Perseverance

This is one important characteristic that best selling authors have in common.  Their backgrounds are very diverse, but there is a constant – they persevere once they fall into writing, and they just keep at it for as long as it takes.  Some of them had hardship in their lives, or events that lead them into writing.  But once they wrote, they persevered.  Many aspiring authors love writing, but they are not willing to hang in there for the love of it.  Rejections are hard, but each one comes with a wealth of information attached to it.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines perseverance as:  “to persist in or remain constant to a purpose, idea or task in spite of obstacles.” 

According to this definition, not only do we have to be persistent, but also constant, in spite of obstacles.  Many writers stop, take a break, become paralyzed or frozen at the arrival of a rejection letter. They stop writing, they suffer, mourn, and disconnect themselves from their main purpose – writing.  But this is not what perseverance is.  While dealing with the feelings of rejection (the obstacle), a writer must continue to write, write, write.