Thursday, March 8, 2012

A Simple Strategy

--Adrienne Miller

Chances are I’m not going down in history as a great strategist. I’m terribly disorganized, both in thought and in action. I have a bad habit of trying to do too many things all at the same time and not finishing any of them. 
But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a strategy when it comes to writing. I do. It’s just a simple one. 
Keep Going
Something doesn’t work, change it. Go down the wrong way, turn around. Fall down, get back up again. It’s simple, but it’s far from easy. When the going gets slow or doubt creeps in it can feel like the hardest thing in the world to get over a bad review, or send out another query, or scribble down just one more word. But you have too. Just one more. Then one more after that. Then another. 
Hard Work Makes Its Own Luck
Luck, good luck especially, always seemed to me to be too fickle to rely on, and I’ve never trusted stories about instant success. How many stories about overnight sensations leave out the decade(s) of practice and work they did before making it big? There are so many things about this business we can’t control. Focus your energy on what you can.
That being said...
Dumb Luck Is Pretty Awesome Too
Every now and again you’ll bumble your way into just the right place at just the right time. When that happens, don’t be afraid to seize the hell out that moment. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s awesome.

4 comments:

Lee Lopez said...

I love the idea of dumb luck. It's such a gift to have it happen. It can boost the ye ole ego a little make the day, after a big fall down.

Rachael Herron said...

I. Love. This. Every single line.

L.G.C. Smith said...

Well and succinctly said. :)

Gigi Pandian said...

Yes. Yes. And yes. Great post.