Quitters Never Win and Winners Never Quit

If you've ever attended a Weight Watcher meeting or any such support group, you're probably familiar with pearls of fortune cookie wisdom. Aside from "Quitters Never Win and Winners Never Quit" -- which is a favorite of mine -- I was often told, "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got."

These adages might be old, but that doesn't make them wrong.

It's very easy to get discouraged in this business. No matter how well you write, there's someone else who's at a place you want to be and can't get in, or someone who doesn't write as well whose Amazon's rankings tower over yours. You can spend time you don't have and raise hopes you can't afford to raise only to fall flat on your face.

But the old adage is right. Quitters never win, and if you're determined to meet a certain goal, no matter the obstacles that pile in your way, there's nothing preventing you from ultimately reaching it. Don't let the rejections, bad reviews, negative feedback, and so on halt your journey. Most authors have a working understanding of what they do well and what they need to work on. Find yourself a crit partner who excels at something with which you need help. Target your weaknesses and don't blanch when people give you honest feedback. It might smart at first, but learning where you need work and focusing on perfecting your craft will always pay off.