I haven’t really spent much time working on this little blog of mine. In fact, I’ve barely posted anything here at all. I keep feeling as if I should be posting more and then I think, but what should I write about? I just don’t know. Yes, hilarious isn’t it? The writer doesn’t know what to write about.

Then I thought to myself, why not write about writing. It makes sense to do just that, so, I’m writing this post about something I feel very strongly about…

Never giving up!

I hear so often—and read so often—stories about people who want to write but don’t, simply because they feel it is too hard, if not impossible, to succeed and yes, it is hard. Success doesn’t actually happen overnight (well, very rarely anyway), it’s a long winding, bumpy road and there’s a lot of hard work along the way.

Some people hear about these “overnight success stories” and think, why can’t that be me? 99% of the time, that “overnight success” event was preceded by years of countless hours of hard work, dedication, patience and all the things that contribute to an author’s success. Not so long ago I read a quote that went: “A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” So true.

I read an article a while back that is glued inside my brain like a refer-to sticky note, kept there to ignite my inner determination flame every time it seems it might dwindle. It was sent to me in an email from one of the countless sites I have signed up to, to receive information, tips and advice on writing. It was about how many times famous authors had been rejected before getting there gigs. Stephen King (my biggest inspiration and most favourite author), J.K Rowling and J.R.R Tolkien were the few I remember in the article and all of them had been rejected up to (or more than) fifty times before they landed their big break. Look at them now.

The way I feel about writing is how I feel about my kids and the air I breathe. I couldn’t live without it. It fills up parts of me that are empty and awaiting new stories. It makes me so happy to just sit down and write and create a story moulded from the clay of my imagination. I know it is what I am meant to do with my life and I know I will succeed because I will not ever give up or think it’s too hard, too much work.

Even if it takes years to take my writing to the level I want to be at, to make a full time career out of my passion, I will get there because I am willing to put in the hard yards. So, all I can say to anyone who aspires to become a professional writer, think of those great authors who were rejected over and over again until, at the right moment, the right person picked up their manuscript and said, “Wow! This is going to be big.”