Who would have thought that the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger would ever appear at this blog? But here is the man who made the line, "I'll be back" famous, sharing some very important motivation for aspiring authors.
"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strength. When you go through hardship and decide not to surrender, that is strength." - Arnold SchwarzeneggerWriters must be very strong people because they deal with rejection and criticism so often. How many times have you poured your heart and soul into a piece of work only to be told by your critique group where it fell short? What is the number of times you've submitted a piece to an editor only to receive a form rejection letter?
Writing is not an easy gig, and anyone who thinks so is fooling herself. But, as Schwarzenegger reminds us, those struggles develop our strength, and after a while, critiques and rejection letters get easier to handle because we realize that they make us stronger and better writers. Perserverance is what will win the game.
Keep these words from California's governor in mind this week as you work toward your goal of becoming a published author. Go through the hardship, and never, never surrender.