Today I am posting for Insecure Writers Support Group! The sign up for this is HERE & of course the wonderful Alex J Cavanaugh set this up.
I know he has some awesome co hosts this month and I wanted to give them a shout out (as I know how helpful my own co hosts for Celebrate on a Friday are!) They are:
This month I have been thinking about TENACITY. One of my critique partners complimented my TENACITY. It is funny because I think that just comes with being a writer, doesn't it? We have to finish that draft, then edit it and edit some more and more and query and query more and ... well you get the idea. If you weren't tenacious you wouldn't get very far.
It is hard though isn't it because one doesn't want to be the person on X Factor (or whatever - American Idol!) who tenaciously auditions over and over and doesn't realise they are, in fact, tone deaf.
But we have to assume that our kindly critique partners would politely point out what isn't good and not let us go forward until we are ready. & If they are not, if they are complementing our tenacity - maybe that means we're doing something right...
What do you think?
I'd take it as a good sign - tenacious writers are the ones who get published! If you have honest critique partners who point out flaws as well as complimenting, it definitely means you're getting somewhere! :)
ReplyDeleteIf a writer isn't tenacious, they never become a writer.
ReplyDeleteI think about those horrible singers who audition and wonder...
Ha! We ARE tenacious. Never used this to described us before, but it fits well . . . and thank goodness for those trusty critique partners who would tell us if we were being "write-deaf" :P
ReplyDeleteThat's a scary thought! I agree though, writers have to be tenacious.
ReplyDeleteTenacity and determination are very important qualities, both for breaking into publishing and for staying there!
ReplyDeleteThere is world of different between redrafting and reworking (good) and a piece being being rejected and simply sent straight out again (bad). Both good be described as tenacity,
ReplyDeleteTenacity is definitely needed to be a writer. It is a great quality to have bestowed upon you!
ReplyDeleteEven those "singers' I use that term lightly here, who are horrible but still go on stage should be proud of their own tenacity... They just need to find the right thing to aim it towards!
Cheers,
Shelly
Emma Adams - thank you, I will take it as a good sign!
ReplyDeleteAlex J. Cavanaugh - I agree!
S.K. Anthony - write deaf, that's a great phrase!
Laura Clipson - we do!
Lara Lacombe - they so are!
Julia - that's very true.
oldmomsunite - very true, they should be proud of their tenacity still!
I consider tenacity a good thing, right up there with perseverance and a certain amount of stubbornness. We keep at it until we get it right.
ReplyDeleteI'd never have gotten an agent or been published without tenacity, determination, and sheer mule-headedness. If you've got that, you've won half the battle already. "The successful author is the one that didn't give up."
ReplyDeleteLori - yes ,perseverance is also a good way of putting it!
ReplyDeleteLexa - very true quote!