The Ten Stupid Things Writers Do to Mess Up Their Lives
#10
“I give up. I’ll never be any good.”
Can’t argue with that. If you give up, you won’t be any good. Or at least you won’t get any better. The idea is to stay with it. The idea is that writing is a life-long learning process. Remember that: process. The thing you write, the essay, the magazines story, the book, is the product. What gets you there is the process. If you don’t enjoy the challenge of its frustrations and headaches, if you can’t be patient with yourself as you learn, as you hit a plateau and seem to stay there forever, if you can’t stop doing these Stupid Things, then you should give up. But I’m betting you’re made of sterner stuff. So stop reading, and get to work!