Blogs, despite their relative age in the internet world, have not been on my radar for long.
I only discovered them about four years ago. One of the first I stumbled across was Jeff Goins, a man I had the pleasure of meeting at a conference several years ago. One of his recent posts was titled, “Two Moments that Define a Writer’s Life.”
Those two moments, he claims, are when a person realizes they want to be a writer…
And when they realize how difficult it will be.
I want to focus on that second point.
Writing is easy. Anyone can throw together words, sentences, paragraphs.
Writing well, on the other hand, is akin to scaling Everest in your skivvies. It’s mind-numbingly hard. There are periods when you want to throw it all to the side, quit, and go work at the post office.
I once read that writers — those with potential — are often gripped by crippling self-doubt, by an encroaching sense they aren’t ‘good enough,’ that they don’t have what it takes. Anyone who has ever looked back over a first draft will likely agree.
Here’s what you have to remember. The second moment that Jeff speaks of, the moment of realization that the task ahead isn’t easy, writers face a decision: quit or keep going.
Those that chose to keep going have already proven they have what it takes. Writing is simply a matter of being persistent, of working to the point of exhaustion day in and day out in order to achieve a goal.
It requires inhuman stubbornness, not talent. Talent helps, but it only goes so far.
The difficulty shouldn’t be feared, but embraced. Writing is a crucible that forges fledgling wordsmiths into true authors.
By changing your mindset to one that anticipates and relishes the challenge, every task, be it a white paper or a novel, becomes something you can handle.
Patrick is a freelance writer, novelist, entrepreneur, and adventurer. Follow his travels at Voyager’s Quill.