Thursday 4 April 2013

D is for Discipline and Determination

There is no doubt that to make it as a writer you need to have a lot of discipline and determination.


Discipline

Image courtesy of Grotuk / Flickr.com
"You need three things to become a successful novelist: talent, luck and discipline. Discipline is the one element of those three things that you can control, and so that is the one that you have to focus on controlling, and you have to hope and trust in the other two." Michael Chabon
This has to be the hardest area for me and something that I am working on daily. I go through phases when I am super disciplined and get up early to write before everyone else wakes up and meet a daily word count goal, and then at other times I just juggle and try to fit it all in when and where I can.

I know which one produces the best results and that having a writing schedule and limiting the time spent on social media is pretty important in getting that novel written, but sometimes life throws you a curve ball or you just need a lie in for once (seriously, does anyone like getting up at 5am?).

I think the important thing is to make sure you are doing something on a daily basis that will move you further towards your goal, even if it's just a couple of sentences or brainstorming the next scene.


Determination

Image courtesy of Dana Lookadoo - Yo! Yo! SEO / flickr.com
"Writing is most of all an exercise in determination." Tom Clancy
Writing is a pretty unforgiving career and you will likely receive countless knock-backs and rejections before finally getting that publishing deal. You have to be a pretty determined individual to carry on in the face of criticism, but I am sure you have all heard the countless tales of famous authors and how many rejections they received before hitting the big time. Had any of them lacked the determination some of the most loved novels of all time may never have seen the light of day.

There are plenty of other people outside of the writing world who can also knock us back. It can be hard to cope with those in our lives, whether friends, family or acquaintances, who just don't 'get' why we do what we do. Our own internal voices telling us we just aren't good enough have a big impact to. It takes determination to silence all these voices (internal and external) and push on anyway.


Do you have the discipline and determination to make it? Is there anything you need to work on to help you? Let me know in the comments below, I'd love to hear from you.

16 comments:

  1. We really do have to knock back all those negative comments and almost with blinkers on, keep taking that step until we reach where we want to go. I have found breaking down the challenge in to smaller pieces and just going for it is really useful. Thanks for sharing, looking forward to your other posts.

    Amanda - Realityarts-Creativity
    Art Blog

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  2. Thanks Amanda. I agree, breaking it down into smaller steps always helps me, otherwise it's too easy to become overwhelmed by it all.

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  3. Great post.
    Discipline and determination go hand-in-hand and the development of a "thick skin" to keep the negative voices away.
    I also think that writing is NOT for the faint hearted...
    I also enjoyed your tips on character worksheets and the "hot seat" idea!
    Happy A to Z'ing...

    http://writer-in-transit.co.za/

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    1. Thanks Michelle, you're right, this business is a lot harder than people think it is.

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  4. I did have the determination to make it and I did. I managed to get my debut traditionally published in October. Now I have to have the discipline to write the second book, which is actually much harder than the first.

    Nice to meet you. New follower via the A to Z.

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    1. Congratulations Nancy, it's always good to hear success stories. Good luck with book 2 and the rest of the A to Z Challenge.

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  5. Hello, Alana! This is a terrific post. I love those quotes. It's so true that to make it in writing-in anything-you've got to be disciplined and determined. You've got to want it bad enough!

    Happy A to Z-ing! from Laura Marcella @ Wavy Lines

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    1. Thank you Laura. You really do have to want it more than anything.

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  6. I'm totally with you on the lie-ins thing. Sometimes, determination can be helped along by remembering that allowing yourself a break every now and then is perfectly reasonable, in my opinion. Plus, I often find that lie-ins give me the opportunity for dreaming great inspirational dreams about what to write - so a winning idea all round :)

    Good luck with the AtoZ Challenge - from Spoon Paws @ www.mummyisagadgetgeek.co.uk

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    1. A little time off every now and then is essential or I think we'd all go insane and sometimes our dreams can provide the answer to a plot problem we've been looking for. Good luck with the rest of the challenge.

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  7. I'm determined to lie in whenever I like, and have struggled with discipline too. I'll definitely have to go away and think about this one a bit more. Great Post - Happy A-Z

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    1. Thanks Ida, it's always great to know I have given people something to think about :)

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  8. I've got the determination. It was the discipline that took a while to develop.

    Dropping by from A to Z. First year participating.

    Brett Minor
    Transformed Nonconformist

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    1. Thanks Brett, I'm hopeful taking part in this blogging challenge will help me with my discipline. It's my first year too. Good luck witht he rest of the challenge.

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  9. Great post! A routine really does help, but even if you only get a few words down, it's better than nothing! :)

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    1. Thank you Lara. You're right, I need to develop a much better routine, they always seems to fall apart after a few days! I do try to do at least one thing each day that moves me closer to my dreams though.

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