Word Ethics

Most people who thrive as writers have built their success on three qualities:1) Skill, 2) Luck, and 3) Work ethic. It's an equation that can be rebalanced in a few ways. If you are incredibly skillful, like Scott Fitzgerald, you might need less luck. And if you're really lucky, like "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer, skill may not be the key. But even lucky, talented authors can't survive without a disciplined approach to the page.

Many young people want to be writers but they absorb their ideas about the field from images in movies and publicity media. Some actually believe that all published writers get the beach house, prepaid. This is a hilarious notion for those of us struggling to meet deadlines while we wait for our freelance checks to roll in. Apart from writing, most authors have to maintain teaching jobs or speaker schedules to keep their financial boat afloat. Last week I taught writing workshops to students in Philadelphia and raced home to write after nightfall. Yet even some of my most sensible clients seem to think my address is Easy Street USA -- maybe that's why my checks arrive late.

Writers don't get paid holidays and they finance their vacations with 60 hour work weeks before and after each break. When I have a three day weekend, like last week, I usually have to write at night to make up for lost time. But I'd still do this job even if I never got another day off. I started writing stories and journals when I was a kid in primary school. If I have to go a day without writing, it's only because I'm forced into it. Sure it's a bit of a compulsion, but it's the only way I know how to stay limber and hit every deadline -- and it's a common practice with most writers I've known. Even Stephen King, who could survive 300 years without selling another book, keeps a rigorous writing schedule because his personality will tolerate no less.

A long time ago, I saw a diagram for helping teens choose a career. In the middle, it said: "Do what you love". This message was surrounded by concentric rings which explained that: a) doing what you love, helps you define who you are and develop your true talents, and b) developing your true talents helps you become the person you were meant to be. So if you think you are the kind of person meant to obsess over words from morning 'til night, and cool your heels 'til your financial payoff arrives, a writer's life may be just for you. You can write on the porch in summer and on the couch when it snows. Just be prepared to do a lot of scribbling before you get the beach house. It comes with a nice view and a hefty mortgage.

Next week: A true tale of how a phenomenal work ethic built a path to the New York Times Bestseller list.