I once read an article that claimed that you can’t really count yourself a good writer without having written full time (40hrs a week) for 10 years. That’s about 20,800 hours. For someone like me who only gets maybe 2 hours a day or 10hrs a week in, that would take a lifetime to achieve (okay, 40 years). But that’s daunting and can be discouraging when you think about it in those terms. But that wasn’t the point of the article. The point was: every time you sit down to write; you learn how to write better. As you go through the process, you learn. It’s the age old adage of practice makes perfect.
So, if you are at a point where you feel you will never reach the same level of mastery as some greats in your genre or even some middle of the road authors in your genre, keep writing. Keep practicing your craft. Because you can’t learn unless you do, and you can’t achieve a higher level of mastery without practicing the lessons you’ve learned.
One day you will look back on what you’ve done today and marvel at how far you’ve come. So keep going. Keep writing, even through the hard times. Even when you think a toddler could do better. Keep putting in the hours. Keep burning the midnight oil. It’s worth it. There are people out there who want to read your words, who need to hear those words. Don’t rob them of that gift by quitting when the road gets tough.
I’ll say it again. Writing improves writing. Every! Single! Time!
