The One Ability New Writers Should Have.

You decided to write. ✍️

From emotional burst or boredom, it does not matter for the readers. Your audience is interested just in one thing — to get something out of your story.

What should matter for you is knowing why you write.

Challenge, Exploration, or Passion. No matter your purpose, important is to have one and to be aware of it.

Writing for money.

If this is your only purpose, forget about it. At least at first, you need to have other, bigger goals in mind.

Write to discover your style. Write to find out if you can write. Write to heal yourself. Write to entertain others. Write to discover your voice.

Just write.

Don’t worry. Nobody will be surprised to hear that you did not get rich out of writing. Write a good story and money will come!

” Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money”. Jules Renard

What if you put a lot and effort into your writing and it turns that you did it without having the audience you expected?

If you know why you write, then you also know what’s in it for you if success does not come your way. Even if your Readers don’t clap, you have something else to win out of your writing.

Sometimes, the only thing you can get out of it is just another learning experience. And no one can argue that creating a meaningful learning experience isn’t good for you. I know that this is the main reason I write!

Self-Sabotage.

The whole idea of writing is to add value and to inspire others, right?

What if your stories don’t reach enough readers and lose the chance to inspire? This a one of the unhelpful thoughts that may sabotage a new writer’s beginning. One of the concerns that may contribute to writer’s block.

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” — Maya Angelou

James Adams notes in his book, Conceptual Blockbusting, that are various reasons blocks may occur for writers, including fear of taking a risk, “chaos” in the pre-writing stage, judging versus generating ideas or an inability to incubate ideas or a lack of motivation.

To avoid any kind of new writer’s anxiety, a new writer should get properly organized, have a writing system, and stay motivated.

Ideally, you should write for the readers. Nevertheless, writing may allow you to get a much better sense of how your whole universe looks like.

The practice of writing can bring you more personal and interpersonal growth than you have ever imagined.

Looking for the Secret Formula.

I have been reading a lot lately. And, to be honest, I have done more reading than writing. I am a reader first and foremost. Reading helped me always to improve my knowledge and expand my imagination.

Like many of you, I’ve been a bit of a mess in my first few weeks of writing. I did write before, but I have never taken it so seriously.

A lot of new questions were hunting me.

How should I get more organized? How often should I write? What are the hints and tips for writing a compelling story?

“Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.” — Anne Lamott

So, I did what I always do when I don’t understand something or when I have too many questions: I search for answers and inspiration.

I would look up for stories about writing and read them for hours.

Reading the successful writers’ stories about writing on Medium helped me a lot. Anyone can benefit from their experiences. Learning from their stories, both successes, and failures will prepare me better for what is about to come my way.

Learning from others is the biggest favor I could do for myself. Reading helps me with my self-discipline and perseverance.

The One Ability.

From the many pieces of advice that I read through, I understood that a writer needs talent, courage, perseverance, and luck.

Talent.

Born or created? I believe it is created. Perseverance is a substitute for talent. When talented people are lazy or do not persevere, the talent is lost. And there is no secret that hard work and perseverance ultimately pays off.

Courage.

True courage is a quality of mind. It’s about knowing when to act, to be your authentic self, and also to be vulnerable. It takes courage to live your life the way you want.

It is also fair to say that without courage, there would be no entrepreneurs.

Luck.

The luck is also perseverance if you ask me. The more I work, the luckier I get — applied to me just fine. Always.😊

We may need many more skills to make it as a good writer. A writer may need Talent, Courage, or even Luck, but most importantly, it needs Perseverance.

Perseverance.

Steady persistence in writing, this is what all the successful writers talk about. Perseverance is The One Ability that will help new writers to keep going.

Will help them making the effort required and keep doing it till the end, even if it’s hard.

“Be like a postage stamp, stick to something until you get there!” ~Josh Billings

Only constant effort can bring you success as a writer, they say. The constant success I talk about here. I believe that Perseverance is even as important for writers, as it is for Entrepreneurs. Especially that it may take long until gratification is received. Or it may never come.

Perseverance isn’t just the willingness to work hard. It also means believing in yourself.

Perseverance will come to save you when luck is no were to be found, Courage is hidden away and Inspiration has long gone. Perseverance knows when to whisper to a new writer: Learn to write by writing!

There is a New World for Readers.

New Writers, published and unpublished — you are not alone!

The world around us is changing faster than ever, and publishing is certainly even more responsive to the change. Digital books have already rearranged the economics of book publishing.

Your handful of ideas can inspire others in unbelievable ways. If what you write does not meet now your readers, it may do so in the future.

Why not give it a shot?

But, please, please, bring your Perseverance with you. I will.