The Journey to Writing a Successful Story: a tip book

Never Give Up

You've heard this a dozen times, probably, and you're probably thinking, "It doesn't matter at this point now."

There are only a few reasons as to why someone gives up writing:

A) They don't have enough reads and feedback, which in turn, makes them believe that no one likes their story.

B) They don't like how their story is going.

C) They feel as though they suck at writing.

And D) People bring them down left and right, saying how they're not good at writing.

I'd like to think just about every author has felt those reasons, either one or two of them, or all of the above. I've felt like all of the above at different times and at the same time.

But here's the thing... never give up because of these reasons. You may back away slowly, your hands in the air in defense, and you may think, "You're wrong, Alicia." But I'm not wrong. Because here's why you shouldn't give up because of those reasons.

A) The amount of reads and feedback you have are just numbers. It doesn't tell you that your story is great. Look at some of the most popular stories: Fifty Shades of Grey is not that great... and Twilight isn't either. Some people may like those stories, but it doesn't make them the best stories in the world.

Everyone has their own tastes; if you like something, someone will too. But not everyone will like it. And you can't make everyone like it. Some people will hate it. Some people won't agree with it. I mean, I love The Hunger Games, but I know some people who hate that trilogy and the movies... they thought it sucked. I love dogs, but some people I know aren't that fond of them. It'll always be different with someone else. Always.

And just because someone has millions of reads and feedback doesn't mean you can be upset about it. Everyone here works hard to be noticed; they may have different ways to get noticed, like maybe a lot of their friends are on Facebook and reads their stories. Maybe they post videos about their stories on YouTube. Maybe they used the Share Your Story club.

Yes, you heard me correctly. There used to be a SYS club, not a thread. And that club was the only reason why a lot of people here who has sucky stories, has millions of reads and feedback. You may think it's unfair, which it kind of was, but they did get people to read their stories.

Don't give up because someone is more famous than you. Look at Hollywood; no one gets famous on their first try or during their first years. Vin Diesel got his big break for the Riddick trilogy - he used to be a club bouncer for the rich (and celebrities) and someone saw him and said that he looked badass. There you have it. Then he got into Fast and Furious and anything else he had been in.

Or Steven Spielberg. He wanted to be a movie director ever since he was little, when he first saw a movie in theaters. He used a camcorder and filmed his toy trains crashing into each other. One day, his school went on a field trip to Universal Studios and he stayed behind, meeting producers and directors, and taking his own tours to places that was restricted to go in. They were nice to him and told him that if he did that, he truly did belong. He went to film school, but dropped out because he got a job working on set for a show (as a director, I believe). Most people hated him except for the cast, but it was because he was 17 or so days behind on schedule. But he pursued his dream and never gave up - made multiple movies and now he's a big time producer and director!

B) If you don't like how it's going, then why didn't you plan it out? Stop writing and start planning; see where you went wrong and how you can fix it. That's where you can try to make it better again. And if you still don't think it's good enough, then drop the story and make a new one. It's that simple.

C) Writing is not for everyone. Writing is not easy. It's hard and it's for the skilled, the talented; unless you're writing as a hobby. But if you want to pursue a dream of becoming a published author one day, you will begin to hate it. Up to a point where you want to throw your computer out a 27-story building's window and watch it break into thousands of pieces. Up to a point where you want to rip apart the paper you're writing on in your notebook and burn it, then roast marshmellows on it for s'mores.

If someone told you that writing was easy, they're wrong and suck at writing, too. Trust me. I used to say it. There may be areas in the process that come easy to you, maybe like making a title, or an idea, or a character's name. Those can be easy. But writing itself is hard.

But that's the thing... everyone, all the writers, have started somewhere, and mostly, it's when they actually do suck at the beginning. There are very few writers out there that are amazing at what they do and are super young. But again, there's only a few. The rest of us get stuck with trying to figure out how to get words from our minds to the paper in front of us. And still, we're stuck being crappy writers for a long length of time.

Writing doesn't come from age; you can be sixty years old and suck at writing.

Becoming experienced with writing and actually earning that "pro-writer" sign on your forehead only comes when you've been writing for a long time and has actually tried to improve and has - from day one.

But you're not exactly a "pro-writer;" I don't think anyone is, honestly. You're just called "experienced" or "semi-experienced." There are tons of things that writers, even published writers, struggle with and can't call themselves professionals. There's always something that needs to be learned every day.

So how can you stop becoming a sucky writer? Read. A lot; published books (learn from them) and amateur projects (understand their faults). Write. A lot; improve with every chapter - look back at your previous works and see where you can try to make it better. Get feedback. A lot; fresh eyes and a separate person that isn't afraid to share their most honest and detailed review is better than having the author try to destroy their own baby.

And D) You won't be told that you're amazing all the time. You will be told your faults; where you need to work at; you will be told that your writing just isn't that interesting. And that is okay. Again, we all have our interests. Someone may say that you're an amazing writer because to them, you are. But someone else may say that you're a sucky writer and your writing needs to be burned to the ground, because to them, your writing isn't that great.

Don't let them destroy you. You can try to improve on behalf of their "advice." But don't get carried away. You can't please everyone. No matter what you do, someone else will not like it. Some may, but others won't. It's back to how everyone has different interests.

When I was starting out, I wasn't told I was great. I wasn't told that I was bad either. I was told that I had creative ideas that did need some work in them, but were good ideas in general, and that I needed to work harder on editing because I sucked at grammar, punctuation, spelling, and well... editing. I was told that by my father. Fast forward five to six years and Wattpad had given me the opportunity to improve my writing over time. I did and one day, I wrote a essay. I had given it to my parents and they cried. The very first time that they had cried over my writing. My dad had sat me down and told me how amazing I write and how much I've improved throughout all these years.

And I was on the brink of giving up once. Right before I found Wattpad, I had just completed a book (it was a short story, basically, since it wasn't long...) and I sent it over to a publisher. They never responded back, which usually means they hated it. When I went back to my story and tried to figure out where I went wrong and why they don't like it, I realized right then and there that I sucked at writing. I cried for a week and almost gave up completely. But I told myself that if I wanted to be a writer one day, I would have to bulk up and continue on.

That was what I did.

I wouldn't be here if I gave up, now, would I?

Every writer will feel like they need to, want to, or have to give up. But when you're losing your passion for writing, think of reasons of why you shouldn't quit. You may feel like giving up is the only option you have, but giving up can destroy you.

Don't give up. Ever.