TEN REASONS WRITERS FAIL

Here's a list of excuses writers use not to write. Each of these work-dodging excuses will insure your failure as a writer. To succeed - eliminate these excuses.

1) "I have writer's block, and I can't think or write." The only people who can't think are the dead. Unless you start thinking, you'll be dead as a writer. All writing does not have to be good to be written - it only has to be good to be sent.

2) "If I can't write good prose, I'll wait until I can." You may die first. At least if you write a bad article, you'll know what not to write the next time.

3) "I'm not inspired, nor do I feel creative." Writing, not the lack of it, inspires and starts the creative juices flowing.

4) "I don't feel good, and I don't feel like writing." Anyone who lets emotions or feelings dictate when they write will write seldom.

5) "I have to continue to polish this article." As long as you don't send the article in, you won't get a rejection slip or a check. Set a deadline for completing your article, work toward that deadline, and send in the piece on or before your own deadline.

6) "I'm afraid of rejection." The writers who write the most often are rejected the most in the beginning. Fear of rejection is a main reason writers don't write. Accepting rejection is the key to success.

7) "I need a quiet place to work." The only place that remains quiet and undisturbed is a tomb. If you're being distracted by noise, phone calls or other people, then you want to be distracted.

8) "The editor wanted this article on too short a deadline," or, "The story is worth more than the editor is willing to pay." Successful writers always meet impossible deadlines. If you're not working on something else and can make a few dollars for your piece, sell it. No matter what you think of your work, it is only worth what an editor is willing to pay for it.

9) "I just don't have any good ideas." This statement says that you haven't studied the market, you're not a writer, you have nothing to say, or you're not willing to learn new skills or meet new people to find new ideas.

10) "That magazine gets so many article ideas that I don't have a chance to sell to it." You don't stand a chance if you don't send in your ideas. A racehorse that never runs never wins a race.

I've learned there are only two types of writers in the world - writing writers and talking writers. Writing writers write. Talking writers talk about writing but rarely write. To become a writing writer - write.