“You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over the hurdles and break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you. If you don't have that kind of feeling for what it is you're doing, you'll stop at the first giant hurdle.” George Lucas
That “feeling” Lucas talks about is Passion. Nothing great was ever accomplished without it. It’s easy to dream. Dreaming and talking about being a writer takes little to no effort. Actually making the commitment to write on a regular basis, planning your life around how to succeed as a writer and taking action toward achieving that end, is another mindset altogether. It doesn’t just happen and it doesn’t happen at all without passion – that force that drives you forward to your goal, your dream, no matter what.
The “no matter what” part is the toughest, though, for many of us. No matter what means, writing through difficult, emotional times. Writing through uncertainty, bad relationships, poverty, addiction, illness, stress, death or just a bad day with clarity takes a disciplined mind. Discipline to keep on keeping on with your dream of being a writer despite all the detours and u-turns you inevitably face.
I’m so impressed with one writer friend and former client of mine from my lit agenting days. Her father passed away about a year or so ago. She was a daddy’s girl and was understandably heart broken with his passing. She took her time to grieve but not soon after, got back to writing full steam. That’s not to say she didn’t face challenges, didn’t want to get out of bed, didn’t want to see the sun shine, but she wrote through it with such professionalism, discipline and clarity. She has to, her writing pays the bills.
If you’re passionate about writing and really want to make a living with it, write as though you’re paying the bills with your work. It may not be your reality yet, but if you keep at it, it will be. Tell yourself that every day and believe it. Passion means nothing without action behind it. Passion is fuel and action is motion. Put them to good use.
