Writing is a HARD gig.  Anyone who has tried writing and subbing short stories or querying a novel or self-publishing anything can tell you that.  Oh, sure, some folks hit it out of the park on that first try.  But most people don’t.

So the path to published and successful writer is a long, hard slog full of rejection and self-doubt.

But the worst form of rejection is the one we impose on ourselves.

I have a writer friend who inspired a recent post about if you want to be a writer you need to write.  Well, that friend is now committing themselves to the Write 1/Sub 1 model where you write one story and sub it on a regular basis.  In this author’s case, once a month.

I just had the privilege of beta reading their first attempt.  And it was GOOD.  Not perfect, no.  But what is?

The idea was unique.  The character’s story was interesting.  It’s the type of story to make certain segments of the speculative fiction community foam at the mouth, but you can’t please everyone.  (Try to please everyone and you’ll write insipid, boring crap that’s a waste of time and effort.)

And this writer, even before anyone had beta read it, was already second-guessing themselves and wondering if it was good enough.  If they hadn’t committed to the W1/S1 model I’m pretty sure they would’ve already shoved it in a drawer somewhere.

My answer to whether it was good enough?  Yes.  Get it out there.

Because if you never get it out there, you will never find  your audience.  You will never sell a thing if you don’t sub or publish anything.

Which brings us back to the title of this post.  The most successful authors out there?  They’re the ones who are willing to stick with it long enough and try and fail enough times to succeed.

The most brilliant story ever written is probably moldering away in a drawer somewhere, written by an author who was too scared to show it to anyone.

Don’t be that author.  Write what you want to write and then GET IT OUT THERE.  And keep writing and keep getting your work out there until you find your audience.

The only way to succeed is to actually risk rejection and failure.