five unsuccessful books
16th October 2016 | for Creatives | novel writing, the successful artist, writing, KEEP CREATING, John Irving, Steve Scott |
"John Irving published five unsuccessful books before penning The World According to Garp, which quickly became an international best seller."
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Always Be Writing
"Writers must produce. And produce. And produce. ABW: 'Always Be Writing.' ... One book a year? Psssh. No. Focus only on novels? Not likely. Writers are no longer as free to work in a single sphere of writerly existence. Get used to writing short, long, script, game, non-fiction, etc."
It takes awhile to become established
"I thought that I would get to be a bestseller. ... The thing is that it took awhile. It takes awhile to become established, and so you can't be discouraged if just one or two books don't sell."
It takes time
"What I try to emphasize to beginning writers is what Jim [James] Rollins said to me once: 'It takes time.' And what I've come to realize is, he didn't mean time chronologically. He meant it takes time to build up your portfolio of books and then for one of those books to hit."