I’m a writer, not published but pursuing my dream of getting a book published. Many times I have questioned myself, ‘do I have what it takes?’
So I did what I normally do. I googled for an answer. I found numerous blogs and one blog provided hard questions that you need to ask yourself. They were either yes or no answers. Of course, if you answered yes to many of the questions, you were off to a good start but answering no did not mean you need to step away from your computer. The ‘no answers’ meant you have more work to do. Very encouraging. I did find a website that I found to be very insightful.
It began with the following quote. “A professional writer is an amateur that didn’t quit.”
Below is the article taken from The Writers Loft and proper credit is given to their site and Jerry Cleaver.
What does it take to be a successful writer? Two things: motivation + story craft. I know you’ve heard about talent and of course it does exist but you don’t need it to be successful, even very successful, in this art. Unlike the other arts (music, painting, dance, etc.) where you must have a special inborn talent to succeed, no special talent is needed to be a successful writer. How can that be? That’s because the very skills you need to get along in the world are exactly what you need to be a successful storyteller. You don’t have to know how to play the guitar or paint a landscape to survive, but you must know how people work, how you work, and how the world works. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have made it this far. And because you’ve made it this far, you’ve got at least ten novels in you. You may not feel it. But trust me, they’re there.
They’re there because you have a full set of emotions, plenty of dramatic and exciting experience, and a rich imagination. Getting in touch with what you have is what The Writers’ Loft workshops are all about. Your emotions, your experience, your imagination, and the desire to write are all you need to create successful novels, short stories, screenplays, stage plays, biographies, memoirs, and nonfiction – plus one more critical skill. Story craft and technique. That’s what you get at The Writers’ Loft in the quickest, easiest, most enjoyable way possible.
Now I’m not knocking talent. It does exist and if you have it, it’s a bonus. But talent alone, talent without craft, will never do the job. I’ve had many talented, gifted writers who don’t take the time to master the story craft and because they don’t, they never bring their ideas to life on the page and they never get published. Beautiful writing will not save a dead story. A beautiful corpse is still a dead body. No matter how pretty you make it, it’s never going rise up and do something exciting.
And of course talent comes into play if you’re trying to win a Pulitzer Prize or the National Book Award. But few writers win those prizes – just as few actors ever win an Oscar but still go on to make fortunes in the movies.
Also, you may have noticed when you read novels or go to movies, there are plenty of average writers writing mediocre stories and making lots of money doing it.
www.thewritersloft.com
Of course, mentioned in the above article is their workshops which could be helpful. I personally have a vivid imagination but my downfall is lack of motivation (not sitting in the chair to write). I think about my story all the time–even new ideas pop into my mind. I need to resolve my personal issues of sitting down to write. One step I have taken toward writing is trying to stay current with my blog.
Keep on writing!
