A few days ago I was at an SCBWI Tokyo event for children’s book writers, and heard this really exceptional quote from Alvina Ling, Senior Editor at the Little, Brown and Company publishing house:

“Published authors aren’t necessarily the best writers – just the ones who didn’t quit.”

That really struck a chord with me, as everything I’ve been working on for the last year has been to support my goal of becoming a published author.

This event came right after I returned from Nagoya, a few days after I finished reading Outliers, by Malcom Gladwell. I don’t agree with everything he says, but one exceptional point that he raises (and that I’ve heard somewhere before) is that the elite in any field, whether it be music, sports, business, or writing, have spent an average of 10,000 hours honing their craft.

10,000 hours.

Seems like a huge number, doesn’t it? That’s three hours of writing, everyday, for the next 9.1 years. Daunted yet? I’d be a bald-faced lier if I said I wasn’t.

What’s encouraging is that you, like me, probably already have quite a few hours under your belt. This is simply a reminder of the importance of writing and honing your craft every single day. And, most importantly, never giving up.

Hrm, seems like I’ve heard that before….

It’s always encouraging when you pick up a manuscript you’ve been setting aside for several months…and it ends up being better than you remember. I’m completely biased, of course, but The Stonemen’s Legacy isn’t total crap after all. Apart from a few doofy sections that need to be spruced up a bit, it was remarkably fun to read.

Obviously, my opinion only counts for so much seeing as how I’m still unpublished. Even so, I’m a bit of a perfectionist, and have no problems being brutally honest with myself. Only time will tell if the rest of the literary world agrees with me.

So, I’m striking onward fearlessly. Encouragement is something every writer could use more of, especially those of us who can’t yet rush to the local bookstore and see our works in print.

Just got back from reading a friend’s blog. Ara Burklund is a rather amazing writer who is literally on the cusp of breaking into that most-holy-of-holy places we all want to be…Getting Published. Less I be misunderstood, she’s not quite there (yet), but just by looking at her writing regimen it will come as no surprise when the inevitable actually happens.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned on this road to becoming a published writer, it’s that writing must be pursued seriously and every singly day. Not in spurts, or only when you feel like it, or when there are no other distractions around. “Real” writers write something daily on a consistent basis and never give up – that’s the only difference I see between them and the “casual” writer.

We all get off track from time to time, of course, but the important thing is to pick up where we left off and do our best to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen again. That being said, I’m now back on track.

How about you?

At least, that’s what I’d like to have been doing the entire time I’ve not been posting here. Truth is, being the man of the house, I feel compelled to provide my family with a few niceties such as food and shelter – writing, most unfortunately, doesn’t yet enable me to do that.

So, for the past few months I have been focusing on a business venture that will provide me with a large amount of residual income each month, thereby enabling me to spend the time I need to focus on writing exclusively. And even though I haven’t been spending much time writing recently, there is a silver lining to this cloud – having not worked on my manuscript for a few months, I can now take a look at it more objectively and will be able to see it in a new light, much like one of my readers will. This is great news, because so many authors become greatly attached to their work and are unable to bring a fresh perspective to it when that is precisely what’s required to move onto the next step.

So…killing two birds with one stone. Creating a residual income stream for myself, while also taking the time away from my manuscript needed so that I can whip my ms into shape when the time comes. Marvelous!

So I was sitting in front of my laptop last night, working on a new site I had dreamed up, and suddenly realized I’d spent the better part of the last week working on it with no real progress, and without getting even so much as five pages of writing done.

That’s when I realized, and it really and truly hit hard, that I’d fallen trap to a major distraction. I’d almost forgotten about writing entirely, despite my earnest and heartfelt desire to finish my first book and get it out to agents and publishers as soon as it is ready.

Fortunately, I’m back on track. But that week is gone and I’ll never get it back. Being a positive sort of person, I like to think I’ve learned something from this experience, and you can be sure I won’t easily fall victim to the same mistake again.