How Much Do You Want To Succeed As A Writer?

Earlier, I revealed a secret about achieving goals — namely that, if one concentrates more and more on the specifics of a goal, naming each part of it in detail, then the tendency is for a person to persist more hardily towards accomplishing that goal.

For writers, the goal of ‘Writing a novel’ needs to be broken down over time into sub-goals for it to stand much chance of being achieved. But there is another way to increase the likelihood of reaching one’s targets, and that is to do with magnifying ‘want.' If you can increase desire, then obstacles tend to shrink and persistence grows stronger.

It’s easy to antagonise someone who wants to make a successful career as a writer. Just tell him or her that they don’t want to be a writer enough. They are likely to scream and shout in protest: ‘Of course I want it enough!’ they will cry. ‘If you only knew how much I want it, you wouldn’t dare to say such a thing!’

And yet they are often stuck in routines and habits which are getting in the way of them generating enough work to ever be a success as a writer. Not all writers, of course — but some, if questioned, will eventually reveal that they spend 20 hours each week watching television or browsing social media when they could have been writing. Or they spend too long doing something else. Obviously, other ‘wants’ got in the way.