Do You Have What it Takes to Succeed?

When I was a kid, I heard a lot of negative advice about becoming a writer. I heard all about how my chances of being a NYT best-selling author were like a million-to-one. I heard about how many manuscripts were rejected compared to how many published. I heard how writing was a nice hobby but I better have a back up.

Super awesome encouragement. Right?

Now, I’m sure the advice was (mostly) well-intentioned. Folks didn’t want me pinning all my hopes on what seemed to them to be a pie-in-the-sky dream (what is pie-in-the-sky anyway and what does it taste like? Clouds? Mmm…cloud pie. Fluffy. Like marshmallow cream).

All I can say is: good thing telling me no often results in making me stick even tighter to my guns.

Of course, I haven’t published a novel yet. I took a looooooong hiatus from writing starting in college and lasting until a few years ago. Since then, I’ve been poking along. It’s not going as fast as I’d like but it is going.

These days, I generally ignore any unhelpful, negative advice. I believe I will get there (there being a published author, maybe even an NYT best-selling author) if I keep working…even if takes me until I’m eighty (and I really, really, really, really, really hope it doesn’t take that long).

But sometimes the negativity still filters in and I get a little down about my prospects. That’s when articles like the one below really perk me up:

Persistence Prevails When All Else Fails—Being an Outlaster

Monday we talked about The DIP, so it seemed like a good idea to talk about being an OUTLASTER. I had years of honing this skill. Some of you may not know, but I dropped out of high school twice. 

***Note: I am the reason for the current Texas truancy laws 😀 .

Returning to high school and graduating at 19 was seriously humbling. My GPA was so low, my classes (very literally) were one step above Special Ed. When I took my SAT, the scores were so bad, I thought they might check me for a pulse.

Really glad they gave me some points for spelling my name correctly, LOL.

After a year and a half of junior college I won an Air Force scholarship to TCU to become a doctor. Six months in, the school didn’t close when we had a bad ice storm and I slipped and fractured my back…losing my scholarship.

Go read the rest on Kristen Lamb’s blog. –>