Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach

  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • On Being a Writer
      • Media Kit
  • Speaking
    • Book Ann as a Guest on Your Show
  • Podcast
  • Courses
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Work With Me

January 20, 2017 Leave a Comment

It’s Not Talent That Gets Books Written

In working with writers, I've learned it's not talent that gets books written, it's hard, slow, steady work. (Louise DeSalvo, The Art of Slow Writing)

It’s easy to feel you don’t have enough talent to succeed as a writer. Words seem to flow effortlessly from that blogger you admire, while you stare at the screen for hours with only two sentences to show for it.

You second-guess everything: your ideas, your drafts, yourself. On overcast days, when rain smacks the windows and the gloom settles in, you conclude you simply aren’t gifted at writing. You shut your notebook and decide to just leave it to the experts.

My friend, take heart. To succeed, you need more than talent anyway—you must persevere. I’ve seen many talented writers unable to push through Resistance, fear, and self-doubt.

But you? You can do it. You can press through to do the work. You can tap into grit and learn to increase it.

As I’ve said in my post about my five writing strengths, I may not have been born with the greatest writing talent, but I’ve stuck with it. I work to improve and learn from mistakes, forging ahead a little smarter, wiser, and more skillful.

Louise DeSalvo, in her book The Art of Slow Writing, has observed some of the same strengths in writers she’s coached or taught:

In working with writers, I’ve learned it’s not talent that gets books written, it’s hard, slow, steady work. But it’s not only hard work—almost every student I’ve taught works hard. It’s learning to understand that the process of writing isn’t linear but filled with peaks and valleys; that sometimes we don’t know what we’re doing but we need to work anyway; that we must stay...we must have tenacity when we feel like walking away from a project. (115, The Art of Slow Writing)

When you feel like snapping shut your laptop and walking away, stay put. When you aren’t sure where you’re going or what you’re doing, work anyway.

You can forge ahead through the unfamiliar, unknown tasks and processes and emerge smarter, wiser, and more skillful. Be tenacious. Stick with it. Do the hard, slow steady work of writing. And never, never, never give up.

Resources:

  • Writers: Never, Never, Never Give Up
  • One Thing Every Writer Needs to Succeed (podcast ep 21)
  • How Writers Increase Grit (podcast ep 22)
  • Resistance and Self-Loathing (from Steven Pressfield)
  • The Art of Slow Writing, by Louise DeSalvo (affiliate link)

Source: DeSalvo, Louise. The Art of Slow Writing: Reflections on Time, Craft, and Creativity. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2014. Print. [p. 115]

Browse the growing collection of Writing Quotes

"[W]e must have tenacity when we feel like walking away from a project." Louise DeSalvo, The Art of Slow Writing #writingquote #writing #writers #quote
___________________________________

52 Creative Writing Prompts: A Year of Weekly Prompts and Exercises to Boost Your Creativity

Sure, you can poke around the Internet collecting writing prompts and creative writing exercises.

Or you could buy an ebook that collects them for you in one place.

Convenient.

Inspiring.

Affordable.

Learn more

Filed Under: Quotes for Writers, writing

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach

Providing you with resources and inspiration to be more curious, creative, and productive.

Ad - SiteGround Web Hosting - Crafted for easy site management. Amazing Speed; Powerful Tools; Top-rated support. Learn more.
Make Your Sentences Sing: 7 Sentence Openers to Add Music to Your Prose (Mini Course from Ann Kroeker.Teachable.com)
TWL-100-best-websites-2016-2-300x300

Archives

Categories

Ann Kroeker is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Not every link leads to compensation, but assume that each does.
© 2006-2022 Ann Kroeker All Rights Reserved

instagram twitter facebook pinterest

Landing page graphic and other design elements by Sophie Kroeker.

Privacy Policy · Copyright © 2023