubts in her writing life, but she kept on writing despite those two big boulders on her writing path. What about us?

I've had plenty of failures and doubts during my writing journey, and I'm quite certain you all have, too. It's part of the writing world. If a writer never had either one, I'd be a bit suspicious. 

We generally have more rejections than acceptances. One statistic I heard long ago was that the average writer receives twelve rejections for every acceptance. Wouldn't that put you in a funk? It would if you let it get you down. Instead of sinking like a rowboat with a hole in the bottom, take a good look at those rejections. (after you've gotten over the first disappointment for a few days) Consider yourself fortunate if you received a note from the editor telling you why they were not accepting your submission. If he/she points out a problem, address it. Rework the piece and submit it to another publication. If you received no reason why your piece was not accepted, you'll have to do some soul searching on your own. Look for weak spots, or missing pieces, or confusing places. Then rework them.

What about the doubts writers have? Nearly every writer has to deal with doubt at one time or another. For some, it's a regular ritual. For others, it comes only occasionally. But it's a part of our writing world. A bit of advice that qualifies as a cliche is the children's story The Little Engine That Could. The little engine kept repeating "I think I can" over and over until he reached his goal. We can do that, too. 

Instead of tearing yourself down, do all you can to build yourself up. Have you ever placed in a contest? Been published in a coveted publication? Self-published a book? Remind yourself of your accomplishments in the writing world. 

One keyword we need as writers is 'persistence'. If you give up easily, your writing world will soon turn to dust. Once again, it's your choice.