Persistence is Important

One thing I can say for myself is, I'm not a quitter. That's not to say I haven't tried new things and found that I didn't like them, but if I do find something I enjoy and I think it's doable, I keep at it. That's often frustrating; I get impatient with myself for not being "good", but that also spurs me on to keep trying. No one is harder on me than me.

I'm judgemental toward people who give up too easily. One setback and they flee. It's a sign of character weakness. With writing, I threaten to quit all the time (see my previous posts), but even while I'm saying it, I know it's not true. I can't quit. What would I think of myself if I quit? Would I be proud? "The going got tough, so you stopped going. Good for you!"

When I wrote my first song, it was okay; not terrible, but had I stopped songwriting after that first one, I would have never known just how good I could be. From a simple three-chord song I expanded into melodies I didn't even know I could conjure up, and my lyrics grew in depth. I became good.

Fiction writing is taking far longer. I'm not yet good, but I'm improving. If I hit a dead end, never got any better, then I would know writing is just not for me. For now, I'll keep trying to conquer it, trying to discover the magic formula. But it won't be magic; it'll be persistence, trying and failing, and trying some more.

This novel might not work out to my satisfaction. In fact, it most likely won't, but then again, I'm a tough taskmaster. 

I may not be good, but I'm not a quitter.