It seems like there are authors who come out of nowhere, get bazillion dollar book deals, make bazillions more dollars after the book comes out, and ride off into the sunset of legends.
We’ve all heard of Stephenie Meyer dreaming up Twilight, dashing it off in three months, and the rest is history.
It’s tempting to think all it takes is an idea and a wisp of effort. Very tempting indeed.
The truth is a lot more banal: It takes a lot of work.
Stephenie Meyer is about as close to an overnight a success story as I’ve ever heard – she hadn’t written before Twilight, and three months is not a long time to spend on a novel.
But she still had to write the book. And as anyone who has written a novel knows, it takes a whole lot of hours, whether those hours are compressed into three months or thirty-six months.
For most of us mere mortals, many of us are too old to be wunderkinds, we will not make any “best novelists under X” age list, we may be arriving at writing late, and many of us spent a lot of time writing novels that didn’t work before we even approached writing something that did. Any success we’ve earned will be hard-earned rather than serendipitous.
And it’s tempting to look at the people who spent less time than we did and begrudge them their seemingly “instant” success.
The thing is, there aren’t any shortcuts in life, least of all in writing. Books don’t just spring forth fully formed. Becoming a writer is a process and a journey and the result of, at minimum, a lifetime of reading, not something that falls from the sky. Books aren’t written overnight.
Every endeavor worth doing takes time.
Each journey is our own, and we’re all the better for it. Rather than wishing for lightning to strike quickly, it’s better to enjoy seeing it flash in the distance and know that our time will come.
Need help with your book? I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching!
For my best advice, check out my online classes, my guide to writing a novel and my guide to publishing a book.
And if you like this post: subscribe to my newsletter!
Art: “Prophetess Anna” – Rembrandt
Thank you for the perspective. I needed it.
Sometimes I wonder if I even WANT the lightning to strike. I read about The Night Circus and think, wow that author's under some serious pressure. Of course, we all dream of success, but there's the right kind of success for each of us. I think that's part of finding your path too. Great post!
I have heard…overnight success takes about 17 years.
That sounds about right to me.
This is a great post, and a very important topic for any artist. And your last line was profound and beautifully written.
I also really appreciate the comments. I thought there was alot of wisdom here.
I guess I want to add that I agree with Susan Quinn. We don't really know what impact her success had on Stephanie Meyers. I'm not sure I'd trade places with her. Yes, Meyers earned money and admiration from scores of fans, but she was also widely critiqued, held up as an example of poor literature and Stephen King came right out and said she was a bad writer. Who knows what kind of pressure is on her for her next book. And will her books have any lasting value, or will they fade away, and who knows how that will impact her.
It's very hard to really know what someone else is going through just from the outside. What may look like a blessing can still hold some difficult challenges.
I've found, when I'm really on my path, there's a feeling of righness that comes to me. This is where I should be, and this is what I'm supposed to be learning and doing.
I'm too tired to write more, unfortunately, because I find the issue of artist jealousy very interesting. I think we feel jealous of other artists when we are not fulfilling our own potential, but I'm not sure. Be fun to talk about that more sometime.
Thanks for the great topic and discussion!
Thank you for this post, Nathan. Rejections have been getting me down lately and this was just the thing I needed to cheer me up.
Aww, thanks, Nathan. Very uplifting and inspiring. Just the thing many aspiring writers needed to be reminded of. Sometimes, though, I wonder if just because we want to write does that mean we're meant to write. These days, I look after my elderly mother full-time, and without me her future would look very bleak. My writing was there when I needed it, needed to escape to wonderful worlds to wander about in, whereas otherwise I would have been bereft. I don't need to write now.
I agree with you Nathan. There ain't no such animal.
I love that Cormac McCarthy thought about THE ROAD for a year, then wrote it in only three weeks and won the Pulitzer Prize for it. I don't begrudge him that success at all. I find that story inspirational. And, of course, McCarthy had been writing successful novels for years before he wrote THE ROAD. He's one brilliant writer!
If you ask Stephen King, Stephanie Meyer still hasn't written a novel. 🙂
And in reality, for some, big sales and huge recognition may never come or it may not come in the ways or figures you dreamed about – so best put on your "I'm in this for the duration no matter what" cap and do this thing we do for more reasons than money and recognition, else you may be sorely disappointed in the outcome. Of course, it's all relative . . .
There's always someone who wishes they had what you had because we're usually looking ahead to the kindle millionaires or NYT best-sellers or et ceteras instead of what really nice exciting things are happening to us at the moment.
I've learned to find positives and gratitude in this writing life -otherwise, it can eat you alive.
Love the line about lightening.
You said it Nathan. I try to remind myself constantly of this: Talent is only the beginning when it comes being a successfully published author … the prerequisite. It also takes a ton of hard work and persistence—and then it takes some luck. And that’s not to say that the Stephanie Meyers of the world don’t deserve all the success they get, just that there are many others who also deserve but haven’t been lucky enough for everything to align for them yet. So I keep telling myself—all I can do is keep working at it as hard as I can, whenever I can, and try and try and try until you find that little stroke of luck. But the only way to find the luck is to keep up with all the trying so that when the lucky break comes, I’m there and I’m ready for it.
Thanks Nathan. Gentle reassurance mixed with encouragement.
I feel like someone just patted me on the back, told me everything was OK, and to keep going.
You rock.
I was at a meeting once where Steve Young talked about how many years it took him to become an overnight success. That always stuck with me.
Thanks for this, Nathan. For years I strove to be a wunderkind, as I'd been encouraged and declared one by my first agent.
Not having proven him correct by now, at the age of 52, has been my one regret with working at writing as an art.
So, like an old professor of mine who said he no longer worried about forgetting things, because he had a right to, because he was 87, I'm happy just publishing my novels, getting my ideas out for readers, and marvel at the success of others.
"Who ever said it would be easy?" was that agent's question to me once when I griped about how slow succcess was coming to me, at the ripe old age of 20-something.
Best,
T
Excellent point! Just read the article you posted on Stephenie Meyer. It's easy to look at that, then look at yourself in dismay.
I've recently been looking at the rejection letters written to classic authors and I've take the point of view that if it took Hemingway a couple dozen tries, I can keep myself motivated.
When pondering over the success of others, I get motivated and reassured that it can happen to me too. Thanks for the carefully thought out post to encourage us to keep on trying because our time will come.