Readers of this blog are generally those who want to write themselves. Many of you are aspiring writers and mostly unpublished.

I have discussed previously how some writers go about their craft and that is useful for you to know.

Recently I was reading an interesting post on the same subject but from a slightly different perspective.

What Study Hacks has done is to collect a bunch of interviews with Professional Writers ans analyse them to find out if there are common behaviour patterns of working.

He found that there were. You can read more about how to schedule your writing like a professional. In summary though this is what most seem to do:

1. Spread out work on an assignment over several days. Coming at it fresh increases its quality.
2. During these days, get up early. Probably earlier than you are used to. Say, around 7 or 8 am. (This means these days will be weekdays, probably early in the week so you can avoid temptations to party the night before).
3. Have a mini-ritual to jump start the day. It should probably involve coffee. Breakfast. Maybe the morning paper. Don’t take too long.
4. Go to the most isolated place possible.
5. To get your mind ready to think, review the last pages you wrote.
6. Work for two or three hours. Then stop.
7. Follow this habit regularly. Don’t write during other times. Don’t write in public places. Don’t start writing the day before.

So there you have it, can these tips help you?

There are many aspiring writers who think that they just don’t have sufficient talent to be able to write a compelling story. There are also those who foster this attitude but this is a falsehood. Talent, while it may make some things a bit easier, is actually the least of the required attributes of successful writers.

The reality is that, while the nature vs nurture argument is a fascinating subject for discussion over a glass of wine or two. it is totally irrelevant to any budding writer. If you can’t go back in time and change your parents, grandparents or great-grandparents there is no other choice. Are you going to abandon your dreams of writing excellence just because we don’t happen to be in that exalted gifted few? Of course not. Neither you or I have to be in the top 1% of writers to enjoy a substantial career and financial success. The top 30% is sufficient.

This is very fortunate because it means that, if you are like me, you can still be a professional writer. I don’t have a lot of talent for writing, I have to work at things even as small as this article to make it a readable and compelling piece. I find that I write more slowly than many of my peers. It can take me hours to write what appears to be a simple 4-500 word article or blog post.

Even then I’m not at all certain that I couldn’t have written it better. I do think that my writing has improved over the years that I have been practicing though and that is really the point.

I believe that writing is a craft with methods and techniques that help the craftsperson to write better. Ultimately though there are two main attributes which you will need to either have or obtain to reach the goal of being a successful writer.

You need to have focus and honesty.

• Focus is the ability to write 500 words every day for as long as it takes.
• Focus is the ability to write for a solid hour without being distracted by the telephone, toilet breaks, coffee, the dog/cat or anything else short of the house burning down.
• Focus is the ability to ignore the little voice in your head which is saying you can’t do this.

If you can do this or believe you can learn how to do this then you have a great chance to see your dreams come true. You will have to keep

writing despite the problems and apparent lack of success. Stephen King said in his Playboy interview that he felt he was wasting his time and was a failure because his first two books weren’t published. But he still didn’t stop writing. He couldn’t because he was driven to write, not driven to succeed. If his only motivation was to be a successful highly paid writer he may have quit then but it wasn’t.

In the real world the most popular and A students usually don’t reach any dizzying heights of success because they have achieved in school with little effort. The students who do well in life are those who were B and C students and who had to work hard to get those results. Many go on to live fantastic lives because they have learned to work for their achievements.

Honesty is the real workhorse of writing.

• Being honest with yourself is the first step. You have to determine what your skill level is currently and what you need to do or learn to gain the skills required to reach the goals you desire.
• Honesty is your ability to create memorable characters from the depths of yourself. What are your greatest fears? Your greatest loves? What makes you angry? What makes you laugh? Understanding yourself is the first step in understanding others and this is where great characters are created. Once you can analyse and understand the human condition you will never lack characters who are real. These are the ones your readers can identify with, get angry with, fall in love with and who they will talk to their friends about.
• If you wish to create an emotional response from your reader you must first write to evoke that emotional response within yourself or with someone whom you respect.
• Honesty is giving your writing your best effort every time. If this is the last piece I write would I still be satisfied with it? Does it do what I want it to do? There is no need for clever lines, just deliver the truth.

What do you belive to be the core human condition? Why do we behave the way we do, say the things we say, love the people we love? Can you come up with some explanations for the differences, conflicts, similarities, conciliation and contradictions of humans? The answers will help deliver your writing style or voice.

There is a brilliant, if sexist, line in the movie “As Good As It Gets” where Melvin is asked how he is able to write such great female characters. His answer is “I think of what a man would do and then remove all logic and common sense.” Coming from such a flawed character this is amusing. What it does though is clearly state his position on women. It is this line which established why he behaves the way he does towards Carol and also why he had so much trouble accepting that he really was attracted to her.

What are your beliefs on God, the universe, life on other planets? When you have a solid idea of your own position on these things you can write with greater honesty and that shows through in your work. Your readers will appreciate it even if they don’t agree with you.

Focus and honesty will help you reach the limits of your potential. Why would you ask for more potential if you haven’t reached the limit of the potential your were given as your birthright?