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Recently, I spoke to an acquaintance of mine. She asked about my upcoming books, and I told her about the upcoming releases in June and November.
“I’m both pleased for you and jealous of you,” she said to me. “You’re doing exactly what I’d have liked to have done, but didn’t do.”
I’ve heard that kind of statement before, and I’m always taken aback by it. If we’re alive and kicking, it’s never too late. It’s not. I always remember everyone reading And Ladies of the Club in the 1980s. It became a best-selling novel—50 years in the making. The book’s author, Helen Hoover Santmyer, was 88 years old at the time of the release.
I did mention that it was never too late, but she told me that, for her, it was. I told the lady I was speaking with what I usually say in this situation: “Getting published is a combination of persistence, hard work, talent, and luck. The most important things are hard work and persistence.”
It made me wonder what made her stop writing. Why had she given up on her dream of publishing a book?
There was an interesting study that I recently read about, involving children and their success with different tasks. The title for the study findings, released by two authors from Columbia University, is: “Praise for Intelligence Can Undermine Motivation and Performance.”
The study found that a group of children that had excelled at an activity and then been told they’d done well because they were smart had frequently done poorly the next time they’d been tested. They had no control over being smart—and being told they were smart, the children were concerned that the next test would show they were less-competent than they’d been told. The study stated:
They are also afraid of effort because effort makes them feel dumb. They believe that if you have the ability, you shouldn’t need effort (Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck, 2007), that ability should bring success all by itself.
The children who’d been praised for being hardworking, performed even better on the next test, determined to show again how industrious they were.
It makes me wonder if some writers give up on writing, thinking it’s necessary to have a tremendous writing gift. And, if they run into a wall with their writing, they’re quick to assume they don’t have the gift and shouldn’t waste their time.
I think, clearly, there’s got to be some talent there to write a publishable book. But I also feel that you can learn writing —and vastly improve your ability and potential for being published by reading novels in your area of interest and by learning writing skills via writing blogs or classes.
This is where I think the hard work and persistence comes in. Yes, there needs to be some talent there. Not everyone is going to be picked up by a traditional publisher. But I do feel like everyone can improve, and that many writers can improve enough to be publishable.
Adding an element of determination and hard work (and, in this business, patience) and I feel like it’s a combination that can serve to get a writer published.
Being told it’s talent only (the equivalent of the children being told they were successful because they were smart)? I don’t think that’s true.
Clearly there are many different reasons why some writers give up writing. Sometimes they might be overwhelmed with other things in their life, sometimes they just don’t prioritize writing high enough on the list to finish a book. But I hate to think that there might be writers out there who think that they just haven’t ‘got it.’ Because I really believe it’s possible to vastly improve, whether you’ve ‘got it’ or not.
What do you think? For the majority of writers on the shelves today—was it pure talent? Was it mainly hard work and persistence? It was probably both—but was it 50-50 talent/hard work? Or did it weigh more on one side than the other?
Having not got to the published stage yet – in fact I’m still writing it, I can’t really give an opinion on what will get you there. I would imagine both, but my book definitely won’t make it into the hands of a publisher if i don’t sit down and write it, so determination is a big factor for me.
I agree that it’s a combination of talent, persistence and hard work, Elizabeth. And for me, it’s simply doing something that brings me joy. Just like my singing – I don’t have a great voice, but I love it and my joy brings joy to others.
Karen
I’ll go with 30% talent, 55% hard work/persistence, 20% luck (3% math skills).
I’m in the persistence column. Yes, talent is important, but there are too many people who give up too soon.
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
I read that study, too, Elizabeth, and it has many sweeping implications. I have always thought it important to celebrate my kids for who they are and not what they accomplish, and I think we can apply that same mind-set to our writing. Celebrate the story for what it is and don’t focus on how it does in the marketplace. Then move on to the next.
I agree 100% with you, Elizabeth, and found the results of the study very interesting.
When I was young, several people told me I was talented, but at that time I lacked the skill to craft a good story. A friend of mine who is an artist once told me that all art is 20% talent / 80% hard work and learning techniques to perfect your craft. He was right.
It’s never too late (I started writing again after 20 years) and my debut novel will be published this summer.
Elizabeth, you gave everyone the right formula for success. Don’t give up. Keep writing, keep learning, and keep submitting. You’ll get there.
Just a guess, but I would think luck also plays a part.
I think the talent has to be there, but without hard work, talent is wasted.
It helps if you have talent, but unless you were born with a lucky clover in your mouth, hard work and persistence are essential ingredients to success in any field. And you’re absolutely right, Elizabeth; it’s never too late!
I totally agree, and so many writers don’t get published until late in life! “Overnight success” stories usually have about 5-10 years of work behind it that no one knows or talks about. Small businesses can run for years before they start making a profit… it’s all about believing in yourself and keeping at it.
And that study has me in fits, now every time I tell my kids, “You’re so smart!” I kick myself and think, “No, tell them they worked hard!” :)
In the ‘never too late’ column – I’m throwing myself, heart and soul, into trying to get published at the ripe old age of *gasp* 61. I’ve worked at it off and on for decades but I always let other parts of my life shove my writing into the backgroud. Sometimes you have to hit the ‘now or never’ wall to make it happen.
Some years ago, when I left research to work in our Arctic Exploration office for a couple of years, the head of research gave me a book titled “Talent is not Enough” by John Maxwell. The main message of the book was that talent is a gift that you’re born with (if you’re lucky), but it doesn’t bring you anything unless you add hard work on top of it >:)
Cold As Heaven
Persistence, hard work, and timing! Which means those who gave up did so before their time.
Rebecca–Good point!
Teresa–Your artist friend sounds like he pegged it right, to me.
Congratulations on your upcoming release!
Diane–Luck plays a HUGE part. Timing is everything…another reason why we have to keep trying.
B.E.–Talent alone doesn’t finish a book–that’s where the hard work comes in.
Karen–Exactly. And if we focus on the fact that it’s pleasurable, then we’ll write a lot more.
Alan–Sounds like my kind of math!
Terry–I know the process is really discouraging, but we have to keep at it.
Maryann–Writing for the pure enjoyment of it and as a celebration of our hard work! Sounds like a good plan.
Linda–I think that all of us get to that point. There’s no really *good* time to write a book, is there?
Cold As Heaven–Sounds like an interesting book…and an interesting job you had!
I’ve thought about it a lot lately–since reading that study. I remembered that there were several really smart students in my high school–and they were incredibly lazy. Their grades were awful, but they aced the SAT. I wonder if they ever really did well, or if they’re still relying on just the fact they were smart.
Elspeth–It never is! And it drives me nuts when I hear people say that it is.
Megan–You’re so right. Those overnight success stories usually have a lot of hard work leading up to them.
Oh, I know. We parents never seem to do the right thing! Ha!
Alex–Good point about timing–always very important in publishing (luck, too.)
I’m going to have to say 50/50. Because when I look at Stephen King (loads of talent, IMO) he wouldn’t have made it w/o lots of hard work (that he details in his book “On Writing”). Yeah, his first novel sold, but life was not easy up to that point.
In fact, he’d given up on Carrie and tossed it in the trash. If his wife hadn’t pulled it out and said, “I think you’ve got something here”, we wouldn’t have him.
So I’m going 50/50. I hope I have the gumption (talent and hard work) to make it.
Oh, and ever since I read that study, I’be pointing out to my son what a hard worker he is, or examples of how his hard work paid off.
Suzi–I’ve done the same thing! Told both children today that I appreciated their hard work. They seemed determined to show off MORE hard work. I don’t know why it took a study for me to realize how well that works, but it sure did. And good point about “Carrie.” I remember him saying that he never did *like* Carrie as a protagonist, but he sure worked hard to make her a believable and sympathetic character.
Definitely hard work and persistence. I have a sense that many people give up because of rejection. Of course, the remedy for that falls in the persistence column. In spite of all the good advice out there about never giving up, and the hilarious recountings of famous rejection letters, though, most people still aren’t really prepared for how personal rejection feels. And then they won’t tell you that’s the reason they quit, because they’re embarrassed. Took me some time to get over that one myself! One good thing about the process, you do start to understand how to love the journey.
Interesting study. I believe writing does involve talent and hard work, but if a beginning writer doesn’t have persistence, they will never make it to the publishing stage.
Linda–I think you’re right–they don’t want to say why they gave it up. I wish they’d tell me it was the rejections–I could pull out a pile of them! :)
Jane–I really feel like it’s the key component.
I used to think it was just talent. The longer I write, though, the more I think it’s just plain hard work. No amount of talent writes a book for you, or submits to journals for you, or queries agents for you. That’s all work.
Talent helps with the story crafting and prose and human insights, sure, but it takes a damnable amount of effort to put those freakin’ words on paper.
I was one of those naturally smart kids who constantly got complimented by teachers, parents, etc. And though I was also pretty hardworking, I will say that the moment I thought I wasn’t inherently talented at something I gave up.
Writing is a great example. I loved reading as a child and wanted to grow up to be an author. But I started getting less-than-perfect grades in Jr. High English, and stellar grades in science- so I went the science route. It didn’t matter to me that I disliked science-related activities- I was good at it!
As an adult I learned that doing what you enjoy matters more than doing what you have a natural talent for. Sure, we all like to be good at things, but that won’t get us out of bed every morning and drive us to work.
I decided to start writing fiction last year and worked by butt off to figure out how to do it well. And here I am with my fourth ebook contracted. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get a contract from a big NY publisher. But if I do, it won’t be because I happen to be talented- it will be because I kept at it, honed my craft, and worked my tail off.
I believe you can learn to be talented. Or maybe I just think that because I’m so naturally smart. :)
Daisy