Persistence is a virtue

[updated: originally published in 2016]

I’ve read it in books and heard it in classes: Persistence is what often separates a writer from a published author. It just might be true.

Twenty-six years ago I became interested in tuberculosis as a topic. Fourteen years ago I published my first article on the topic. Four years ago I decided to leave full-time work and concentrate on writing a book. Today, I have a contract. Next year, my book will be published.

That’s probably a longer timeline than most people would tolerate. It worked for me, though. I finished a B.A. degree in writing in 2002, and then I received a paycheck while getting a lot of on-the-job experience in researching and editing. In the meantime, I sent out a few book proposals and received some encouraging feedback. No contracts. Now, I am glad that no offer materialized. The revised manuscript I produced this year is so much better than what I would have published a few years ago.

The best advice I can give to achieve publication is “do what works for you,” but keep those five points in mind. Write about what you love, seek support and inspiration in a group of like-minded people, read to learn as well as to relax, go outside your comfort zone to improve your writing skills, and do something every day to keep your brain engaged.

• Daily writing habits?  I have none. When I force myself to sit down and write, I produce crap that I have to rewrite. Instead, I try do something every day that’s related to the project. I read articles or books, sort through photos, or concentrate my research on someone or something that merits more attention. The topic is constantly humming in my subconscious, and I write down thoughts that surface. When I do sit down at the computer, it feels as if the preceding busywork has gestated, and words are ready to be born. Pages fill rapidly.
• Self-improvement?  The writing classes I have attended since I got my degree have been in poetry and script writing. I improved my prose with the former and my dialogue with the latter. I may never be a poet or a screenwriter.
• Books?  I gravitate toward non-fiction or historical fiction. If I set a book down after a few chapters and never pick it up again, I try to analyze why. If a book of a 1,000 pages is a must-finish, I study one chapter. It helped me to read Barbara Tuchman’s essays in Practicing History concurrently with her tome, Guns of August. Tuchman, like me, did not have an advanced degree in history. We agree that an academic voice often smothers an interesting topic.
• What about love? I am obsessed with my topic. Tuchman said that being in love with your subject is “indispensable for writing good history — or good anything, for that matter” (Practicing History, p. 14).
• Inspiration?  I belong to a research group, not a writing group. It’s kind of like a book club, except we aren’t all studying the same thing. We report on individual progress, ask for suggestions on resources, and rejoice in successes. We don’t critique each other’s work. We are mostly a bunch of introverts who emerge once a month to inspire and energize each other.