Success comes from patience, practice, and persistence.
by Ruth Harris
We’re living in a world where everything—pizza, groceries, shampoo, a barre class, hot sex (or, in these days of Covid-19, a sex toy discreetly wrapped)—is a click away. Even in the midst of a shelter-in-place pandemic, everything anyone—including writers—could want is at our fingertips.
We’ve been trained to expect instant gratification.
And “overnight success.”
With a Google Search—
- We can find out how to write a foolproof outline.
- Or write a novel without an outline if that’s how we roll.
- How to shape the first chapter.
- And prop up the saggy middle.
- How to write a brilliant first line.
- How to nail a killer ending.
- We can find the “perfect” editor.
- The brilliant cover designer.
- We can polish our blurb until it sparkles.
- And zero in on the ideal categories and keywords to get our book before readers looking for what we write.
- Or publish our books wherever and whenever we want and sell them around the world.
- Find tips and techniques.
- Plan the “perfect” launch, and send emails to our fans, buy ads, submit to BookBub, write blogs, request reviews.
We can do it all, except, as everyone of us knows, none of it is easy, none of it is quick and in a world of Instant Everything, writing and marketing books is slow, often frustrating and loaded with obstacles.
Still, We Won’t Give Up.
- Not selling? We lower the price.
- If the first cover doesn’t work, we try another.
- Redo the blurb.
- Go wide.
- Go exclusive with Amazon.
- Put our book into KU and used free days or the countdown.
- Release paperback editions and audio versions.
But, despite all our efforts, nada. No interest. No takers.
Or, as we say here in the Big Apple, bupkis
Which is Why Tips, Tricks and “Secrets” Abound.
Guides and gurus are eager to share their expertise.
- There are blogs and books, podcasts and Instagram feeds intended to teach and inspire.
- Pricey courses from those who have spent their own time and money figuring out how to sell (their) books via ads on FaceBook/ Amazon/ BookBub.
- Still others are newsletter experts who give advice about increasing the number of subscribers and amping up their enthusiasm.
- We can learn how to goose the algos to enjoy a position at the top of bestseller lists.
- But even with all this shared knowledge and expertise, there are no guarantees and no sure-fire path to success.
- Sometimes our dreams come true and sometimes they don’t.
- Because behind the promises and the “sure-fire” techniques and pricey “secrets,” we find out that the guru figured out how to sell his/her genre.
- Or for his/her book.
But what about yours?
But What if None of it Works? At Least Not for You.
There are lots of reasons and most of them aren’t your fault.
- Because what worked one time might not work again.
- Because what worked for one book doesn’t for another.
- And what worked for someone else or someone else’s genre might not work for you and your genre.
- Because what was hot, isn’t.
- Maybe the guru’s a genius at extracting the deep meaning out of data.
- Or the guru’s a better marketer than you are.
- And the guru’s book was a better fit for the market than yours.
- The guru was riding a hot streak.
- And the guru got lucky.
But how do you get lucky?
If we knew that, every book and every writer would be a great success. We could wear laurel crowns, swim in glowing accolades, be rich and famous if that’s what we want.
But nah.
You worked hard and you did everything right.
Didn’t work.
Didn’t happen.
No matter how much you tried.
No matter how much money you spent.
So what do you do?
You value what you’ve learned along the way.
Patience is “Concentrated Strength.”
Impatience has been called the happiness killer. We want what we want when we want it but that isn’t how life — and careers — work.
Bruce Lee once said: “Patience is not passive; on the contrary, it is concentrated strength.”
Consider Babe Ruth’s attitude: “Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.”
In an article in Psychology Today, Dr. Alex Lickerman observed that patience “defends us against foolish, impulsive behavior, gives us time to consider our options carefully, plan appropriately, and execute effectively.”
Little noticed in a noisy, hyper-competitive and overachieving world now suddenly brought to a halt, patience is a measure of character, somewhat old-fashioned and certainly not glamorous.
But essential and worth cultivating.
Patience:
- Is about developing perspective and the ability to control our emotions.
- Allows us to slow down, and calmly tolerate delay or frustration while we consider our next step
- Offers us time and mental clarity that will allow us to improve.
- Keeps us from rushing into impulsive behavior and ill-considered actions.
- Gives us the time and mental space we need to be creative.
- Leads to good judgment and confidence.
- Gets us through blocks.
- Lets writers finish books.
- Gives us focus to pay attention to our ideas, no matter how wacky or far out, because you never know when they will come or where they will lead.
Case in point: In the 1950s Richard Penniman was working as a dishwasher in a Greyhound bus terminal in Macon, George. Being stuck in a hot kitchen was not what he wanted for himself, but he kept at it. One day at work a combination of nonsense syllables came into his head: “Awop-bop-a-loo-bop, awop bam boom!”
Those syllables would lead to Tutti Frutti, riches and world-fame for Little Richard. Syllables he might not have heeded had he not been patiently enduring a difficult and unrewarding situation because, along with patience, comes the ability to persist.
Talent is Overrated, but Persistence Gets it Done.
Talent is everywhere. Lots of people have talent, but:
It doesn’t do the job.
And doesn’t finish what it starts.
And talent doesn’t make you special.
Painter Susan Rothenberg sums it up: “Growth is more important to me than talent. I was not the best kid at art school, by any means. I’d love to know what that best kid is doing now.”
The ability to persist gets us through the hard parts—
The plot that feels as if it will never work.
The started-but-never-finished go-nowhere “brilliant” ideas.
The rejections.
The rotten reviews, overpublished genres, a flooded market, all the ordinary flops, failures, disappointments and set backs every writer faces.
Practice Lays the Foundation.
“Practice makes perfect” goes the old saying.
How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice goes the old joke.
Acclaimed ballerinas practice at the barre every day.
Yo Yo Ma points out that the goal of practicing is to achieve a freedom of the mind. For a writer as for a musician, that freedom is linked to spontaneity and creativity.
Applying the concept of practice is a good lens with which to view our successes and especially our failures—the books we feel bad about, the ones we didn’t finish or that didn’t turn out the way we hoped, the ones languishing spine out on the bottom shelf in the back of Barnes & Noble, and even the ones wilting unwanted on our hard drives.
Margaret Atwood points out that becoming a writer requires practice. “Any form of human creativity is a process of doing it and getting better at it. You become a writer by writing. There is no other way.”
Little Richard had been performing on minor circuits in the South for ten years when “Awop-bop-a-loo-bop, awop bam boom!” popped into his head. But, over that decade of experience, he had learned how to work a stage, how to hold an audience, and how to whip up enthusiasm.
Those years of working in obscurity provided practice for Little Richard, a kind of rehearsal, for all that would come later.
We should consider our efforts, our successes and even our failures—as practice. The books we feel bad about, the ones we didn’t finish or that didn’t turn out the way we hoped, the ones languishing spine out on the bottom shelf in the back of Barnes & Noble, and even the ones wilting unwanted on our hard drives provide a solid foundation for what is to come.
It’s important to remember that today’s stars were once-starving actors, formerly struggling performers, and obscure writers. As one example from what feel like thousands like it, John Grisham’s first book, A Time to Kill, took three years to write and was rejected 28 times before finding a publisher.
What Separates the Accomplished Writer from the Wannabes?
They were patient and they kept at it, getting better and better with practice.
Their books are good. Some are better than merely good. They get their share of one-star razzberries, but they also receive good to excellent reviews.
The John Grishams and Stephen Kings of this world didn’t create Moby Dick or War and Peace. Just books people—some people, not all people—enjoy, but that was enough.
According to writers I’ve known and worked with over the years, it’s patience plus practice and persistence—not talent, not luck, not overnight success—that made the difference.
Don’t Worry. You’re Gonna Get There.
Maybe not when you think or maybe not the way you think, but you will.
If you’re patient.
If you practice your craft to lay the foundation.
And if you persist.
***
What about you scriveners? Have you found that impatience is “the happiness killer”? Do you feel the urge to quit when things go wrong even though you did everything “right’? How do you work up the patience to persist?
If you want to know what Anne is up to this week, she’s feeling a bit terrified at the state of our country and the world. But Buckingham has some words of wisdom to help us get through times of tragedy and upheaval (or being locked in the garage over the weekend.) At Anne’s Book Blog: The Manners Doctor Has No Answers.
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***
Thank you for this – it couldn’t have come at a better time…
Loring—Thanks for taking the time to comment. I pleased the post arrived an an à propos moment for you.
How true, how true. Patience. Persistence. Practice. Good in the world of writing, music, art, friendship. All good stuff. Thanks for the reminders.
CS—Glad to hear from you. Hope you are staying well!
Good thing I’m a patient person. (Except behind the wheel. That doesn’t count though.) But many just want it now, want this one to be the one. But everything we do is actually practice for the next time. Long as you keep practicing and moving forward, you have a chance of hitting that one.
Alex—Thanks! As you say so well, perspective is everything.
Re: behind the wheel—A friend’s father regularly cursed out “GD left turners.”
He was generally a reasonable man, so go know. ~shrugs~
This post really resonates with me, Anne. I procrastinated through my twenties, never finishing anything. But when I hit thirty, oh boy, what a change of pace. I wrote a book a year for six years (after the day job). All rejected. The sixth one was finally accepted, only for the follow-up to be turned down. As I was writing romance at the time, my feelings of rage were sufficiently fired up to turn to crime. Fictionalised, of course. My first mystery was accepted by Macmillan on only its second outing. Of course, this wasn’t the end of the stop-start nature of my career. It was only turning indie in 2010 that did that. But that brings its own challenges. I suppose, in the end the question that matters, is how much you want something.
Geraldine—Ruth here. Thanks for the great comment! So many writers will nod in agreement with what you experienced as you progressed through your stop-start career.
Love your explanation of why you transitioned from romance to crime! Will resonate with so many writers!
Wise words, Ruth.
Author Dennis Foley, my friend and mentor, gave me the best advice ever:
You can’t fail at writing; you can only quit.
Debbie—Thanks for the kind words and thanks for sharing Dennis Foley’s excellent advice. Always helpful to keep a hopeful — but realistic — perspective.
Your post is so timely, Ruth. I’m just getting back into the swing of marketing my books again. While writing in a new-to-me genre, I felt it was more important to focus on the MS rather than book sales. Once I met my deadline, the pandemic hit. Who felt like marketing then? Not me! Too much to deal with IRL. Anyway, I’m back being a good little doobie. The 3 P’s work in life as well as writing. Excellent advice as always, Ruth. Thank you!
Sue—Thank *you*! Thanks, too, for your down-to-earth wise words. It’s always one step then the next, isn’t it? No hot-shot overnight successes. At least none I’ve ever heard of. There’s always a back story of lots of work, lots of trying — and then trying again. And again.
Fact of life, as least as far as I’ve been able to tell.
I had the good fortune of learning from college professors who were very clear about what it takes to develop one’s craft. And don’t even think about getting published until you do!
Liz—You were fortunate to have such astute teachers. You were also someone who was able to learn. Not all can — or do. 🙂
When it comes to writing, I’m still learning!
First, I will add to the topic of patience with this favorite quote:
“Infinite patience leads to immediate results.”
— A COURSE IN MIRACLES
Yes, it does take patience to a large degree to complete a book and then market it too. But having patience in itself will not guarantee success in the end. Fact is, there are going to be many writers who have patience for 70 years or more and still don’t achieve any significant success. If you want a true bestseller (one that has sold over 100,000 copies in print), there are more factors.
In the field of self-publishing, which many enter and which very few survive, I have done quite well for myself. Oh sure, I don’t claim to stand on the shoulders of giants such as Robert J. Ringer and David Chilton whose books have made them millions. Nevertheless, in September 2018 my books (mainly self-published) reached the milestone of having sold over 1,000,000 copies. Moreover, for the last 5 years I was able to get myself to the enviable position of earning a better annual income than 97 percent of full time working Canadians by working only two or three hours a day. This was at the age of 65 to 70, an age when most men’s incomes have dropped dramatically.
For the record, I have three true bestselling books with each of sales over 100,000 copies (out of 17 books that I have written). I offer these words of wisdom from other knowledgeable people who have inspired me to attain the personal freedom and financial independence that I enjoy today:
“Good isn’t good enough.”
— Mark Coker (owner of Smashwords)
“Very Good Is Bad — It’s Not Good Enough!”
— Seth Godin (My favorite Marketing Guru)
“Even the most careful and expensive marketing plans cannot sell people a book they don’t want to read.”
— Michael Korda, former Editor-in-Chief at Simon & Schuster
“The shortest and best way to make your fortune is to let people see clearly that it is in their interests to promote yours.”
— Jean de La Bruyére
“In the arena of human life the honors and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities in action.”
— Aristotle
“Books work as an art form (and an economic one) because they are primarily the work of an individual.”
— Seth Godin
“Writing is the hardest way to earn a living, with the possible exception of wrestling alligators.”
— Olin Miller
“Your success and prosperity are too valuable to depend on crowd funding or lottery tickets.”
— Seth Godin
“Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity.”
— Christopher Morley
“The amount of money you make will always be in direct proportion to the demand for what you do, your ability to do it, and the difficulty of replacing you.”
— Earl Nightingale
If these words of wisdom don’t resonate with you big time, I doubt very much if you can ever be truly successful as a self-published author.
Just one very important point: As difficult as it is to get a PhD degree, it is 10 to 100 times as difficult to create a best-selling book (one that sells over 100,000 copies in print) than get a PhD. Two out of three people who start PhDs quit before they get the degree. Even so, there were 51,008 PhD’s awarded in the US in 2012. Yet out of over 1,800,000 books published every year nowadays, likely fewer than 5,000 sell over 100,000 copies in the book’s lifetime.
Ernie—Great quotes and inspiring story. Thanks!
I forgot to add this other quotation in relation to patience:
“Patience is just the art of concealing your impatience.”
— Unknown Wise Person
The three Ps of Patience, Practice, and Persistence are my new mantra.
Great article, Ruth. Very timely. Loved it.
~Ingmar
ingmarhek—Thanks For the flattering words! So glad to hear the post resonated! Anne and I appreciate your comment!
Thank you, Ruth. Timely and helpful as always. It also doesn’t hurt to accept the little victories graciously. Perhaps today you only get 100 words written instead of the normal 500 to 2000. It’s 100 words more than zero. Take the win. Marketing is the bug-a-boo of my existence. I keep pecking away at it which may count as persistence even when my patience is wearing thin.
Brenda—Yes, yes, yes! Take the win. Such good advice and such a sane perspective.
Yeah, marketing. Takes a few brains but lots of energy. Not my fave, either.
Really resonated for me. Back in 2010, I hit a double-whammy. I’d had a long standing problem I could not fix (I run significantly short). I’d tried co-writing as a way around the problem, and we broke in a very messy and painful way. I’d had to walk away from a story that I’d done most of the work on. I realized I was back at square one. No matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to fix the problems I was having. I hit a low point and thought I would never be able to write novels and have to stick to short stories. I found one of Holly Lisle’s courses, which at least got me out of that place. But I had to eventually find Dean Wesley Smith’s courses, which really made the difference. I just found out why it’s been so hard for me to have a book long enough to be a novel, and it’s because I’ve been trying to push my learning skills and not simply check boxes.
I’m reminded of all this because former cowriter circled back around and contacted me three times now. I’m still trying to figure out what he wants.
Linda—Thanks for the detailed look back at what it took for you to get where you are. Your story echoes so much of what so many have experienced.
Gee. What goes around comes around and now your former cowriter is back again. Surprise, surprise. 😉
Yes, Ruth! I love Atwood’s line: You become a writer by writing. There is no other way.
So many aspiring writers I know want a quick way to success. Honey, I want to tell them; if you find the first book a terrible slog, what are you going to think about fifteen and sixteen? Talent is cheap, as you say. Writing is work.
Melodie—Oh, yes. They want the success part. But the work part? Not so much. Sorry about that. 😉
Going to try to pick up things I set aside during the pandemic. This post gives me encouragement. Thank you!
tracikenworth—Happy to hear you found the post encouraging. You don’t know what gem you might discover when you go back and take a second (or third) look. Good luck!
This post was good to the last word. Thanks for the reminders. I’m looking at my linden tree and thinking . . . a great example of patience and persistence.
gabe—Thank you for the kind words. Please give my regards to your linden tree!
Excellent advice Ruth. Thanks for the inspiration. 😉
dgkaye—Thanks for the flattering comment. Hope you and yours are well and staying safe.
Doing are best Ruth. I hope you’re managing to stay sane and safe! 🙂
Perfect timing, just what I needed to hear. I’ve been going for seven years and I’m still waiting to be an overnight success. I gave up with the trad route after exciting little interest. I sell a modest amount, the occasional great review keeps me going. But I will persist, because every book I write is better than the last one.
richarddeescifi—Thanks for the kind words. I’m so pleased the post found you at just the right time. Thanks, too, for sharing your sane, realistic perspective. As Melodie says above, there are so many who expect quick success. As you point out from your own experience, writing doesn’t work that way.
Modest sales and occasional great reviews add up to continuing encouragement and inspiration. Good luck!
Thank you, I’ve also stopped lurking on blogs and started engaging and commenting.
Great read. Great Bruce Lee’s quote.
It seems, from outside observation, that a lot of writers expect to succeed with the first book and if it doesn’t happen then it’s not worth trying. The perfectionism is a big enemy (I think as creatives we need to earn the right to even worry about perfection). You only get perfect by practice and failing and repeating the process (writing stories in this case).
Authors shouldn’t put pressure on themselves to make first book a perfect masterpiece. Then being patient would be a little easier maybe! 🙂
Adrijus G. — Thanks for taking the time to comment. Anne and I appreciate our readers and try to help in an encouraging but realistic way. We like to say that we make the mistakes so you don’t have to!
Perfection doesn’t exist. Not in books, movies or anything else mortal. As someone once pointed out, when you stop trying to be perfect, you can begin to be good. Truer words!
Ruth, persistence really is everything in today’s writing and publishing game. It’s also a continuous learning game, as you point out. Being an author might not make me rich, but it is giving me a bunch of skills I never knew I wanted. Along the way, we are all solving problems and that is the essence of happiness.
Carmen—I love your observation that solving problems is the essence of happiness. Brilliant and so true!
And what is writing a book other than a process of solving problems? Problems we ourselves create and then most solve.
What an inspiring post, Ruth… reminded me of being in my 20s, when stories were selling and magazines queried for articles and I was on cloud 9. And then, things happened and writing became something done only for myself, because to not write would be to court insanity.
Now, decades later, I find that all the work done back then, and all the editing work done in the decades since, have culminated in a creative life I love. And it just keeps growing! The more I learn, the more I learn — and I am continually surprised that, again and again, I find myself in the midst of gaggles of gathered info that suddenly congeals into a shiny new bit of knowledge that can instantly be applied to my work.
I can’t pinpoint why your post today struck such a chord with me — it just did, and I was almost in tears by the end. Thanks…
Maria D’Marco
Maria—Thank you for posting such a touching comment. You’ve expressed so well the rich and rewarding consequences of years of practice. I love your observation that the more you learn, the more you learn.
Day by day, word by word, we learn and our experience propels us further and further toward our goals, those stated and those barely comprehended. Thanks again for sharing your own inspiring words.
So true, thank you, Ruth! Reminds me of the story of the little girl who prayed dear God, please give me patience and give it to me right now! There really are no substitutes for ‘old fashioned’ patience and persistence, are there? I am in the soul-destroying submitting to agents stage, your post could not have come at a better time for me…thank you so much.
Sherri—Great story. Reminds me of me. Patience is a challenge but so well worth cultivating. I keep working at it.
Good luck getting the agent you want! Remember, tho, if you’re not completely comfortable or if you’re asked to sign a contract with oppressive clauses, that there are other alternatives now.
This post came at the right time. I’m currently writing my 4th novel set in my Kammbia fantasy world. I finished the 1st draft but it came out choppy. I have started the 2nd draft but I have been distracted by everything that is going on in America these days. I appreciate the quote, “Patience is not passive; on the contrary, it is concentrated strength.” A much-needed reminder about the quality of patience. Thanks!
Marion—So happy to hear the post came at the right time for you. I love that quote, too. Made me view patience in a more positive, helpful way.
Good luck with your draft!
Patience definitely is vital in writing, Anne, but that is actually true of most careers and professions. The younger generation think things will come quickly and when they don’t, they job hop and never gain the vital skills they need to progress.
Roberta—Ruth here to thank you for taking the time to comment. You’re so correct, patience is necessary in most careers and professions. And, while we’re at it, let’s get down to it: Patience is required for Life.
Yet we’ve practically been brainwashed to expect Instant Everything. 😉