“That’s not fair!”
I could hear my daughter’s voice three rooms away. Summoning the courage requisite to parent a teenager, I proceeded down the hall with trepidation.
Peering into her bedroom, I asked “What’s wrong, Kate?”
“ERRRGH! I can’t believe this! My stupid History teacher gave me a ‘D’ on my biography project! I HATE her!”
Now, I remember the biography project. This was a project the teacher assigned in December, due in April. I remember Katie working feverishly on that project. She slaved away for about half an hour, the night before it was due.
Of course, that was the only time she’d touched the project. Truth be told, I was surprised she got a passing grade at all.
“Well, Kate,” I was trying to choose my words very carefully. I didn’t want a blow-up over this. “Do you think you deserved better than that?”
“Well, duh! Of course I did. I worked hard on that project! She just hates me. My teacher hates me!” Katie’s eyes were beginning to swell up with tears.
I wanted to give her a big hug, tell her it would be all right. That the teacher was a moron, and that Katie is probably a stronger reader than the teacher (it’s true, too).
I didn’t. I had to tell her the truth.
I sat down on the bed next to her. “Well, Kate, look at it this way. You only put half an hour into it, right? I know you worked hard for that time, but you had four months to work on it. You know as well as I do that you could have done much better on that project. Be glad you got a passing grade, you know?”
“You don’t understand! She’s just mean!” Katie started to cry, uncontrollably.
I held my daughter. “It’s OK, kid. It’s OK. No one hates you. It’s all right.”
I like to believe that, on some level, I got through. I don’t know. I hope I did.
———-
So often in life we look at our situation and say, “This is so unfair.” We blame a teacher, a boss, fate, God, or just dumb luck for our situation. We think that the universe has it in for us.
Fact is, though, sometimes you fail because you screwed up.
It’s as true in the writing life as it is for Katie. Sometimes, writers screw up. But, how? Why do you fail as a writer? There are a few possibilities:
You’re a poor writer
There’s a chance, my friend, that you suck at writing. Maybe you can’t get the grammatical conventions straight. Maybe you can’t spell to save your life. Maybe homophones trip you up every time. Maybe you have a lousy writing voice. Whatever it is, if you don’t write well, you will fail as a writer.
Successful writers hone their craft. They soak up every bit of writing advice they can find. They master the tools of the language and they find their own unique writing voice.
You can’t or won’t sell
I said it last week over at Freelance folder:“You’ll never make it as a freelancer if you don’t get over your fears, get out of your comfort zone and knock on some doors. Your writing does no one service if it sits on your computer alone.”
You can’t be timid if you want to make it as a writer. You’ve got to toot your own horn. You’ve got to identify the value you add and sell the crap out of it. Successful writers sell.
You stink at math
If you don’t know how much time you’re spending in a given week writing compared to how much time you spend doing research, sales or bookkeeping, you will fail as a writer. Miserably. So what if you can write four $5 articles in an hour? That’s not $20 an hour. It’s probably less than $10, before taxes.
To succeed as a writer, you’ve got to keep good books. You need to learn a little bit about accounting, or you hire someone to do it. You know how much time you’re going to write in a week and you don’t underestimate how long it will take to do a project.
Life’s not fair
Sometimes, shit happens. You get sick. You lose a limb. You go through a messy divorce and become horribly depressed, unable to write. Maybe the market in your particular niche dries up, and you can’t competently write in another niche.
Sometimes, you fail because life isn’t fair. The question is, though, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to take the beatdown and whimper off? Or are you going to get mad as hell and beat failure away with a stick?
It’s all up to you. What are you prepared to do? How far are you willing to take it? Your answer will determine your potential for success after you fail.
24 comments ↓
Good stuff. I write good, but I know I can write more gooder if I work more hardly. I wil takeur advise and do more better. Thx.
Seriously, that was a good post. Writing is hard work and doing it (or anything else “on your own”) requires you to wear more hats than most are comfortable with.
Scotts last blog post..Father’s Day Weekend
As step-father to an 11 year old whose English teacher also hates her and is just plain mean and… Boy, did this ring a bell!
Anyway, here’s another reason you (not YOU, of course, but “you”) fail as a writer:
*You don’t care about your audience.*
Good writing exists not to show how clever you are, not to demonstrate your virtuosity with the written word, not to proclaim your greatness, not to share your thoughts, but to connect with your reader on a profound level. Maybe you have a story that *they want (or need) to hear*, maybe you know how to do something that they *want (or need) to do*, maybe you have some insight that will make *their life* better. Whatever you’re writing, if your first thought isn’t “will my audience get something out of this?” then you’ll fail. Sure, you may build up quite a trunk full of unread manuscripts — I’m sure your next of kin will appreciate being charged with disposing of that! — but you won’t be read, which means you may as well not have written in the first place.
Sounds mean, huh? That’s ok — I’m mean becuase I care
I hear you. As a parent and as a writer and as a person.
Love reading your work, Bob, especially ones like these. Tell it like it is.
James Chartrand – Men with Penss last blog post..Welcome Home, Boys
As a girl who used to write her papers in a half an hour the night before, this is some good advice. Granted, I usually got an A, but you still can’t expect a good grade when you don’t try so hard.
And all the other stuff makes sense too. I really need to get off my butt.
Trisha Bartles last blog post..Writing Samples – Women’s Interest
I was a night-before kid in high school. One time I spent weeks planning, researching and writing an assignment and barely got a pass. After that I stuck to night-before sessions
Love this post, Bob. Personally, I stink at the math, and lose a lot of time making sure I’ve done it right. I probably should hire someone to help me out in that department. My Accounting class at uni was another one I barely passed!
Joel Falconers last blog post..The Value of Community Participation for Web-workers
You my friend are definitely a great writer. This is by far one of my favorite posts (so far). Beautiful storytelling, right on target advice. Well done!
Karen Swims last blog post..Achieve A Lot with Just A Little
Good stuff. Nothing to add – but enjoyed the article.
Bamboo Forests last blog post..(Mis)Fortune Cookie
Bob, your failure list rings true to me. Each one of those points held me back at one point or another on my own writing journey… Well, except the math thing. Can’t try to hide behind that one, considering my trade.
Jamie Grove – How Not To Writes last blog post..Writers Behaving Badly: An American Scoundrel’s Success
Damn you. I can’t do numbers. Want to do mine?
Joel Falconers last blog post..The Value of Community Participation for Web-workers
@ Scott – Heh heh heh… you’re one of the goodest I’ve met, my friend.
@ Dustin – Thanks for stopping in! Isn’t it amazing how all of these teachers hate students?
You make a good point about audience. I’d footnote that, though. On average, human beings have enough in common with one another that simply sharing experiences adds value to the conversation.
And, yeah. We tell our kids (and our readers) the truth, even when it isn’t a happy truth, because we want them to succeed.
@ Trisha – I did the same thing – until I got to grad school. Then I learned that the night before wasn’t going to cut it.
@ Joel – At least you took an accounting class. Most of us are self-taught.
@ Karen – Thank you for your kind words.
@ Bamboo – Thank you, too. I’m glad it resonated.
@ Jamie – Are you as much of a geek as I am in that when you hear the phrase “rings true” you think of the Rankin Bass version of The Hobbit? Maybe it’s just me.
*whistles as he walks in, hands in pockets* I can do numbers. I can do small business accounting. Accurately. In Quickbooks, too.
I see a very nice sideline opportunity…
James Chartrand – Men with Penss last blog post..Welcome Home, Boys
@Joel Even though I recently finished a bit of code to calculate a Pearson Correlation Coefficient, I’m not sure you want me doing your numbers. I’m good at the math, but not so much with the maintenance.
@Bob LOL! Absolutely. In fact, I can’t believe Peter Jackson didn’t work in “Where There’s a Whip, There’s a Way” People threw popcorn at me when I started singing it in the theater.
Jamie Grove – How Not To Writes last blog post..Writers Behaving Badly: An American Scoundrel’s Success
@ James – HEY! What are you doing here? You’re supposed to have an ear infection! Go shill on your own blog
@ Jamie – This one’s for you, bro:
Oh, it is tricksy the Younces is. Yess…
Jamie Grove – How Not To Writes last blog post..Writers Behaving Badly: An American Scoundrel’s Success
Gulp– I gotta get out of my comfort zone and go knocking on some doors…
Karen Putz / DeafMoms last blog post..Welcome to my World, Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Hearing–Entwined
My number one reason for not producing the best quality of work — speed. It’s been a problem since I entered school. Recently, a client asked if I could write something for him. I asked for a couple of weeks due to other deadlines. He said, “OK, but I’d prefer it sooner.”
That alone made me want to get it sooner. What happened? Let’s just say I need to work on it more and wait until after I finish one other assignment. It’s hard to stand out from millions of writers, so always being on time or early was a way for me to stand out. I’ve heard from many editors who said they rarely meet someone who can make deadlines like I can.
Must. Slow. Down.
Meryl Evanss last blog post..Telling the Hard Truths of the Writing Life
I’m just glad I don’t have a teen aged daughter.
Good little inspirational speech though, sarge.
[...] wondered why writers fail? Bob Younce over at the Writing Journey has some answers for [...]
[...] wondered why writers fail? Bob Younce over at the Writing Journey has some answers for [...]
[...] Why Writers Fail at Writing Journey [...]
[...] also printing out an article written by Bob Younce over on Writing Journey entitled, “Why Writers Fail.” Once it’s finished printing I’m going to tape it next to my monitor. Two points he makes about [...]
With me, organization is key. Your article was good information!
[...] Why Writers Fail [...]
I am a firm believer in “if you write it, people will read it” .. Now it must be somewhat interesting, but if you can recant any personal experience, somebody somewhere will find it interesting.
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