Porträt Baudelaires by Gustave Courbet |
I’m always fascinated by what makes artists tick.
It’s not always a rational pursuit, in fact it’s usually the opposite of a rational pursuit. It’s not something you can prove ahead of time in numbers or formulas or a plan you know is going to work. You’re operating on gut instinct and some ideas and a whole lot of faith.
So what’s the most important quality a writer can possess? What do writers have in common?
There are a lot that spring to mind, but I’m going with determination.
What about you?
JMCOOPER says
Agreed. When I first saw the title of your post, my first thought was: Persistence.
Allan Petersen says
Honestly, I think it's "passion." Without passion for your subject matter, you'll never have the determination to complete the long and arduous journey.
HungryGals says
Also agree – my first thought was "tenacity"!
Brendan Gannon says
Selfless objectivity. A writer's first priority should be their audience. If you're always thinking about what's best for readers you won't cling to bad material or resist strong critique.
rjkeller.org says
Thick skin. Without it, even the most talented writers will implode.
Sara says
I agree about persistence.
However, given the persistence, I would say that an artist needs to be deeply and compulsively perceptive, and in love with the finely expressed perceptions of others.
Laurie Marshall says
I'm going to agree with these comments – being determined to see a project through to the end is vital. But getting started is key, so I think the big one is self-motivation. The desire to feed oneself is also probably up there in the top five.
Erin Moulton says
Faith. I think, faith in yourself, your writing…and faith that the dream is going to come to fruition. A person with both faith and determination is going to be a sure success!
Taylor Napolsky says
I'm going to second Allan Petersen. Passion all the way.
Matt Sinclair says
I was thinking dedication, but determination does the job, too, as does persistence. As in most endeavors, showing up to do the work is more than half the battle.
mshatch says
the first thing that came to mind was perseverance, because if I hadn't persevered, if I had given up after x amount of years, I wouldn't have written anything and I wouldn't be where I am now.
smithsk says
The most important Quality for a writer is – QUALITY.
(Referenece: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance)
writerjmk44 says
Discipline. To be a successful writer, you must discipline yourself to write no matter what else is going on in your life. You must be your own boss and push yourself to sit down and write. Without that, nothing gets accomplished.
Matthew C Wood says
Bloody mindedness all the way!
CourtLoveLeigh says
These are all great! And I think that maybe this sort of question is always going to be individualized. Because I can't answer this without thinking about what qualities I really need to keep myself writing and to keep myself ENJOYING writing.
So for me personally, I would say (because I can't pick just one) patience and unwavering belief in myself. I think that patience ties up so much for a writer. First of all, just developing a style and a voice can take years. Then actually writing something decent. Then submitting. Then waiting. Then getting rejected. Then getting over being rejected. Then writing something even better. Then submitting again. And waiting some more…
And through it all, a person really has to believe in themselves. Like REALLY believe.
CourtLoveLeigh says
ew, that typo was just gross. my apologies so early in the morning.
Tea says
With the way my writing project is currently going, I'm going to have to go with "a firm grip on sanity."
Andrea Mack says
All of the above, plus being flexible and open to new ideas, and not sticking to something that isn't working.
tt says
Vision.
The vision about how well you know the world.
Lindsey Lane says
My word is perseverance.
As in "Perseverance furthers" from the I Ching.
As in: Success goes to the writer (you could put any pursuit there: illustrator, actor, fighter) who got up one more time.
JennaQuentin says
Shucks, I can't give up on writing today, not after you said that! You might have saved an insignifcant career…thanks for always haveing great thigns to say!
Watcher55 says
I think audacity (with a touch of conceit) runs a close secondto determination. Let's face it – we're in this business to impress people.
DearHelenHartman says
The most important quality for a writer is… friends with money.
This is why so many of us are flailing. We keep friending other writers. Witty, wild, Broke-a$$ writers.
Oh and what other people said is good too(another important quality for a writer: stealing. Thoughts, ideas, sometimes french fries or halves of sandwiches, whatever is easily swiped and spilled on a page or stuffed into hungry writerly mouths).
abc says
Insight.
maine character says
Your mention of a formula reminded me of this one from S.L. Farrell.
Success = Talent + Dedication + Passion + Luck
Amy L. says
Follow through!
Ranae Rose says
I'm going to say perserverance. Lots of people 'want' to write a book, or have come up with an idea, thought about it, ect… Writers are the people who actually do and finish their projects!
TheWriterStuff says
Curiosity. About everything.
A.R. Williams says
Discipline.
Nothing else happens unless you write.
Anonymous says
I'm going with determination as #1.
Cute often helps, too.
Dominique says
Oh, most definitely determination. If you don't keep plugging, nothing else matters.
magpiewrites says
bloody mindedness. AKA persistence.
Mark Terry says
I'll go with persistence, although having a high tolerance for financial instability definitely helps.
Bane of Anubis says
in nae – perseverance
scruffy says
Has anyone mentioned "madness" yet? That gets my vote.
Eileen says
I agree with persistence and determination. Most artists are curious and passionate, so it's not just writers who do that. I don't think feeding oneself or money is important. If you're doing it for the money you should probably consider going into medicine.
Kevin Ott (www.kevinott.net) says
Haha, I liked Scruffy's comment. It reminded me of the film "Alice in Wonderland" where Alice's father says, "You're mad. You're bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are."
Perhaps that is another facet to "determination." You have to be a little mad, in a healthy sense, to keep pushing forward against all odds.
The BAD kind of "madness" is where you lose perspective on what's important in life. The fact that we have the luxury to write means we have food and shelter. Nurturing an attitude of thankfulness for what I DO have, as opposed to getting envious or discontent all the time, keeps away the BAD kind of madness.
Charli Armstrong says
Humility…
D.G. Hudson says
Persistence, supported by passion and imagination are powerful tools. A strong will to succeed can help the writer when the going is tough.
The writer also needs to be continually improving his writing for the persistence to pay off.
On continuing to write in the face of rejections: the writer needs confidence in his work in order to be persistent.
Taking the advice of James Brown, the late R&B man, might help too, "you gotta live for yourself, yourself, and nobody else". Translating that to writing, I'd say write for yourself first, to get the story down, then open the door (a la S. King) to let others help you refine it.
phipster says
Has to be stupidity. As in too stupid to realize it might not work out. Too stupid to know when to give up. Too stupid to pay attention to the little voice in your head that say's you aren't qualified, prepared or tenacious enough to get it done.
Guilie says
Only Charli gave an answer I can agree with. Perseverance, dedication, tenacity… all of those are important, certainly, but not just to a writer; to ANYONE. They're qualities you must have in order to live a fulfilling and productive life that's ripe with achievement. They're as necessary to writers as they are to any kind of professional, but I don't believe they're endemic. The one quality of a writer I believe is, is creativity. "Madness" is good paraphrasing… So is "passion", which Allan mentioned above, and "perceptiveness" which someone else also mentioned. But the crux of a writer's mettle is creativity, is it not?
Caleb says
Determination for sure. It's not just the normal rigamarole but all the naysayers. There are the naysayers that say you shouldn't waste your time writing in the first place. Then you finish writing and you're determination got you past that. Then, you look for an agent and that's a full time job by itself. They tend to be nicer naysayers because they've been in your shoes before, typically. Then you get your book published and then the original naysayers come back and say that you shouldn't write like that and people won't read it and they won't recommend it.
Determination is a good word for it.
K. C. Blake says
You took my answer, Nathan. That was the first word that popped into my head. No one who ever quit has become a successful writer.
Hart Johnson says
Totally on board with persistence.
People who can't keep plugging away won't get to the end and people who won't keep improving and working to make it better and better end up with a subpar product.
Matt Larkin says
Creative drive. A passion to create.
sarahjoyliteraryagent says
Hard work. Lots of hard work. And then after the hard work, more hard work. And then after that hard work, even more hard work. But after that hard work… making connections–showing everybody your hard work. Moving up in the world a little bit… and then more hard work!
Sarah Joy, an associate agent-in-training.
Jan Cline says
An open mind. But I also agree with everyone else!
funny in the 'hood says
Discipline. There are a million other things I could be doing but I don't do them because finishing the book is more important.
It's a choice. If you want to write a book then write a book.
Rick Daley says
I'm going with patience. Good things take time. It takes time to develop the craft, to write and revise a good novel, to perfect your query, to submit said query and/or manuscript, to to get published. Even self-publishing is not instantaneous.
SBJones says
Fearless. If you think public speaking is scary, write a book and have the possibly the whole world look at it and critique.