(This is mostly a pep-talk for myself. Feel free to skip it. However, it has pretty photos, so if you want to look at those, I say yay. 
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See the writing in red up there? It is truth.
Some people have asked me why I’m on Twitter, and one of the reasons is networking. See, it’s usually hard to connect with other authors because - let’s face it - authors have lives. They are, however, often accessible through Twitter, and they’re usually willing to talk about their writing process.
Know what I’ve learned from them? Writing is hard work.
It requires discipline.
It requires determination, sometimes in the face of very cruel criticism.
It requires reading other people, learning what works and what doesn’t and analyzing why.
It requires teachability – willingness to admit we don’t know what we’re doing, and willingness to learn.
Most of all, however, it requires a word that does not exist: notquittingness. Notquittingness defeats rejection. Notquittingness keeps the writer going and focused, regardless of support. Notquittingness allows the writer to say, “okay, this scene doesn’t work, and I’m going to find out why if it takes the rest of my life.”
Notquittingness is something I have in droves. Maybe it’ll take me more than a decade to get published, a la fabulous author Jay Lake. Maybe it won’t. Either way, I am notquitting all the way to the bookstore.
DIY Thesis Theme
Editors and Predators