31 Ways We All Fall Down

When we are feeling rudderless, the mental health gurus encourage us to find your why. Why are you a writer? If you’ve been at this a while, you may ask yourself, “Why am I still a writer?”

For many of us, getting into the brain tickle business doesn’t feel like a choice. It’s more like the profession chose you. It’s a calling, right? As a kid, you loved to read. Writing books seemed like the next natural progression.

Here’s what I want you to know:

There are many paths up the mountain, and there are a lot of twists and turns ahead:

The lightning bolt of success will strike, but maybe it won’t hit you.
Others will succeed. You will read their books, and you shall be mystified by their success.
Some who appear successful really aren’t.
Some who don’t appear successful really are.
You may learn something from the success of others. You may not.
There are many moving parts you can’t see and variables you can’t control.
Other people’s success or failure has nothing to do with you. Don’t be jealous.
You may achieve early success, but it won’t last.
You may achieve success later. That probably won’t last, either. (People are obsessed with the new, even if it’s not as good as the old.)
You may be writing to achieve a legacy, but in the end, despite your best and better efforts, you’ll probably be known for just one thing. Scary thought. huh?
You’ll get bad reviews for something in your book you thought was innocuous.
The stuff you thought might piss off some readers will sail by without fireworks.
You may write a brilliant book. The market does not necessarily reward brilliance.
Writing and marketing are two separate activities. A good marketer can outpace a great writer.
Odds are against it, but you could hit it big with your first book or first series. It might have been a fluke, so don’t go around thinking you’re a genius too soon.
Being gifted is great, but it can set you up for disappointment later. Just do the work and ease up on the unrealistic expectations. Unrealistic expectations is what the lottery is for.
Hard work and consistency often outpace talent.
Elementary skills, solid craft, and dramatic chops are important, but not everything.
Marketing skills are important, but not everything.
Gurus will act like they have all the answers. (A) Taking their courses without acting on their advice is a waste of money you could have used for a writing retreat at an Air B&B, and (B) they don’t have all the answers, but acting as if they do is Salesmanship 101.
Influence, advertising, presence, and followers can be bought. If you don’t have the cash, you aren’t sprinting from the same starting line as those who have the moolah.
You can do everything right, and still fail.
You can do everything wrong. That’s probably your first book, the one that should have stayed in a drawer.
I’ll tell you what many won’t: luck and timing are factors and they are beyond your control.
Advertising, celebrity endorsements, and/or a nod from a social media influencer can make a bad book sell. (I know of an author whose books are not at all grammatical. His first language is not English. He needs translator and an editor. Because of endorsements, he’s getting sales on terrible books.)
Life’s not fair. You knew that already, but as cruel as life can be, the market can be meaner.
You and your readership may disagree on which are your best books.
You will have a baby that you’re sure is the cutest, and yet it will squat there on your sales page, mostly unreviewed and unloved.
That new shiny idea you chased might turn into a book series. Hurray! Hitch your wagon to a star! At some point, you’ll sit at your keyboard feeling like you’ve hitched your wagon to a stump. You’ve got newer, shinier ideas, but you feel like you can’t move on.
Unless you’re a psychopathic narcissist, you will have doubts, and worries about your writing career. That doesn’t go away, it just ebbs and flows.
Writing more books gives you more shots on goal, but failure is normal. Failure is so common, huge publishers put out big lists of books so the few successes pay for the rest that get remaindered.

These are not all happy, happy, joy, joy things to say, are they? So here’s the good news:

Contrary to what you may have thought, you do have a choice. Yes, you could quit. It may be a calling, but you don’t have to answer that call.

Alternatively, you could let it go to voicemail while you reevaluate your assumptions, rejuvenate your mind, and rethink your strategy. Or you could just plunge forward, full steam ahead, damn the torpedoes. You will probably do exactly that. I’m not here to discourage you. I just want you to know you are not alone sitting there in doubt and frustration as you stare at the horrible, impatient blinking cursor wondering if you’ve made an irreversible mistake.

You haven’t made one mistake. You’ve made plenty and you’ll make more. But someday, maybe, all those mistakes will contribute to your creation of something glorious for all to see.