The 7 Secrets of Writing Success

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Over the course of time I've observed many writers rise through the ranks

and achieve professional status. Some have gone on to make substantial incomes

and long-term careers. A number of them were students in my workshops, which

gave me a good opportunity to analyze what characteristics they have in

common.

I've spotted seven that dominate.

Seven that you can replicate in your own writing life.

1. Love

"You must want it enough. Enough to take all the rejections, enough to pay

the price of disappointment and discouragement while you are learning. Like any

other artist you must learn your craft—then you can add all the genius you like."

– Phyllis Whitney

An inner fire to make it as a writer is what will get you through years of cold

reality.

I'm of the opinion that you ought to have more than the mere desire to make

money. The majority of writers who make it to full-time status love what they

do. They have to, because the early returns are almost always skimpy.

Do you have that love? Is writing your calling?

When I was just starting out on my writing life I saw a photograph of

Stephen King, early in his career, with his feet up on his desk and his dog

underneath. He was dressed casually and going over a manuscript. I knew that

was the kind of working life I wanted. I put that picture up in my office.

I'd look at that picture each day and let the feeling sink in.

Then I would act on the feeling. I would write.

That's the important part.

When you feel the desire, turn it into energy at the keyboard.

Repeat this over and over, daily, weekly, yearly…and you will begin to get

the feeling of being unstoppable.

I must mention here that there is also a toxic form of love and desire (the

stuff of many classic novels, of course). That's when you want something so

much you get embittered if you don't get it, or you begin to envy others who

have what you don't.

It's a careful balancing act. I have more to say on that in the chapter titled

Make a Life, Not Just a Living.

For now, let positive love fuel your fire.

2. Discipline

"Even if there is a price to be paid, don't be afraid to use appropriate

discipline. It may hurt in the short term, but it will pay dividends in the future. I

believe one of the big lessons of sports for dedicated individuals and teams is

that it shows us how hard work, and I mean hard work, does pay dividends. The

great dividend is not necessarily outscoring an opponent. The guaranteed

dividend is the complete peace of mind gained in knowing you did everything

within your power, physically, mentally, and emotionally, to bring forth your

full potential." – John Wooden, legendary UCLA basketball coach

As a high school basketball player, I got to go to the John Wooden basketball

camp one summer. He was at the height of his fame then, the most successful

college coach, in any sport, of all time.

What was his secret? It was his disciplined approach to hard work and

fundamentals. You learned the fundamentals, and practiced them, over and over.

This was, quite often, sheer drudgery. We all wanted to get out on the floor and

play!

But the discipline paid off. When we did get out on the court we were much

better players. That's why Wooden had so many of his boys make it to the pros.

Even if they weren't stars, they could often have a long and respectable career.

Because of discipline.

Writers, you need it too, if you want to have a shot of making a living at your

vocation.

3. Perseverance

"The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep

us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want

something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it

badly enough. They're there to stop the other people." – Randy Pausch, The Last

Lecture

If you love to write, it's always too soon to quit.

If things aren't working out as fast as you want them to, don't give up. Figure

out what you can be doing differently, and then try that.

It may mean writing a different kind of book.

Or it may mean writing the same kind of book even better.

But the true writer puts this thought in mind: I am going to write and never

stop because that's what I want to do. I will keep learning and growing and

producing the words. I'll keep carving out time to write, even if it means giving

some things up. Because this is what I want to do. This is why it's always too

soon to quit.

4. A Sound Mind

By which I mean the ability to overcome emotionalism and see things

objectively. To take some of the hard knocks that are part of the writer's life and

turn them into opportunities to grow stronger.

One of the key mental disciplines to develop is the ability to slay

expectations.

It's okay to desire things and it is good to set goals and try to attain them. But

expectations are killers.

An expectation is an obligation you place on the future. But the future has its

own ideas and it's all out of your control. If the future doesn't meet your

expectations, you suffer. You are disappointed, even to the point of despair.

Try with all your might not to set up expectations. Concentrate on your

pages, your craft, and do your best. Then let your books out into the world to do

what they do.

The ancient Stoics got this one right. Epictetus said, "There is only one way

to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the

power of our will."

That's having a sound mind.

5. Business Savvy

"Drive thy business or it will drive thee." – Benjamin Franklin

If you want to make a living as a writer, you have to approach writing and

publishing as a business.

A successful business makes a profit. To make a profit you need a plan.

Many writers and other artists shudder at this notion. Some even rebel

against it. For them writing success is usually an accident.

I don't want you to be an accident. I want you to think like an entrepreneur.

Even if you work with an agent and/or publisher, do not leave all business

decisions to others. You simply can't afford to do that anymore. The successful

writer is the informed writer.

"Our general conclusion is that self-publishing is beginning to mature. While

it continues to be a force to reckon with, it is evolving from a frantic, wild-west

style space to a more serious business," said Beat Barblan, Bowker Director of

Identifier Services, in 2014. "The market is stabilizing as the trend of self-

publisher as business-owner, rather than writer only, continues."

The good news is that basic business principles are not hard to understand.

It's just a matter of putting them into practice.

I cover those principles in the next chapter.

6. A Support System

Writing is, by and large, a lonely life. As author Peter Straub once put it:

"Every writer must acknowledge and be able to handle the unalterable fact that

he has, in effect, given himself a life sentence in solitary confinement."

Thus, what every writer needs is support from other people.

Being with a writer can be tough, because our minds wander. We watch Being with a writer can be tough, because our minds wander. We watch

interesting people at a restaurant. We eavesdrop. Our brains tune out a

conversation as we suddenly start thinking about our WIP.

Whenever I go to a hospital to visit someone, I must confess that half my

mind is thinking, Hm, this would make a good detail in a scene….

So give a little grace to your loved ones and friends. Take time to hang out

with positive people and winnow out those who drag you down.

Seek the fellowship of other writers. A writers conference is a great way to

meet other scribes. Email makes it easy to keep in touch. Consider forming a

circle of such friends.

Use the law of reciprocity. You tend to get back what you give. Be a support

to others and you will be supported in return.

It's always good to know that while you may write alone, you're not alone in

life.

7. Talent

"Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb." – Calvin Coolidge

This is by far the least important item.

That's right, the least.

First of all, there's no real measurement for talent. It's a subjective thing.

There is no final arbiter of what constitutes talent. It's a little like what a

Supreme Court justice once said about obscenity: I can't define it, but I know it

when I see it.

You do have to have some ability to string sentences together in a coherent

fashion. This is a matter of education and the habit of reading.

Winston Churchill, one of the great men of the twentieth century, is mainly

known today as the Prime Minister of England during that country's darkest

hour, World War II. His steel character and stirring speeches helped inspire his

nation and keep the Nazis at bay. What is not so much remembered is that he

won the Nobel Prize for Literature!

To what did he attribute his ability to write the kind of prose that would win

the ultimate prize? His reading at a young age, when he was getting the sound"of

the English sentence firmly planted in his brain.

At the end of this book I have a suggested reading list, both fiction and non - fiction. Some of the books are challenging, but you need a challenge to grow

your ability to write.

One thing I suggest: both read and listen to books. Listening to audio books

puts the rhythm of the language in your brain by a different route. The more

routes, the better.

Further: do what many writers of old used to do—copy passages of books

word for word. Write them out in long hand.

Get words into your head!

Study vocabulary. Increase the number of words you know. Even though our

culture is headed downhill as far as reading comprehension, the more you know

the language, the better off you'll be.

You can follow me on

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