This website – The Adventurous Writer – isn’t just about my successes and failures as a freelance writer and book author. That’s secondary, because I dislike writing about myself. Rather, this site is about how to succeed as a novelist and nonfiction writer!
How writers succeed is as easy (and as complicated) as one thing: commitment. And maybe self-discipline, too.
“Few novelists play golf, go bowling, or watch much television,” writes James N. Frey in How to Write a Damn Good Novel. “The writing of a novel takes a great deal of time and emotional and mental energy. Time normally spent with friends and loved ones will have to be sacrificed.” Continue reading 'How Freelancers, Nonfiction Writers, and Novelists Succeed'»
Rejected Writing, Successful Writers, Writing Tips
| 
addicted to writing, discipline & commitment, freelance writing, novel writing, personality traits, Quips and Tips for Successful Writers, sacrifices, succeeding as a writer, The Adventurous Writer, writing failures
Ever submitted something to a writing contest? Did you lose? Yeah…me, too. Below is a piece I wrote for the Surrey International Writers Conference, about being addicted to writing. It didn’t win, place or show — but it improved my writing skills and it spurred me to write a blog post for Quips and Tips for Successful Writers! That article is called 7 Things to Do When You Didn’t Win the Writing Contest.
When you get rejected by editors or don’t win writing contests, remember Beckett’s classic quotation about failure:
“Ever tried, ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” – Samuel Beckett.
I love it! All writers must snuggle up to failure and rejection (we have to be adventurous that way! Resilient! Bounceback-able!).
Here’s my entry for the writing contest — it’s a letter to my husband Bruce. The theme? being addicted to writing. The hook? wonderful quotations from published authors about the writer’s life… Continue reading 'Addicted to Writing – A Writers Contest Entry'»
Comments (9) 
Themocracy