Friday, October 16, 2009

Mastering the Craft

Today in St. Peters, MO: Light rain, high 49 degrees. Sunshine predicted for the weekend.

Today on Michael Hyatt's blog (Michael is the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing) his guest blogger is Mary DeMuth, an author, a speaker, and a book mentor with seven published books.

Her thoughtful guest post on Hyatt's blog poses the question: "Are you the type of person who will invest 10,000 hours to become a master writer?"

DeMuth has compiled a checklist of 10 traits to determine if you have what it takes to become a master writer.

All 10 traits have merit, but the ones that connect most with me are: 2, 5, 8, 9, and especially 10: "I understand the beauty of God’s sovereignty in the midst of the journey. He gives and takes away. Blessed be His name, no matter what happens—published or not." (Amen!)

How about you? After reading DeMuth's guest post on Michael Hyatt's blog about what it takes to become a master writer, which traits resonate with you?

6 comments:

  1. I think number 3 resonates with me. It is not a weekend exercise to hone my voice but a decade-long project, which I am trying to prove with this latest YA book I have been working on for a LONG TIME--maybe off and on for 4-5 years. But it is almost ready to send off, and I know it is better for the time and critiques that it has endured. Thanks for pointing out this post to us!

    Margo
    http://margodill.com/blog/

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  2. Hi Margo,
    Number 3 is a good one, too. In fact, they are all good. I'm happy to hear your YA book is almost ready to send off. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
    Donna

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  3. Donna,

    Thanks so much for passing this along! So often, I meet writers who just don't want to put that writing nose to the grindstone, much less for 10,000 hours! Hard to say which trait resonates with me the most...maybe working for free in the beginning. I learned so much from my "apprenticeship" year, and when I see some of the pieces I wrote, I'm so glad I didn't charge for them!

    Great find of a blog,too-thanks!

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  4. Hi Cathy,
    You are welcome.
    I agree with you that working for free pays off eventually. It took almost three years of writing book reviews before I got my first check--although I did receive free books and a byline in the interim. But I feel I'm more disciplined and a better writer because of my appreceneship, plus I got to read lots of great books and build up some publishing credits--not to mention the authors who e-mailed me and thanked me for my reviews.
    Donna

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  5. Thanks Donna for a connection to Mary DeMuth's blog. As a writer and author I believe 8, 9 & 10 is what I am about.

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  6. Hi Mary,
    After knowing you for many years, that is absolutely true!
    Blessings,
    Donna

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