Build a Fulfilling and Resilient Writing Career in 3 Easy Steps

Here's a a few secrets that took me a decade to unlock.

I wrote my first love story on the shared family computer, nervously glancing over my shoulder to make sure no one could read scenes where my characters confessed their undying love for one another.

When we ate dinner, my eyes naturally fell on the bulky white monitor, and my parents thought I was distracted by the early 2000’s Windows screen saver (the endless labyrinth with red brick walls) but I was itching to return to my imaginary world.

What was writing your first story like for you?

Did the world and characters you created filled a void in your life too?

Did you feel as though you were some kind of storytelling genius and you could see your idea turning into a film adaptation?

Do you remember how fun and effortlessly pages turned into chapters, and minutes into hours?

Do you remember the day this magical spell ran out?

The words probably didn’t translate quite well from your head to the page. And the amount of blue and red underline would have turned into a personal attack.

I’m willing to bet you know the exact scene where you left things off.

Unless someone told you the truth about pursuing the craft of writing, the friction was enough for you to leave your story unfinished. Until you started on a shiny new idea… but of course, it too, became challenging. The larger the trail of unfinished drafts you left behind, the more evidence began to pile up in your case, incriminating you as a serial-story-quitter.

Believing is seeing, and seeing is believing

-Tom Hanks

Here is how you break free from being a professional story-quitter, and build a fulfilling and resilient writing career, never running out of that initial spark again:

#1

Remind yourself that the initial enthusiasm is a trap, and once it fades it can never be replicated.

I did myself a great disservice by holding onto the idea of the perfect, effortless career. Because every time I experienced friction, I thought that the grass was most likely greener on the other side.

The craft of writing is the equivalent of a wild horse; if you find yourself so lucky to have it sleeping in your stable, you have to be willing to tame it with love and care day in and day out.

Beware, the wild horse of writing is also able to smell doubt from a mile away and will not hesitate to break free when your attention is elsewhere. Oh, and I forgot to mention, this horse is invisible to anyone but you. Yup, everyone thinks you’re crazy.

#2

Writing requires a certain level of commitment not everyone is willing to accept.

While some of us are hesitant about pursuing a career that doesn't generate a reliable income for a few years and having to answer uncomfortable questions at family gatherings, decisive writers will continue to jump ahead of the crowd and have their efforts rewarded tenfold.

Which one are you?

#3

More recently the words of Tony Robbins held another truth I needed to be reminded of, and maybe you do as well:

If you give an okay performance... you get no result.

Give a good performance, and you still get no result.

A great performance however, will get you... okay results...

But an outstanding performance? Now that equals abundance.

Striving towards outstanding is the only way I’ll eventually get a piece of the best selling author pie. This idea is far from being sexy, and can oftentimes become draining.

Deep down I’ve always known that the world is unfair in that way. But I chose to believe in the possibility where work "never felt like work". Many have claimed this statement before, you’ve heard it as well.

Perhaps it is their reality. But it has always been far from mine.

If I continued to believe in the law of attraction, and in a dream job that never felt like a job, I would never have committed to any path.

It’s like saying: “if I convince myself that I am super fit, then muscles will form and strengthen on their own to match my reality”.

Believing what my eyes can see serves me better than wishing upon a star and remaining stuck in one place.

Conclusion:

To the writer who needed confirmation that the world is in fact unfair and will not bend to your wishes:

Please also remember that the act of writing and publishing will not make you feel as though this is exactly what you were meant to be doing with your life – it is your commitment to this personal mission mixed with outstanding efforts, which will ultimately bring you the satisfaction, self confidence and sense of belonging we are all searching for.

Love,

Jessica

(Wild Horse of Writing)