Determination or Genius? What Does it TAKE to Succeed as a Writer?

"What do I have to DO, to get anywhere with this?" is a question I've heard quite often from wannabe bloggers and writers, over the years.

As I look back over 40-odd years of writing somewhat "seriously," I also remember asking a similar question myself, when I was in college; I was taking creative writing courses.

"Quality Matters!"

Here on Steemit, a lot of people talk about "quality content" and so forth, and that discussion also exists — in variations — outside the Steemitsphere. 

But what exactly do we mean by "quality?"

One of the things that became very clear to me — even 40 years ago — is that whereas it is nice to have some degree of talent and/or brilliance as a wordsmith, talent alone is seldom the deciding factor in whether or not someone becomes successful.

I remember one of my college creative writing professors inviting everyone in the class (as a tongue-in-cheek assignment) to take a trip to the nearest bookstore and see for ourselves just how many (or "few," as it were) books in print were actually of anything that even remotely resembled "literature quality."

His estimate — as a published author — was "less than 1%."

Not What We Want to Hear!

When you consider yourself a somewhat decent writer, it can be a little disheartening to be told that your skills — in what you might consider your "craft" — don't really matter all that much.

But I have run into that firsthand, years back, trying to sell articles to magazines as a freelancer... and being told that my pieces were "wonderful" but needed to be revised to "a 10th grade level" or something similar. OUT go any complex or esoteric words; IN come their simpler replacements.

Unhappymaking, when you've worked hard on a piece and think you created something good?

You bet!

Which brings us back to the whole issue of "quality content," and how we define it.

If you look around at the vast majority of blogs around the web, even the most popular ones out there are far from high quality, from a writing perspective. 

Connecting With Your Audience

Once we get past the initial idea that we have to be really good writers, the secondary definition of quality content is that it has an authentic "voice" and it connects with your target audience. 

And this is where knowing "who you are" and what message you have to impart becomes essential.

From that perspective, we have many "quality content creators" here on Steemit. I won't list them by name because that's kinda spammy, but they are they ones you tend to return to, over and over, simply because their content is interesting.

They are the ones that pretty much make you forget whether or not their posts were "published for rewards," and you'll often notice that some of their posts are really well rewarded and some earn almost nothing... which is surprisingly often a hallmark of content created from a place of authenticity, rather than "to sell" or to "be popular." 

There are exceptions, of course. There always are!

Consistency and Perseverance

There really are no magic "success pills" for bloggers and other writers. The biggest favor you can do yourself — once you're comfortable with your "voice" as a writer — is to be determined and consistent... and keep plugging away at it.

In this context, I will mention a couple of favorite Steemians, because they are excellent examples: @whatsup, who has written TWO recent posts — "They Laughed When We Said... $3 dollar Steem" and "I made 95 posts that didn't earn a thing" epitomize what it takes to succeed not only on Steemit, but in writing. The other example is @arbitrarykitten whose post "The Truth About Writing Time" underscores the importance of taking time to write every single day. 

I chose these two as examples because they are seasoned community members with thousands of posts to their credit; not "another newbie trying to cash in on giving advice to newbies."

I'll wrap it up by adding this: Focus on YOUR writing, and stop worrying about what others are doing. And stop getting butthurt every time someone else earned better rewards than you for an inferior post. Those are the breaks; move on and keep writing!

How about YOU? My first question would be whether or not you're "trying to succeed as a writer/blogger" here on Steemit? Or are you just "dabbling" in this, for fun? Are you consciously trying to use Steemit to build "Brand You?" Or are you "just here for the money?" What does "succeeding" LOOK like, to you — as a writer; as a social content creator? What determines success? Will you know success when it arrives — or do you already have it? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

created by @zord189

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 180503 15:49 PDT