The Scrappy Shall Inherit The Earth
I have never once actually come out and admitted that I can’t read
“Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional strength in the others.”
Sherlock Holmes, The Man With the Twisted Lip
We all know stories that involve people who illustrate this point perfectly, but the story of Beethoven writing his 9th Symphony–a piece that many critics feel was his greatest masterwork–while stone cold deaf, is likely one of the strangest and most unique examples. To take a chance at stating the obvious, this means that everything Beethoven composed while he could still hear, was inferior to what he managed to create when he could no longer hear.
I think of this story quite often because, while I may have intimated this in the past, I have never once actually come out and admitted that I can’t read. I mean, sure, I’m literate, but if a piece is longer than 3 or 400 words, my brain can not calm itself enough to stay focused on whatever the author is saying. After I reach that point, I’ll slam into a sentence that will launch my thoughts somewhere entirely different and I will no longer be reading.
The only way I am able to pay attention is through audio. Even when I write these articles every week, I record them and listen back. My brain processes words with much more clarity when I am relying on the auditory nature of them.
But this worked out in my favor. I know I’ve told this story in the past, but my agent, Linda, emailed me a week after I handed in my first manuscript to tell me that I received the 25% portion of my advance that the publisher usually only pays after they accept the manuscript. Linda said it was the first time she witnessed anything like it. “Usually,” she said, “it goes back and forth for months of line revisions before that happens.”
One afternoon when we were eating lunch together in Hell’s Kitchen, she admitted to me that she knew why this seemingly unprecedented event happened. Many of the books that are written in the health and self-improvement genre are written by academics that have long since forgotten what natural vernacular sounds like. Many of the manuscripts she receives are snore fests. Mine had that unmistakable sound of someone talking to you.
Most likely because I was talking to you.
So, I did not simply overcome my handicap, I found a way to make it work even better for me than had I not had it. This is one example of what being scrappy in a world of bigger, taller and more educated people can net you in the end. I know in my heart that there are hundreds–perhaps thousands–of better writers in the world, that will never sign with an agent or publish a book. And while this may sound conceited and annoying, that’s not what I am trying to do.
Talent, while it is nice to possess, falls a little lower on the list of attributes needed for success than people realize. Grit, perseverance, tenacity and drive all easily trump talent.
But humans are fallible and last time I checked, I was human. Just because I was able to embrace those ideals in pursuit of my first agent and book deal doesn’t mean I will effortlessly be able to get there anytime I want. I know this because this so-called “writer’s block” that I am experiencing is not really writer’s block. It’s me second guessing my entire project. That’s the second work in progress I fell out of love with this year.
And even though social media can, at times, be a swamp of despair, there are times when it’s helpful. I met a woman named Terri Trespecio at an event in Fort Lauderdale and began following her on Instagram. She was an editor for a couple of prestigious magazines. She posted something that said, “I love when people say, “Would you read this and tell me if it’s any good. Because if not, I won’t bother.” You know what? You probably shouldn’t bother…If you believe in talent as the reason to do a thing, and put a lot of stock in someone else’s assessment of your talent, you may find yourself stuck.”
This post made me really come to terms with whether or not I was criticizing myself too harshly. The more I thought about what that post was saying, the more I began to see the importance of just getting the work finished whether or not it’s any good. Most great writers have said that the first draft is just to get the thing down on paper.
Or, in the wise words of Hemingway, “The first draft of everything is shit.”
So, what I have decided is that this book I am trying to write is not easy. Nothing worthwhile ever is. It may require me to go sit in quiet once a week and outline what I need to accomplish on a day by day basis. This thing may need that kind of attention. And that’s fine.
As long as I set a precedent in my life that I powered through something I wasn’t all that excited about anymore. I have a feeling this may be a muscle that’s woefully in need of exercise. It’s scrappy. It’s resourcefulness and it’s discipline.
All attributes that also, by the way, trump talent.
If I had to guess, I would theorize that 95% of the books you see in the bookstore all have one thing in common: the author finished the work and even wrote a second, third and perhaps fourth draft. So, if you are a writer and you want to get that first thing on the shelf, worry less about your ability to write and more on your ability to follow through.
Yes to this. I too have difficultly reading past a certain number of words. I try to keep my pieces short than most I read. Sometimes a topic needs 1800, but usually i try for 250-800 words. I am going for a free version of NANOWRIMO for the first time and was going to daily post to Substack. I decided to only post day one and perhaps 1 or 2 more. We shall see. Thanks Billy.
God this is medicine ! I’m going to try to print this article. I feel like the universe or God is speaking through people this week. In healthcare I’ve been working with a senior writer . He told me one book took him 30 years to write. This both gave me hope and dispair in the same breath. Your piece told me to get out of my head which is hard this is the same place that is doing the writing. Compassion maybe the key and coming back again and again visiting the book like a friend. Helps to know that even the writers you aspire to be like struggle . Vulnerability shines through.