The 3 Ps of Writing Success

By Jennifer Blanchard, @InkyBites

Part of the How They Do It Series

I'm doing a bit of a blog tour blog swap today with bestselling author Jenifer Blanchard--she's here to share tips on achieving writing success (and who couldn't use those?), and I'm over at her blog sharing tips on different ways to plot your novel. Please help me give her a warm welcome, and don't forget to head on over when you're done here.

Jennifer is a bestselling author, speaker, and a strategy and success mindset coach for emerging authors who want to finally hit publish and create the writing career they’ve always dreamed of having. Be sure to grab a free copy of her eBook, The Bestselling Author Mindset Formula: How To Think Your Way to #1.

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Take it away Jennifer...

There once was a girl who woke up one day and decided she was going to be a writer. So she sat down at her computer and typed out a masterpiece. It didn’t even need editing, it was perfect exactly as it was.

She then wrote a query letter for the story and sent it off to a top New York City agent. A few hours later, the agent called the girl and said he wanted to sign her and he already had a publisher on the hook to put her book into print.

A few months later, the girl’s book debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, with rave reviews from critics and readers alike. And she lived happily ever after in the land known as “Every Writer’s Fantasy.”

That’s the problem with most writers—they have a fantasy built up in their heads about what their life will be like once they’ve made it. But when it comes to making their dreams happen, they fall short.

Because it’s a lot of work to make a dream happen. And most writers don’t want to do the work.

But you’re here right now, because you’re different. You want to do the work and create the writing career you’ve been dreaming of.

To make that happen, you need three key ingredients:

1. Passion

First and foremost is passion. If you don’t have a deep-seeded love, drive and desire to do the writing that you’re doing, you’re better off finding something else to devote your time to.

Harsh? Maybe. But the truth is, without passion, you’ll never have the inner motivation you need to sit down and write.

Successful novelists are inspired from the inside. They can’t not write, because it’s just a part of who they are. Telling stories is what they live and breathe for. And going without is like cutting off a limb.

That’s what passion is.

If you’re not sure where your passion lies, consider some advice I received from writer, Emily P. Freeman: “pay attention to what makes you cry.”

Passion is one of those things that runs deep. And when you care so much about something, you can’t help but have emotion tied to it. So tears can be a really good indicator of what it is you truly care about.

And once you find that thing you’re passionate about? That’s what you should write about.

2. Persistence

Next up is persistence. If you don’t already have this one, again, it may be time to rethink this whole writing thing.

Because success as a writer is all about persistence. It’s about doing the writing, day in and day out. It’s about never giving up, doing what it takes, overcoming every obstacle, and being proactive about it.

Successful writers don’t just sit around writing a couple times a week and hoping things work out. They have a daily writing practice, they act with intention, and, most importantly, they finish.

Creating any kind of success requires you to push yourself harder and further than you ever thought you could. Receive a rejection and then send out another query. Get a bad review on your book and then post another promo for it on social media. Finish bleeding a draft onto the page and then immediately start the next one.

To believe in yourself, always, no matter what. To believe that you will get there eventually as long as you keep going. That’s what persistence is.

And the best way to motivate yourself to keep going is to be fueled by passion and inspired from the inside (see point number one).

3. Patience

And finally, patience. You need to have patience when it comes to creating the writing success you dream of, because success doesn’t happen overnight.

And if it does, it’s because there’s years of momentum built up and the author reached a tipping point.

No one succeeds overnight. No one gets it all done in one day. And really, why would you want to?

The whole point is the journey getting there. If you can’t enjoy the journey, you won’t be able to enjoy the destination once you get there. You’ll be too burned out, resentful and bitter from how long it took you.

That’s why you have to celebrate the milestones, the little writing wins that happen along the way to the big dream. That’s why you have to write what you love and infuse passion into everything you do.

It takes time to create the big, dream writing career. So patience is a key ingredient.

What you really need to do is ask yourself this: do I know in my heart I’m meant for this? Do I believe I’m on the right path, doing the right things, and that eventually I’ll achieve all I dream of?

If you answered, “yes” to those questions, then you can relax and stop stressing out. You will get there.

When you know you’re born for this, born to tell stories, born to share your gift of writing with the world, and you actually show up and do the work and finish, you have nothing to worry about. Success is inevitable.

And on those days when you feel like it’s just never going to happen, recite this quote from the book, A Course in Miracles: “Those who are certain of the outcome can afford to wait, and wait without anxiety.”

Which of the three Ps do you need to practice more of in your life? Share in the comments.