Editor’s Choice — Top 10

How a Desperate Writer Ends Up Being More Successful

Let’s have a look at our top 10 stories today

Desperate: (of a person) having a great need or desire for something. “I am desperate for a cigarette. ” ~ Oxford Dictionary

Have you ever felt desperately horny? Have you worked desperately for money? Or strived desperately for that promotion? Try to remember what went through your mind at the time.

You wanted to get what you wanted to get. No holds barred. Let yourself be desperate for success every now and then.

“If you are feeling desperate, I want you to feel it. Feel the desperation that you are trying desperately to ignore. Feeling your desperation is far better than ignoring it,” Rena Pollak, a therapist, says.

Do you know why we feel desperate about something? Because something really matters to us. If we suppress our feelings, we may not know what we really want.

What is the right way to boil a frog? 😄 Gradually. The Boiling Frog is an urban legend. “If you put a frog into a pot of boiling water, it will jump out. But, if you put the frog in lukewarm water, increase the heat slowly — almost imperceptibly — it will boil to death.”

So, learn from the frog. Let yourself feel things. Do not let the failure of everybody else lull you into accepting defeat. Express your feelings of desperation, do not repress them forever.

What you want to do is not desperate, it may be adventurous. It may be risky and a bit early. What you call desperate measures is what every successful person has been doing from the start of recorded history.

Is the writing style of Tim Denning or Ayodeji Awosika not clearly desperate? Was J.K. Rowling not desperate to publish her novel when she was living off of social security payments? Stephen King worked as a dry cleaner and a school teacher when his first novel was accepted for publishing — was he desperate? Bertrand Russel signed a book contract to pay alimony to his first wife.

The facade of calmness is a big lie. No writer is serene. It is the restless, desperate souls who work day and night. Not just in the writing profession but in every business.

Desperation drives highly successful people. ~ Steve Tobak

“When I first started out in the real world, I was desperate. Desperate to prove myself, desperate to make money, desperate to become a success. And to be completely honest, that desperation was probably a more powerful motivator for me than anything else,” Steve Tobak goes on to prove his point with examples. He talks about the lives of Howard Stern, Larry Ellison, and Steve Jobs.

Tom Kuegler agrees that desperation is a good thing. He mentions Leonardo DiCaprio’s movie, The Wolf of Wall Street, based on a real-life character named Jordan Belfort. To inspire you to write, I am adapting his speech, “So you listen to me and you listen well. Are you behind on your credit card bills? Good! Pick up the pen and start writing! Is your landlord ready to evict you? Good! Pick up the pen and start writing! Does your girlfriend think you’re a worthless storyteller? Good! Pick up the pen and start writing!”

Turn your weaknesses into your strengths. Having your back against the wall could actually be a good thing. Ryan Holiday has written a book with a similar title: The Obstacle Is the Way.

When we start our writing journey, desperation makes us take risks. Let your desperation drive you. Let it be your way of saying, “I want to be a successful writer.”

Here is a list of our top 10 stories today — by writers who are desperate to be successful:

10. 5 Uncomfortable Truths About Human Beings Most of Us Hate to Admit

Kate Feathers is a student of Languages & Literature. She writes about relationships, self-growth, feminism, and writing.

She is a good writer. Her writing style is witty, honest, informative, and engaging. Do check her other work.

Every time I start talking about poop, I freak people out. Especially if it’s a man who fancies me. And especially because I make it sound like it’s all a completely normal thing to talk about.

Because it should be. Each of us does our business every day, and yet we all pretend that it’s not actually happening.

9. Unfair Advantages: Three Powerful Questions That Will Help You Uncover Your Strengths.

Adebola Alabi is a Certified Financial Education Instructor. His mission is to help bring out the best in others.

He is a superb writer. His writing style is logical, easy to read, and engaging. Do check his other work.

We all have plans, goals, ambitions, and dreams of things we would like to see come true. While it is true that we may not accomplish success in everything we set out to do, except you are with the proverbial Midas touch, learning how to improve our chances of success becomes critical. If you have two different paths that you can take to achieve your goals, with one path giving you a 90% chance of success and the other about 20% of success. Which path would you follow? I bet you will follow the first path where you have a higher probability of accomplishing your goals.

8. Dreams and Goals Are Overrated. Focus On This Instead

Adam Hendrix is a communicator. “I write and speak because I want us to learn how to flourish.”

He is an excellent writer. His writing style is frank, honest, and appealing. Don’t forget to check his other work.

I grew up in a town that loved basketball. My friends idolized and adored NBA players and dreamed of becoming great like them. We all desired this. But we did nothing about it other than playing basketball at recess or joining the school team.

7. How To Be Sort Of Good At Something

John Teehan is a writer specializing in tech, business, parenting, pop culture, and gaming.

He is an excellent writer. His writing style is witty, honest, and very engaging. Do visit his other stories.

A very wise dog* once said:

“Dude, sucking at something is the first step towards being sort of good at something.”

The first time I heard this, my mind was pretty well blown. I mean… how true is that?

6. How To Fail at Something New and Still Succeed

Kit Campoy is in her twenties. She is in retail management. Leadership, kindness, food, travel, dogs, & Gen.X.

She is a good writer. Her writing style is full of suspense, easy to read, and very engaging. Do check her other work.

My legs dangled off the chairlift. The cold air bit my ears and I readjusted my goggles. I rested the back of my snowboard on my free foot. As we climbed higher I became more and more nervous. I knew that once we reached the top I would have to hurl myself off the chair and roll out of the way so other patrons of Mammoth Mountain would not mow me over as they glided down the small hill that dropped you out of the chair lift area.

5. How to Be a ‘Hot Girl’

Ritika Sharma is brown, creator and editor of The Pink. Feminist, Storyteller, and Fashion Enthusiast.

She is an excellent writer. Her writing style is honest, appealing, and soothing. Don’t miss this one. Also, check her other work.

I type this article as I come out from under my rock, a comfortable yet self-destructive rock full of binging on How I Met Your Mother, dark chocolates and talking to men I’m not really into. Struck with a bad case of writer’s block, not only I felt less motivated, but maybe also a little less myself.

4. Tune In To The Life Wisdom Of Charlie Chaplin

Maria Rattray is changing the world one word at a time.

She is an accomplished writer. Her writing style is elegant, charming, and engaging. Do check her other work. And don’t miss this one.

‘The cleverest character in comedy is the clown, for he who would make people take him for a fool, must not be one,’ (himself).

Who doesn’t love a clown? Clowns always make us laugh, really laugh, but they’re often solving problems that we can relate to.

3. 5 Quotes by Leo Tolstoy To Help Lead a More Content Life

The Maverick Files is a thinker, finance professional, loving husband, a doting dad, fitness enthusiast! MBA in Finance & Marketing and Computer Science Engineer.

He is an excellent writer. His writing style is informative, honest, and engaging. Do check his other stories.

My awe and admiration for Leo Tolstoy’s literary genius began when as a 13-year-old in grade eight, I picked up Resurrection as the book I wanted to read during my summer vacation to do a book review on. Little did I know that it would begin a love affair with the works of one of the greatest writers the world has ever seen — Leo Tolstoy.

2. How Steve Jobs Embraced His Biggest Failure

Francesco Joseph is a phlegmatic writing raconteur with a passion for the nonfiction genre, otherwise known as life.

He is a fine writer. His writing style is full of suspense, detail, and information. Don’t miss this masterpiece.

When Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was ousted to step down from his company, he told them he will just be “Steve Jobs-ing it” meaning he plans on returning to his company as president, just like Steve Jobs. However, when Steve Jobs left Apple in 1985 his return was not as easy and simple as Travis would put it.

1. Three Ways to Turn Negative Chatter Around — Not One Is Meditation

At number one, it is Jessica Lynn. She is an entrepreneur and writer. She cares about helping others learn to live a better, healthier life.

She is an outstanding writer. Her writing style is charming, elegant, informative, and extremely engaging. Do check her other work.

Zen Buddhists refer to the constant chatter of the mind as the monkey mind. Ethan Kross, a professor from the University of Michigan, in his new book Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It, calls the negative voice in your head simply chatter.

We all have it. But what can we do to stop it, or at least put it to good use?

This post is part of the Top 10 Series — you can meet 500+ top writers with these links:

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Final Thoughts

If your story was selected in the Top 10, please share another story with a brief introduction and a short convincing review — in the comments. (Please write the review in the third person and start it with your name.)

I must have missed something today. I cannot read every story on Illumination and Illumination-Curated. I try — and fail daily — to read all of the masterpieces.

Please join our private Facebook group for Illumination writers to post your articles daily. Also, I invite you to become a writer for my publication — positive minds.

Iꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ꜰɪɴᴅ ᴀɴʏ ᴍɪsᴛᴀᴋᴇ, ᴛʏᴘᴏ, ᴏʀ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴇʀʀᴏʀ, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ᴘʀɪᴠᴀᴛᴇ ɴᴏᴛᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ᴄᴏʀʀᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ. Tʜᴀɴᴋs.

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You can read my curated stories here.