I've been reading a lot of blogs about how the writer's life. How do we sit in the chair, often without pay, to write these stories? Why do we sit in the chair at all? And how does one know if a writer, new and unpublished, will become successful?
Is it perseverance or an obsessive stubborn refusal to give up on one's dream? Or is a combination of both qualities along with a measure of self-delusion about the difficulty in achieving the ultimate dream of publication?
Perseverance defined:
Noun: steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success: her perseverance with the technique illustrates her singlemindedness.
"Perseverance with the technique" stands out for me.
Read it again. It says, try try try again BUT with the technique.
If we sit in a chair and write every day, meeting our word count goals and more, then yes, we're persevering. And we often do it without affirmation or pay. Even harder to persevere if we don't have a paycheck or an editor breathing down our necks for our works.
I believe writing and making writing goals is not enough. I believe that we need to learn, we need to persevere with our technique. We are never finished with the process of learning, regardless of where we are on our writing journey.
So persevere with your technique. Accept constructive feedback, take courses about writing, ask for help, read books in your genre, attend workshops, enter contests, find a critique partner you trust (I've been super lucky in that regard), and then when you say, "Never Give Up, Never Surrender," you're saying it as you steadfastly work toward refining your technique.
What are you doing to achieve your goal? How are you accepting the changes you need to make as a writer so you can step inside the hallowed halls of publication? Don't just write. Write with purpose, with a willingness to grow and change. And as you struggle with the difficult tasks you face as a writer, try to remember why you embarked on this journey.
Rediscover daily the JOY you have as a writer. The sheer amazing wonderful way your heart sings when you put words onto paper. Then become a master, an empress, of your joy and harness it with knowledge and technique.
Above all--Persevere with your technique.
