The Things Every Writer Needs to Hear

@xPrestigiousWolfx

Hello! xPrestigiousWolfx here.

First of all, I'd like to thank the wonderful @sarsar14 for providing this little booklet of smiles and all of the readers for brining those grins to their own faces! I hope you find this chapter motivating and that it drives determination into your heart.

I'm sure you've all been there: "The Rut." The Rut is full of bleak ideas and lack of drive everywhere you look. With every thought of all those great possibilities and future outcomes for your book, you are digging another shovelful into the ground. You keep going deeper and deeper until one day, something happens to take the blinders off your eyes and all you see are the crumbling dirt walls of The Rut.

Typically, this is when somebody tells you you're in The Rut. "You can't depend on writing to be your career. You'll never make enough money." "You're just not good enough. The chances of you having a popular story is about impossible in this world." Sometimes, it may be yourself telling you these things. Maybe you've been reading some good books and thought, I'll never write as good as that.

Well, I'm here to tell you something right here, right now, that is vitally important. An analogy that you must never forget: Success is not a naturally occurring element; it is a man-made item that only the holder can craft. Success is a gem that is hiding under layers and layers of dirt, roots, and grime. You must find it, polish it, and show it off to the world.

When somebody tells you you're not good enough, kick that thought out of your mind and say, "Watch me!" Because they aren't the ones crafting your success. They are spitting on your gem and trying to hide it from you.

Some people even have the audacity to tell you your story isn't "good enough." The "plot line is too weak." The "characters aren't relatable." Just about every time I tell my friends about my story Ashes of the Legend, do you want to know what I hear? "A book about dogs would never survive the market." "It's lame." You must overcome those comments, because in your heart, when you're writing your story, you know you're slowly scraping the dirt off your gem. Don't let others tell you differently.

Why should their opinions matter? Don't write for them, write for yourself. Write what you want, what is digging you towards your gem, because it's the first step to finding it. When people ask you why you're even in The Rut-that it is too difficult and hopeless- tell them, "If I don't work a little harder, how is that gem going to be cleaned?"

No matter what anybody says, The Rut isn't a bad thing. The Rut means you've taken your first step towards that gem! If you want success, don't let other's words change you. Get down there, and start digging for your gem. You're going to have to work hard, you'll be tired and feel that all is hopeless, but in the end, if you  give it your all, you will find your gem. You will polish it clean.

When people drag you down for being inside The Rut, remember: that is where your gem lies.