7 Things Successful Writers Don’t Say

It’s easy to be hard on yourself. As a writer, you are a perfectionist. You want to be the best writer you can be.

And it sucks to struggle at it.

You turn to successful writers—the ones with the book deals and CEO titles—and you say, “some people have all the luck.”

That’s not something successful writers say.

If you want to be successful at writing, train yourself to think like a successful writer. So stop saying things that successful writers don’t have the time to say.

“It’s impossible to do that.”

Tell yourself that you can’t do something, then guess what? You won’t be able to do it.

Why work against yourself?

I’m not saying that you should try defying basic laws of nature. But if your writing goal is reasonable, don’t stand in your own way. Focus on how to make your writing goal a reality by breaking it up into achievable steps.

“I’m not in control of what I do.”

Is there really someone spending countless hours working tirelessly to prevent you from being successful in writing?

I didn’t think so.

And let go of the idea of “destiny” and “fate.” Pour all your energy doing what you need to do to make it happen.

It’s your life. It’s your writing goal. Own it.

“I’ll work on it later.”

That writing goal isn’t going anywhere, right?

Only when you’re doing nothing about it.

Wouldn’t you rather look back on your life glad that you had the courage to pursue that writing goal instead of pining over what could have been?

Stop procrastinating. Get to work.

“What if I fail?”

You probably will. You’ll fail many times.

Then one day, you’ll succeed.

Being afraid of failure means you already failed. And that’s not a way to start your writing goal.

Don’t ignore it. Analyze your fear and deal with it now so you can move forward with your writing goal.

“There’s no point.”

When I run a race, there’s that moment while I’m pushing myself so hard that I think that putting myself through this misery isn’t worth it.

When this moment comes—and it always does—I return to my mental mantra: Laugh about this moment later.

And I don’t quit.

When I accept my race metal, I laugh at that moment.

There comes a point when you’ll feel overwhelmed and quitting seems like an option.

Don’t make it an option. You’ll be glad you didn’t.

“That’s a lot of work.”

Of course it is. If success was easy, everyone would do it. It wouldn’t be much of a writing goal if you didn’t have to put in any effort.

Don’t compare yourself to your pals who are going on long vacations or watching TV marathons. That’s their choice.

It’s not yours.

“I don’t know where to start.”

Start somewhere. Start anywhere. Get the momentum going.

Don’t think about all the things you need to do to get there. Pick a task and do it. Pick another and complete that one.

You’ll have a better idea of how to get to that goal more efficiently and effectively once you start.

But you have to start.

You’re pursuing your writing goal because you want to be happy. So choose happy, motivating thoughts to think that keep your passion and inspiration alive. It’s your choice to pursue this writing goal and it’s your choice on your attitude about it.

What are other things successful writers don’t say? Share the quotes below.