I'm on a very tight deadline at the moment, but I'm also in my last week of school, so time is precious. I started to write a new blog post, but I realized I was PROCRASTINATING from writing the final scene in my first draft.

As I was debating new vs an oldie (another chance to procrastinate), I came across the one I'm posting about. 

Since everyone and their uncle seems to be either talking about Taylor Swift and The Eras Tour or FOMO on Taylor Swift and The Eras Tour (I kid you not, I got an email today from a teaching blog that used FOMO Taylor Swift as the hook!), I decided to go with the flow.

It seemed appropriate for a couple of reasons -

1) It followed a post on procrastination

2) My daughter has been listening to Taylor non-stop every time we are in the car together 

3) Seeing all these photos of Taylor's record-breaking, sold out tours makes is sweet to look back at the persistence of an 11 year-old and see just  how far she has come.

Way back when, I shared this post:

A fewmonths I did a blog on the P word – procrastination.

Today,I’m back to talk about a different P word, the one that determines thepossibility of success – Persistence.
I havetwo quotations that have guided my writing career for as long as I canremember.Thefirst is:  A professional writer is an amateur whodidn’t quit. (Often attributed to RichardBach, bus he supposedly disavowed saying it.)
I haveread a lot of differing opinions about that quote ranging from arguments aboutwhat constitutes a professional writer to what determines the level of successrequired to claim writer status. I’m not really interested in any of thosearguments. In my mind, it comes down to this – writers write. Sowhether you do it for a lot of money or none, if you haven’t quit yet (or haveand came back to it), then you’re on the right/write track.
Thesecond quote follows naturally from that. 
She wrote what she loved, until sheloved what she wrote, and she sent it out one more time.I have no idea where this quote camefrom. I have it on a scrap of paper that is so old it’s turned yellow andbrittle.
When Itried to Google the source of that quote, I got a bunch of links to TaylorSwift’s new album. It’s really tempting to tag Taylor in this post and see ourviews skyrocket. I have no idea why that quote triggered Taylor's name, butwhen I thought about it, I was glad it had.
 Alesson in procrastination vs. persistence

Theother day, I was supposed to be writing, but when I signed on to Twitter tojoin my #1k1hr group, #TaylorSwiftonGMA was trending. I very easily got suckeddown a rabbit hole of Taylor Swift videos. 
Avoidingthat kind of rabbit hole is a constant struggle for me. My husband used todrive me crazy flipping channels on the television. It seemed he’d stay onsomething just long enough for me to get hooked. He would move on, but by thattime, I would be begging him to turn it back (to some show I'd probably beembarrassed to admit watching), because once I'm hooked, I need to find outwhat happens.
Whichis what happened last Thursday on Twitter. First there was a video about Taylor'sfather handing out pizza to the people who waited on line overnight. Then therewas Taylor singing a song from her new album. Then... and so on.
It'simportant to note here, I've never particularly been a Taylor Swift fan. I was just curiousabout what all the fuss on Good Morning America was about. My interest had beenpiqued. 
Am Ialone in this? I know we joke about going to Facebook to check one thing anddiscovering we've spent an hour instead of the scheduled 5 minutes.
As itturns out though, watching Taylor Swift videos for an hour wasn’t without somebenefit. One of the clips on GMA gave a history of her career starting as an 11year-old girl determined to make it in Nashville. She explained that her motherand little brother waited in the car while she delivered karaoke demos she’dmade. She talked about walking up and down Music Row knocking on doors.
"Iwould say, 'Hi, I'm Taylor. I'm 11; I want a record deal. Call me."
I cannot imagine having that kind of dedicationat my age, let alone at 11. But the story didn't end there.

I found an article on ENews that included this:"Shecame back from that trip to Nashville and realized she needed to be different,and part of that would be to learn the guitar," Andrea told EW."Now, at 12, she saw a 12-string guitar and thought it was the coolestthing. And of course we immediately said, 'Oh no, absolutely not, your fingersare too small—not till you're much older will you be able to play the 12-stringguitar.'
"Well, that was all it took. Don't ever say never or can't do to Taylor.She started playing it four hours a day—six on the weekends. She would getcalluses on her fingers and they would crack and bleed, and we would tape themup and she'd just keep on playing.  ENews
What intrigues me is how someone has that kind ofdrive to succeed - especially at such a young age. 
Taylor is not unique in her work ethic. We hearstories all the time about athletes and their superior dedication to theirsport, practicing endless hours until they can sink that three-point shotflawlessly, or lead a team to another Super Bowl victory.  

What can we, as writers, learn from this mindset?

That question has really been on my mind a lotlately. Writing is not a career for the faint of heart. It requires a lot ofhard work, is often solitary, and you can go many years honing your craftbefore you manage to snag that contract.

And when you do, you just get to do it all overagain.
Somewriters succeed brilliantly, and others, as in my quote above, never rise tothat professional level for one reason or another.
Why?
I foundsome interesting thoughts on that topic in an article at a teaching workshop Iattended this week. I'm going to link the article. Take a minute and go look -it's short.Three Reasons You Aren't Reaching Your Full Potential
The article states: The question, then, is why somepeople are better at developing their potential than others. 
What intrigued me about the answer was the psychologicalanalysis. I'm just going to share a couple of key quotes that intrigued me.They will all make more sense if you read the article.
The trouble is that most people don’t seriously want what they say they want.
’I want’ means, ‘if I want it enough I will get it.’ Getting what you wantmeans making the decisions you need to make to get what you want.”
In other words,few of us are willing to do what it takes to achieve what we desire.
Some aspirationsare simply superficial desires for status, not declarations of will followed upby action.
Real motivation isthe key ingredient. Those who actually succeed at getting better are obsessedwith their goals, turning that motivation into genuine talent over time.


Thesethoughts hit home with me, because throughout my life, whenever I was workingon something that I cared passionately about, I was unstoppable. My energy wasboundless, nothing could stand in my way.
When Ifind myself faltering, it's usually because some little voice in my head iswhispering, Do you really want it enough to work this hard?
Obviouslyadolescent Taylor Swift did.
Do you?
Iswriting something you feel passionately about and are you ready to make thedecisions you need to succeed. Are you willing to put in the time to developthe talent? Are you ready to bloody those fingers?
If you’renot a writer, is there something else that you are passionate about to thislevel?
Let'schat.