The discipline of writing might be the most important part of the entire endeavor.

For nobody got better, at anything – ever – by not practicing.

You search high and low defining the type of person you want to be, and then you act in that way, regardless of the outcome.

An example for me here is in telling the truth.

See, I try to be honest (not rude) regardless of the consequences. Often, I do not want to tell the truth. But I do it anyway. Because that is the kind of person I want to be.

I write every day, regardless of the results too. And believe me, I frequently do not feel inspired to do so. But I do it anyway because I want to be a person who writes.

See it?

Here are 9 other points about writing you might enjoy too.

Understand: Discipline is the best writing practice.

A disciplined approach to writing is an important part of the process. I write every morning, rain or shine, summer or winter, for no more than four and a half hours. I have learned that if I go beyond four and a half hours, my writing shows fatigue. For me, writing is a long distance race, not a sprint, so endurance is a quality I cultivate. This puts me at odds with the popular notion that the artist is supposed to be a tormented genius—a Strindberg, Nietzsche, or Ezra Pound who goes mad for his art.

-John Erickson, Story Craft (Amazon)

Here is the thing: Few know exactly what makes good writing.

Don’t get me wrong. There are plenty of little techniques you can use to bring clarity – and what have you.

But, like Ericson, I think that the approval of editors and other so-called gatekeepers is highly overrated too.

Want a story to point out how subjective it all is?

Sure. Here goes.

I once submitted an article I wrote to a large online publication.

(They are currently one of the top 15,000 websites in the world.)

Their director of content rejected my piece with a formal:

This piece is not a good fit for us. Thank you.

So do you know what I did? I submitted it elsewhere. Unfortunately, nobody else wanted it either.

So, six months later, I sent the (unchanged) article back to the original editor that had turned me down.

His response?

Fantastic piece! Will run it in the next week. Thanks!

True story.

I mean, at this point it’s almost cliche about how many times publishers turned down J.K. Rowling’s idea for Harry Potter (12 publishers passed).

Understand: Art is subjective.

The people who pay the printing bill define “good writing,” and they don’t even have to be right. All they need is enough money to pay the bills. It suddenly struck me that I didn’t need the approval of editors, critics, or book reviewers. I needed readers, and I thought I could go out and find them.

-John Erickson, Story Craft (Amazon)