Imagine that you’re taking one of my writing seminars. I’m going to ask you all to stand.
Now I’m going to ask those of you who have said you’re going to write a book someday to continue to stand. If that doesn’t apply to you, sit down.
My next question is have you started to write your story, doesn’t matter if it’s one line, one chapter, I want you to continue to stand. If that’s not you, then sit down.
If you’ve finished writing your story, even if it’s a rough draft, I want you to continue standing. If you haven’t finished a story, sit down.
My final question, if you’ve submitted a story to a publisher or agent, stay on your feet. Everyone else sit down.
Can you guess how many people would be still standing?
Without this being an actual in person seminar, I can tell you what the room would have looked like. 100 people would have stood and then it would have been maybe 50, and then 20 and probably less than 5 people would remained on their feet after my final question.
Guess what these five people are going to do that the other 95 aren’t ever going to achieve?
These five people might not be the best writers in the room. These five people are going to get rejection after rejection. They’re going to give up something in their lives to pursue their dream.
These five people are going to be published authors.
I’ve been tutoring for an online school for about 12 years now. In fact, just yesterday I was looking through my old files and realized I’ve had close to 120 students over that time. Do you want to take a guess at how many of them have actually finished the course they signed up for?
Around 20.
Some get to assignment 6 of the 8 that are assigned, but the majority don’t make it past assignment 2.
Yes, writing is harder than it looks but I know what holds most people back and it’s lack of motivation.
Go to one of the online platforms and look at the bestseller’s list. All these authors have one thing in common…they had the motivation to start a story, finish a story, and submit a story or even self publish it.
Talent’s great, being able to string words together to move someone to tears or anger or to create beautiful stories is a gift. However, what good is this gift if you’re never going to put it to good use.
I know many of you reading this are these talented writers. I have students who I know can be bestselling authors but they give up or aren’t motivated to continue.
Don’t let your talent go to waste, find a way to stay motivated and stay the course.
And to those of you who are still standing…keep on going because you’re on your way.