The Secret to Writing Success that No One Wants to Hear

You've heard the stories of a first book pulled from the slush pile, a chance whisper at a party leading to a publishing deal, or a subway meet cute miracle resulting in bestseller fame. Those stories never go away, they just linger in the ether, digging into our minds.

They're lovely stories that keep you dreaming at night. But they all hinge on something nobody can control: phenomenal cosmic luck.

If you want your success to rest on getting insanely lucky, this blog post isn't for you.

On the other hand, if you want to follow a path to success that thousands of artists have followed, I'm going lay it out for you.

Who follows this plan? Actors, comedians, musicians, filmmakers, writers, fine artists, startup entrepreneurs, and every group of professionals that has to deal with creative growth, uncertainty, and rejection.

Here's the plan:

Find a group of people who share your goals. A group focused on moving towards those goals with the same level of commitment as you. A community who works to stay positive no matter what. Then be a part of that community. For years.

YEARS.

Yes, years.

I hear some of you rolling your eyes. "Gee, thanks, Paul." I told you this was the secret that no one wants to hear, because working your butt off for years is really hard. But it works.

How does this work?

Professionally... 

• Every new piece of business info is shared among the group and every group member can build on that wisdom. 
• Every business misstep one member instructs everyone else. 
• Every network connection is a connection for everyone. 

Creatively...

• You have people to read your work and give you feedback. 
• You get to read other people’s work and learn from their processes. 

Psychologically...

• Every personal rejection is shared and diffused among all the members, and ironically, when everyone is getting rejected it doesn’t hurt as bad. 
• Every success is the group’s success. When one person gets a short story published or a personalized encouraging rejection, the whole group gets to share in that success. 

What happens next:

As a group you get better and better, learn more and more, and get closer and closer to your goals. 

Small successes accumulate. 

Your network grows. 

Eventually someone gets a “break.” But it isn’t a lucky break. It is hard-earned. Then someone else will get a break and the whole group will achieve greater success than any of them could ever have on their own. 

As with all things, there is no guarantee that everyone will get the win, but the chances are better than hoping to win the lottery. 

Two reasons no one wants to hear this “secret” (which isn’t a secret at all)

First, it really does take years. I have heard standup comedians say 10 years. Tech companies often quote 2-4 years. I recently heard an actor say 8 years.

Finding the right community is not easy. I feel like I have found mine. It was the sixth I tried and I put in multiple years in a couple communities that didn’t pan out.

Andrew spent a solid year hunting for online writing communities when he was getting started, then another year contributing to the community he found before it started to pay off.

So, is this a 100% guarantee of success? Nope. There's no such thing as a 100% guarantee.

But success in any creative field is about maximizing the number of opportunities you are exposed to, and deep commitment to a community (and all the networking that branches out from there) is the key element that most successful creative professionals have in common.

If you're not part of a creative circle already, what are you waiting for? Go and find some coworkers. You'll thank me. In a few years.