One Key to Writing Success: Not Quitting

by Beth K. Vogt on @BethVogt

I was chatting with author Edie Melson the other day, one of those spontaneous phone calls that leaves you smiling hours later. We talked about real life and our writing lives—specifically her involvement with Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference (BRMCWC). Not just her involvement, but how her leadership has helped BRMCWC grow into one of the premier writing conferences in the country.

Edie explained her success this way: I just don’t quit.

And then she laughed.

But not quitting is no laughing matter.

My response to Edie was this: Not quitting is very hard.

Think about that for a minute, friends.

We all face days when quitting would be the easy thing to do. You power down the laptop, push away from your writing desk, and be done with writing. You’re finished with:

• The maybes
• The w-a-i-t-i-n-g
• The financial struggles
• The disappointments of failure
• The stressors of success
• The deadlines
• The comparison traps 
• The imposter syndrome 

Quitting means you don’t do any of that anymore.

Choosing not to quit? That’s the hard choice. The brave choice. The choice that is going to cost you time and effort and hard work. 

Not quitting means you persevere. You juggle competing time demands. Rewrite scenes because they’re not quite right. Ignore reviews—good ones and bad ones—because they can play havoc with our mental health. Find your community who’ll support you because other writers “get us.” 

I wrote a blog post months ago about eliminating the words “I quit” from our vocabulary. My suggestion back then was to abandon the words “I quit” and instead ask, “What’s next?”

Edie always looks for the next thing God has waiting for her. Her faith is bigger than any doubts that come knocking on her door. She takes time to refresh her spirit and she also encourages others to take care of themselves by leaning into God through creativity. If you haven’t already done so, check out her series of books on Soul Care. 

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One Key to Writing Success: Not Quitting - insight from author @BethVogt on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Beth K. Vogt believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” Having authored nine contemporary romance novels and novellas, The Best We’ve Been, the final book in Beth’s Thatcher Sisters Series with Tyndale House Publishers, releasers May 2020. Other books in the women’s fiction series include Things I Never Told You, which won the 2019 AWSA Award for Contemporary Novel of the Year, and Moments We Forget. Beth is a 2016 Christy Award winner, a 2016 ACFW Carol Award winner, and a 2015 RITA® finalist. An established magazine writer and former editor of the leadership magazine for MOPS International, Beth blogs for Learn How to Write a Novel and The Write Conversation and also enjoys speaking to writers group and mentoring other writers. Visit Beth at bethvogt.com.