We’ve talked about talent, luck and perseverance here before, but never quite like Lawrence Block does in his book TELLING LIES FOR FUN & PROFIT. If you have a copy, pull it out now and read Chapter Twelve called “It Takes More Than Talent.” I wish I could reprint the entire text here because it is so important for all writers to hear, both published and unpublished. And, because he says it so much better than I could.
The first thing that resonated with me was Block’s comments that never once did someone come up to him to say, “I wish I had your talent.” They would tell him they admire his self-discipline, his education, his ideas, but never his talent. Block juxtaposed that with artists and singers and actors, which people first and foremost admire their “talent” before their self-discipline or training.
Block continues with the analysis that it takes talent to write. But it also takes luck.
Luck doesn’t hurt. And simple luck has a great deal to do with the fate of an individual submission. When you mail off a story to a magazine, elements that have nothing whatsoever to do with the quality of that story will play a part in determining whether or not it sells. The editor’s mood when he reads it . . . the state of the inventory is another. . . .
But I also think that luck tends to average out over a period of time. The writer who sells his first story provides no guarantee of a second sale. Luck runs hot and cold, and nobody’s lucky all the time.
As an aside, my agent told me a few weeks ago that she panics when she thinks that she may have not read my book and passed on it. Sometimes, agents pass simply because they don’t have time to get to everything and if the first line doesn’t grab them they put it aside. Or so much time has passed they clear their desk. Or whatever. Anyway, my agent brought home my manuscript and told me, “What if I decided to watch LAW AND ORDER instead? What if I didn’t read it that weekend?” So I told her everyone who rejected it or didn’t read it as fast as she did. That made her feel better 🙂
The point is, my first sale DID get rejected by agents, and my theory is they either didn’t read it or didn’t see the potential. Or, as the talented and hard-working Stephanie Laurens says, “They were having a bad imagination day.”
So yes, I’m very lucky my agent decided to read my book and not watch LAW AND ORDER that night.
So Block says what, other than talent and luck, does a writer need to succeed?
Will.
Will is perseverance, but I find that I like the sentiment of “will” better. Perseverance is a negative word, moving forward over difficult odds, laboring, “sever.” I love the concept of “will.” It’s a proactive statement. I WILL do this, I WILL do that. I WILL write every day. I WILL continue to submit manuscript in face of rejection. I WILL research and learn and become a better writer.
Block shares several stories of friends and acquaintances. The woman who only wanted to write one book because of the subject matter. She had the talent to do it, but if there was no market for the book she didn’t want to write it.
Do you know someone like that? I do.
The woman who had talent, and sold a couple of well-received books, but no will to continue because she didn’t love writing. As Block said:
. . . ultimately, being a writer was just not that important to her. She had drifted into it largely as a result of association with other writers, and she drifted out of it when it proved insufficiently rewarding.
Block compares this friend to the “one-book authors”–those who have talent, might have some lucky in getting published, but really only have one book in them, and no drive–or ideas–for a second.
I think it might be more accurate to say that they have a very strong desire to write a particular book but no real desire to become a writer per se. Having written that book, they have slaked their hunger. Fair enough. Some people climb one mountain and complete one marathon and let it go at that. Others define themselves as mountain climbers or marathoners and go on climbing or running as long as they have breath in their bodies.
And some of us go on writing.
Block continues with his story of a friend who decided to become a writer because that’s what he loved to do. He hated his job, was unfulfilled, and had lots of ideas. This friend may have made some unwise choices (like quitting his job to write even before he sold) but he key was his WILL. He wrote a book that Block didn’t have the heart to tell him was crap. So Block sent it to his agent so his agent could deliver the bad news. That didn’t faze this guy. “I’m halfway through the second book now.” The second book was better. Not great. It was submitted. No sales. By the time the writer got back those rejections, he was done with the third book. Which did sell. As did the fourth. And fifth.
Then that particular market hit a slump (hmm–this looks like a subject for another blog, as Block wrote this book 25 years ago). This writer, with moderate success, a couple award nominations and good reviews, couldn’t sell another book in that genre. He couldn’t even give them away.
What did he do? Did he quit? I know writers who have. You do, too.
He did not quit. His WILL to be a writer was stronger than the obstacles in his path. He got a part time job as a bartender and wrote during the day. He made enough money to pay his rent and eat. He researched and wrote an adventure book on a subject he knew about and loved. Sold for six-figures and a six-figure movie deal. (I really wish Block would have told us who this person was, because it’s a great story about drive and determination.)
Every writer, published and unpublished has faced rejection. It’s part of the business. Some writers can’t face rejection, so they write without submitting anything for consideration. To them, they love the writing, the process, but the business is scary and uncertain and they can’t handle being told their work is inferior.
Some writers don’t have the will to continue. I judged a contest a couple years back and gave an entry a perfect score. It finaled. I signed my name on the scoresheet (something I never do) AND I contacted the coordinator to forward an email to the writer to contact me. The book was that good. The writing popped. The story moved. It was original and fun and had not been done like that before. The writer contacted me and said she was about halfway done, but she had two kids and was a stay-at-home-mom and didn’t know when she could finish it. I gave her a pep talk, confident that my WILL to have her finish this book would get the book done. I even told her I would give her an intro to my agent. AND I found out that she came in first place in the contest and the judging agent requested the full manuscript. (Do I know a winner or what?)
A few months later I was deleting old emails and came across hers. I wanted to know what she was doing–maybe she’d submitted to that judging agent. I just want to know when I could read the whole book because I STILL months later remembered the story.
She responded that she didn’t have the time to finish it, and she hoped to finish it by the end of the year.
She didn’t. This was nearly three years ago. She had talent, tons of talent. And luck (getting me as a judge! LOL). But no WILL.
Now, I don’t know what else was going on in her personal life. Things happen that can derail us for a time. But ultimately, as Stephen King wrote me when I was 13, WRITER’S WRITE. That’s what we do. We continue writing even in the face of rejection. We continue growing even when we’re told we write garbage. We write because that is who we are. We have the WILL.
What is your WILL this year? Some ideas: I WILL continue to submit even though I have 100 rejections. I WILL start my next book while my last book is on submission. I WILL write every day. I WILL believe in myself. What is YOUR WILL for 2007?
I WILL complete my revisions tonight!!! I WILL I WILL I WILL!!!!!
Oh, and fab post. 😉
I am a stay-at-home-mom, with 5 children. Two have special needs, and slight to severe learning delays. The oldest is 12 the youngest is 1. My will is to survive each day. My will is to keep writing even if I can only write for 15 minutes a day. I would love to be published one day, I have the will, but not the skill. Thanks ladies for great books and great blog topics.
Yeah Karin!
Holly, I completely understand what you’re going through (mine range from 2 to 13). I don’t know what I would do if I had special needs children, however. That’s like having two kids for the price of one. Fortunately, they grow up. I love babies, but after five I’m done and am looking forward to being out of diapers. Good luck with your writing. The WILL to write will help improve your skill.
I WILL finish my paranormal romantic suspense and I WILL submit it. I’m getting serious this year.
Great blog, Allison! I not only WILL send out queries, I AM sending them out. I WILL write every day. (I was stuck yesterday, and had to brainstorm. Does that count?) I’m determined, which is probably a combination of perseverence and will.
My husband might call me stubborn. 😀
Alllison,
Great blog topic. I WILL stop surfing the internet as a means of procrastination. 🙂 That is my goal with my next book–to use the time I have while my kids are at school more efficiently.
Love this post! So true, Allison. Do you remember, in the Little House books, that they always sang “Where There’s A Will, There’s A Way.” I found a book that had all the music for the Little House songs at the library, and I must have played and sang that for hours as a child. Gosh, I can’t recall the melody at the moment. Still, the title always stuck with me.
I will write 100 words a day on my spy novel, even when I’m writing myself crazy to pay the bills. No matter what.
I WILL believe in myself and my writing. That’s my biggest hurdle.
Excellent post, Allison. Thank you. I have the will, and if it takes years, I will get published. Sometimes it’s hard to stay positive, but I have to, so I will. I pledge that I will finish the edits on my third book by mid-May, I will have the first draft of #4 by the end of the summer (probably sooner, but I’m giving myself leeway on this one), and I will continue to submit every finished piece of work I have until somebody somewhere accepts me for either representation or publication. I will also work on writing in some way every day – write or plot the WIP on the weekdays, edit the previous WIP on the weekends.
Tenacity. It’s my mindset. I won’t let the world stop me, and even though it may slow me down, force me around to another path, block the aisle, put up a brick wall, I will find another way in. I am just that damned stubborn.
Wonderful post, Allison.
My will… I will get the rewrites done on book 2 by June (won’t have the notes back ’til mid-May), and I will write book 3 by end of November and I will also write the first chapters of the stand-alone by then as well. My other will has to do with community — I will do better at promoting my friends by blogging more frequenting and mentioning their books in advance. I sucked at it this last few months with the chaos in my life — and it bothers me, because (especially the ladies here), there have been some books I loved and the time to mention them passed me by. I intend on doing some sort of round-up in May of “books I’ve read thus far this year” or something. I think community is critical and I feel like I’ve fallen down on that aspect.
I WILL try very hard to get an agent this year. That’s my big goal. Last year I wrote a lot of books (my WILL to write was very strong) but I sent 0 queries. (Yeah… zero.) No more! Self-promotion-slacker Erica is gone, and the new I-WILL-promote-my-stories Erica is here! =)
Great post!
Does I WILL SURVIVE count?
Survival is #1, Jen. You can count it 🙂
Yeah Erica!!! You can’t sell if you don’t submit.
Toni, I have total confidence in you. You WILL do it. I can hardly wait for BOBBIE FAYE to hit the shelves!!!!
B.E., you have the right attitude. It IS hard–no one promised it would be easy. But if you’re anything like me, every book will be better than the last. Not EASIER, but BETTER. So keep going!
Natalie, I think women tend to think that if we have confidence in ourselves and our work we are being arrogant or selfish or wrong-headed. We are so conditioned to be self-deprecating. Not that it’s bad to be humble, but you can be humble and still believe in yourself.
Yeah Spy!! (I never read the Little House books, but I love the sentiment of the song!)
Monica, I need the same goal. I have a huge problem with email and the Internet. But I made the first step. I went to digest on all my lists.
Edie, stubborn works 🙂 You are one of the most determined people I know, and I have confidence that between your talent and determination, you’ll make your own luck 🙂
I’m holding you to it Amanda!
I WILL continue to write 500 words a day no matter WHAT ELSE is going on in my life. In thus doing so, I WILL finish both my WIPs by the end of 2007, so that 2008 will be the Year of Submissions! (and hopefully the Year of Finding An Agent–all while writing the next WIP in the lineup)! Thanks for a fabulous and inspiring post!
I hit 50 rejections before I got my agent. I “papered” my office with those minor diversions from the path. It’s not House Beautiful, but it works for me.
I will survive definitely counts. I will persist. I will endure. I will outlive you, if necessary. If not, I will plot against you and bad accidents will befall you in my next (best-selling, award-winning, life-changing) book.
My debut novel, Catnapped, comes out in September. What did they know?
Hang in there.