Success consists of going from failure to failure without the loss of enthusiasm.
– Churchill.
I attended a workshop on Friday this past week on how to give great presentations. While I listened to the speaker, I realized how much of his advice would apply to writing. I want to share 5 insights. Here they are:
Belief
To have belief, you need to have confidence. You need to have passion.
At the workshop, we had to walk around and introduce ourselves to at least 5 people as an extraordinary speaker. Sounds corny. But try it now.
You are an extraordinary writer. Say it out loud.
Okay, I know you cheated and you said it silently in your head. Say it out loud. Say it again. And again and this time louder, that is, above a whisper and like you really might believe it.
I am Seana Moorhead and I have written an extraordinary and world class fantasy book for young adults.
You want to read it now, don’t you?
“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” – Churchill
Truth
People respond to the struggle as long as there is light at the end of the tunnel. Blood, sweat, and tears. But we will prevail… that kind of stuff.
Most people aren’t inspired by reading about a careful and well thought out plan, about how we follow the plan, and then we succeed.
We want to read about an impossible dream, how it’s going to be hard work, how we’re going to fail and fail again and at our lowest, we’ll find the inner strength and prevail against all odds. That’s a story.
“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” -Churchill
Clarity
Be clear in your words. Use short words. Be concise. I think I have already written too much.
Effort
Greatness is measured by the milliseconds, by an arm stroke, by the nose of a horse. The difference between great and world class is tiny. How do you gain that edge? If you’re going to learn a new skill, it takes on average 500 hours to get good at it. To become an expert, it takes between 2000 and 5000 hours. To be world class, 10,000 hours. How many hours have you invested in your writing? Are you good? Or great? Or world class?
“Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.” – Churchill
Be You
I’m a big believer in this one. I don’t care if the new “in” thing is zombies, risky sex, or psycho thriller. If the story is told by dog about how to race cars, then go for it. If the story is about a 100 year old man who runs away from a nursing home and meets up with an elephant, have confidence. If you have passion, confidence and with your world class writing skill, you will succeed.
Write your story, in your words, because you are an extraordinary writer.
“Success is not final. Failure is not fatal; it is courage to continue that counts.” – Churchill
