There are four traits a writer needs in order to succeed: Talent, Hard Work, Persistence, Luck.

Last month I talked about Talent. This month . . .

Hard Work - Write every day (or edit what you've written). And read, read, read, both the good and the not so good, as much as possible. Everything you can get your hands on. One of the best jobs I had was going through the slush pile at the Antioch Review back in college. I read a few excellent pieces, a few awful pieces. Most of what I read was okay, but not really exciting. And that's where Hard Work comes in. Many of these pieces would have been much better if just a bit more work had been put into them. The difference between a mediocre piece and a publishable piece is re-writing!

That leads to #3 ... {to be continued}