One Thing Writers Do That Could Sabotage Their Success

I know I’m doing it, but I’ve got to make myself stop

You’re writing away like a demon. You’re making sure you publish every day (and that’s the absolute minimum). You’re posting on social media to ensure you’re “seen.”

So why aren’t you achieving the success you deserve?

One simple thing could be the culprit.

A thing that’s extremely simple in concept yet unbelievably difficult to remedy.

What is it?

Lack of patience.

Let me show you why it’s clipping your writing wings.

You must have patience to learn the ins and outs of the craft of writing.

Boy, did I learn this lesson the hard way.

When I started writing, I thought my “writing toolbox” was complete. After all, I’ve been a writing teacher for over two decades.

I knew sentence structure. I knew pacing. I knew subject-verb agreement. I knew rhetorical strategies to make writing persuasive. I knew how to create engaging introductions and satisfying conclusions.

Little did I know, I knew extremely little.

I knew the “ingredients” of writing, but what I didn’t know was the magical way to combine them to create a stand-out recipe.

I still don’t.

However, I’m learning. Slowly but surely, my writing recipe is getting better.

Why?

For one, my “writer radar” is beginning to kick in. For example, I’ve read so much about the craft of writing that I sense errors when I start to make them instead of when I’m editing.

However, this skill wasn’t developed because I wrote more. It was developed because I studied more.

The bottom line is that even if your talent is natural, true excellence is only accomplished by learning. That’s the part that takes patience.

I know you want the success of prolific writers. I do too. We’re just not going to get there until we learn, experiment, learn from the experiment, and learn some more.

Just remember that being patient isn’t enough. Being patient and accepting there’s more to learn and more practice to do is crucial to moving closer to achieving your writing goals.

So give it time.

You must have the patience to overcome immediate gratification.

This.

This one is my problem.

I know that out of sight is out of mind in the writing world. As a result, when I write an article, I want it published then and there. I even have immediate publishing rights to a publication, so I can make this happen.

And because of this ability, I hit that publish button way too much.

The thing is, I know better.

Maybe you do too.

Your hard earned work deserves eyes and money, and if you want your writing to get both of these things, you need to be patient enough to do the following:

• Submit to larger publications that hold an audience interested in the topic of your article. The wait time will be longer, but it will be worth it in the end.
• Submit to more prominent publications that are hard to get into. Yes, your chance of rejection may be high. Still, if you manage to be accepted, you’re likely to get more money from this one publication than publishing ten articles to a less prestigious publisher.
• Submit to a variety of publications. Many writers have “ins” with certain publications where they know their writing will get accepted quickly. It’s a good idea to publish there regularly to keep your fans’ eyes on your work. However, to grow your audience, you need new eyes looking at your writing too. For example, some writers keep logs of when and where they publish, so they can ensure they’re regularly pushing out articles to different publications.

Abraham Lincoln says:

“Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.”

In the end, resisting the urge to publish quickly will bring you more success. Be patient and thoughtful. Focus on long-term wins rather than the satisfaction of simply knowing your work is “out there.”

You must have the patience to write quality articles.

Writing quick articles with “clickbait” titles will get you immediate reads. However, if you don’t deliver on your promises, your audience will break up with you. Fast.

The same goes with rapidly written articles that regurgitate the same information repeatedly.

Contrary to what many top writers say, your audience wants more than information to solve a problem.

Quality writing involves many factors, and you must incorporate as many of these as possible to truly satisfy your readers.

Here are some questions to focus on when composing an article:

• Do you commiserate with your readers? Have you had or are you suffering from the same struggles they are? Tell them. Readers love vulnerability.
• Do you encourage your audience? Readers not only want you to teach them something, but they also want to believe they can be successful at using the information you’re providing.
• Do you give your readers research to back up what you say? Do you provide other links that they can look to for more information? The more proof you can give to support your claims, the more the reader will trust you.
• Do you take the time to proofread? How can a reader believe what you say if you have two misspelled words in the first paragraph of your article?
• Do you take time to edit? I didn’t understand the difference between proofing and editing for a long time. Now I know that professional writing is about more than checking for run-on sentences or misplaced commas. The goal of editing is to make sentences clearer and more to the point. It’s about getting rid of repetitive ideas and making sure your topics and sub topics are formatted in such a way that draws the readers attention and lessens their confusion. Here’s a link to an article in The New York Times that will give you editing specifics.

The bottom line:

Motivational speaker Tony Gaskins said:

“Trust the process. Your time is coming. Just do the work and the results will handle themselves.”

So stop looking at the clock and start studying things that can make you a better writer. Stop sending out mediocre work quickly when you can send out quality work with a little extra time. Stop believing that production line publishing will get you where you want.

Be patient, and be diligent.

In the end, I think you’ll like the results.

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