Top Qualities Of A Writer
Being a writer is a noble pursuit, but it’s a tough one – and one that can often make you wonder why you’re doing it at all! Whether you’re trying to increase your book sales (https://publishing-profits.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-boosting-your-book-sales/), or simply trying to get some words on the page, writing can be really hard, and can test your patience!
Don’t give up though – there are a few things that all successful writers must have, and they’re skills that can be developed – writers are made, not born! If you find you’re having trouble with writing, or you just want to know what makes the best writers as good as they are, you’ve doubtless asked yourself countless times just what makes them different?
Tenacity
Well, one of the most important qualities of any writer is tenacity. The most important thing stopping someone from giving up is simply not giving up! Keep at it, day after day, no matter how much of an uphill struggle it can feel at times. There will be moments when you really understand why you’re doing what you’re doing – the words will seem to already be on the page, and you’re just willing them to come out. Focus on these moments, and look forward to them – and when it’s not going well, just accept that it’s a natural part of the process. Some things you’re writing just won’t be easy – but push through! Take it a day at a time – you don’t have to worry about the next week, month, or year of writing. Just focus on what you’re doing today, and keep at it!
Patience
Rome wasn’t built in a day – and you won’t get your novel written in a single day either. No matter how short or long the thing you’re writing, you have to be patient and accept that you simply have to allow anything creative the right amount of time. This isn’t an excuse for procrastination – but every little bit of progress is progress, and going slowly is much better than not moving at all.
Set yourself reasonable targets to hit per day, and go for them as hard as you can in the time you have. The more you write, the more you’ll learn just how much you can write in a certain amount of time – and what’s more, the more you write, the faster you’ll get at it. Give each piece of writing a realistic time frame for completion – and remember that quality beats quantity every time. If you write only 200 words in a session, but they’re as good as the last 1000 words you wrote, then you’re heading in the right direction when it comes to quality!
Consistency
You don’t need to write for hours upon hours every day, but you do have to make sure that you write regularly. Writing is a skill that needs to be kept sharp – the more you do it, the easier it gets to express yourself in words. Even if you can only get 15 minutes per day to write, you’re still going to make progress as long as you keep doing that 15 minutes every day. Of course, you’ll get further if you can write for longer – 15 minutes isn’t very long! However, it’s better than nothing, and the point remains that you’ll develop as a writer (and actually finish projects!) if you make sure that you keep writing regularly and consistently. Get into a routine of writing every day, even if it’s for a short amount of time – it’ll keep your ideas fresh in your mind, and you’ll find that it becomes easier and more absorbing as time goes on!
Self-confidence
You might think that you don’t belong as a writer. Well, every writer in the history of the written word has probably thought that at some point – and many people who get paid for writing every single day of their lives still worry that they’re going to get found out as someone who can’t write!
This is totally normal – it’s called imposter syndrome. You can’t believe that you can do something, and even if you get successful at it, you feel like a fraud. And if you’re just starting, thinking like this can mean you never get off the ground floor. Ignore those feelings. They’re useless to you – and the fact that people who make their living writing still have these worries should clue you in to the fact that it’s all nonsense.
There are no guarantees of success, but giving in to fear that you’ll never have any guarantees failure. However you define success as a writer (and it’s always important to be realistic about that – but never pessimistic!) is up to you, but you need to go at it as good and hard as you can!
Conclusion
These are some of the key qualities that every successful writer has – and remember, these aren’t things that every writer was born with! Keep writing as much as you can spare the time for, as often as you can, and as regularly as you can – after all, writing is the only way to improve as a writer!
The skills above will also need to be kept in mind once you get your book completed and published. For instance, you will need to get your marketing and graphic design hat on to create some promotional materials to promote your new book. You can choose from stickers, notepads, pens, tote bags, and even bookmarks. Bookmarks continue to be a driving force for paper book sales, and with paper book sales currently accounting for around 75% of all sales, this can be a particularly favourable idea when trying to make an impact on the market. As such, the skills you have developed during the writing process – tenacity, patience, consistency, and self-confidence – will remain important, especially as the publishing market remains competitive, especially for debut authors. Simply put: work hard, believe in yourself and see what you can achieve.
