Please welcome Jordan Rosenfeld, author of five books and hundreds of articles published in places such as: AlterNet, the New York Times, Publisher’s Weekly, The Rumpus, Salon, the Washington Post, The Weeklings, and Writer’s Digest magazine. She is mom to a left-handed 6-year-old boy and a hand-talker fond of hyperbole.
I’m a poster child for persistence, having taken just about every circuitous route, side-alley and back door to publishing success you can imagine. My persistence led to the publication of my new book: A Writer’s Guide to Persistence (Writer’s Digest Books), which is both a love letter to writers and a gentle prod to keep at it.
Connect with Jordan on her blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter.
7 Secrets of Highly Persistent Writers
There are always going to be blockbuster writers who make success look easy, but comparison will leave you feeling empty and uncertain. And there are countless how-to books and many more online seminars that claim to have the bullet proof answer to publishing fame and fortune. But the only successful strategy I’ve ever seen work for writers to achieve their writing and publishing goals is persistence.
And what, precisely is persistence? Is it something you’re born with, a gene that switches on as soon as you take your first English class? Of course not. Persistence is an attitude of flexibility and curiosity, rooted in passion or love for your craft, bolstered by treating your entire writing journey as a practice. In a practice, you are working a little bit every day (and sometimes a lot), and you focus on the moment more than the end goal.
[pullquote]…The only successful strategy I’ve ever seen work for writers to achieve their writing and publishing goals is persistence. And what, precisely is persistence? Is it something you’re born with, a gene that switches on as soon as you take your first English class? Of course not.[/pullquote]
Here are seven secrets of highly persistent writers that you can adopt too:
- Forget About Success: The most persistent writers want success as much as anyone, but they treat it as an end goal and put their focus on doing the work itself. It’s easy to be lured by that siren song of potential fame and fortune our society dangles before anyone in the creative arts, but so few realize right away. Ironically, the most successful writers are often the ones who think the least about success and focus on the daily practice of pen (or keyboard) to page.
- Never Wait in Vain: Waiting for a publication, a publisher, or agent to get back to you can be agonizing. Persistent writers don’t just wait; they keep writing and submitting in equal measure. The more your focus is on what you’re producing, and not checking the email or snail-mail box, the more good writing you’ll eventually get done.