D. Thomas Minton

I’ve met a lot of people who say they that want to write stories. I know most of them will never get around to it for a variety of reasons.  For most of these folks, it won’t matter.  Whatever their reasons may be, they really have no intention of writing that story, and failing to do so will leave no hole in their lives—and there is absolutely nothing wrong with this—but for a much smaller subset of these people, not writing that story will matter.

I know this because I was one of those people for a very long time. I wrote my first story in third grade and found something I enjoyed doing and found meaningful.  I wrote a “novel” in sixth grade, a second novel in high school, and third one in college.  Peppered between these was a bunch of short stories.  I tried to publish some things with no success.  Shortly after that, I stopped writing for almost twenty years.

I was discouraged, sure, but more than anything, I felt I wasn’t a good enough writer. I felt I wasn’t ready, and that I still needed to grow and experience more in my life.  I think there is some truth to that, but only a sliver.  I’ve written some stories that I know I could not have written two years earlier.  I know this because I tried to write them at one point and wound up abandoning them, only to find them again several years later and craft them into something I could be proud of.

Where that reasoning came up short, however, is that I only came back to those stories after I had decided to give writing one last shot. It wasn’t my lack of “life experience” stopping me, it was that feeling of not being ready.   I still remember that moment about 10 years ago when I decided to give writing one more shot.  I still felt I wasn’t ready, but I realized at that moment that there was no such thing as “being ready,” so I might as well just get started because the only way I was ever going to get ready was to write.

Now here’s the interesting thing, I think. I’ve been writing for nearly ten years, and the feeling that I’m not ready has never gone away.  I’m still never truly ready to write any story because I want every new story I start to push the limits of what I can do.  I don’t want to be entirely ready to write that story; otherwise I’ll never grow as a writer and improve my craft.

Don’t let that feeling of not being ready become an excuse for not writing. Not being ready should be a perpetual state of life—it should be the reason you are writing.

I’m not one who generally dispenses advice to be people about how to break into the writing business or to assess their ability to “make” it.  I’m happy to talk about market trends, what works for me (but may not work for others), the myths and truths of publishing (as I see them), and the challenges of succeeding.

But whether you have the goods to become a successful writer?  That’s not where I generally I want to go.

Having said that, now I’m going to ignore it.

Do you have the goods to be a writer?  Yup.  Everyone with even a modicum on education can write a story or an article.  My ten-year-old daughter tells and writes stories all the time (I love them, but I am biased).  Anyone willing to sit down with a pen and paper, at a keyboard, or whatever you’re implement of choice may be, can write, and therefore be a writer in the most general sense.

But that’s not what most people mean when they ask me that question.  Here’s the hard truth about making a living as a writer: its hard work and just like being a doctor, an engineer, an electrician, or a barista, it’s not for everyone and not everyone can’t really do it.  Don’t get me wrong, I think most everyone has the ability to do any of those jobs, but do they have the mettle to make it?  That’s where I think they come up short.

Just like with all those professions I mentioned, writing requires a certain skill set, and if someone is willing to put in the hard hours—10,000 hours according to Malcolm Gladwell—he or she has a good chance of mastering that skill set, and likely finding some success with selling his or her work.  Like most skills, I believe inherent talents play a role, but in the end, I believe most anyone can write and sell fiction (just as I think most anyone can be a doctor), provided they are willing put in the hard work to make it happen.  You might never become a bestseller, you might get lucky and sell your first story, or you might hit it big and go to sell millions of books in dozens of different languages.  Who knows—I certainly don’t.

What I do know is that most people making a living from writing have worked very hard to hone their craft and develop the skills necessary to write stories that will sell.  So if you’re ready to put in those hours with little return other than self-satisfaction (and whole ton of rejection), I firmly believe you can get there, but it requires is that you write.  And write some more.  And more.  And then more . . . .

So stop reading, and go write.