Diane Parrish On The 5 Things You Need To Be A Successful Author or Writer

Write what you want to write. Don’t try to anticipate the market. Your work won’t be authentic and you will probably guess wrong.

Some writers and authors have a knack for using language that can really move people. Some writers and authors have been able to influence millions with their words alone. What does it take to become an effective and successful author or writer? In this interview series, called “5 Things You Need To Be A Successful Author or Writer” we are talking to successful authors and writers who can share lessons from their experiences.

As part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Diane Parrish. Originally from the Midwest, Diane Parrish now lives with her husband and elderly Corgi in Connecticut, where she raised her two children. For most of her adult life Ms. Parrish’s writing consisted of legal briefs, memos and other business- related material. Under cover of darkness, however, she wrote fiction she kept to herself until, after many years, she completed her first novel, Something Better, published in October 2024.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

I grew up in a house where reading and creative writing were encouraged and celebrated. Although no one in my family was a published author, almost everyone wrote bits of stories or essays we shared with each other just for fun. I won a fourth-grade poetry contest with a pithy anti-war poem that must have sounded a little strange coming out of the mouth of a 10-year-old. Along the way other teachers encouraged me and I kept writing. Later, when a career counselor suggested I’d be suited for work that involved writing, I never considered “becoming a writer”. Too risky! Instead I became an attorney who wrote briefs, deposition outlines, court pleadings etc. I was too busy to write anything else. After I left the practice I immersed myself in non-profit work where I wrote lots of mission statements, long range plans, and reports. By then was able to steal a few hours now and then to write fiction, just for myself. It took me years to finish my first novel and almost as long to muster the courage to show it to anyone.

Can you share the most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your career?

I gave a friend one of my first stories to read and waited with bated breath to hear her reaction. “Wow,” she said. “That was good. You’re really smart — and you’d never know that from talking to you. “ It was a moment that’s kept me humble and laughing for many years.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in your journey to becoming a writer? How did you overcome it? Can you share a story about that that other aspiring writers can learn from?

The biggest challenge to finishing my novel was the voice in my head that kept saying, “What is this nonsense? You aren’t good enough, your work isn’t good enough. Best just close your computer put this out of your mind.” The biggest challenge to getting my (finally) finished novel out in the world was the collapse, within four months of publication date, of the publishing company that initially acquired the book. That meant starting all over, which was discouraging to say the least. What kept me going might have been my dislike of waste — wasted time, wasted words, wasted ideas do not sit well with me. I kept telling myself I’d come this far, might as well keep going, or all that previous effort would just go to waste.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I once queried an agent who specifically stated on her information page that she did not want to read anything in my genre. Somehow I missed that. Oops. I also once submitted a short story many, many words longer than the work they accepted for publication. Oops again. Now I read the instructions all the way through before I submit.

In your opinion, were you a “natural born writer” or did you develop that aptitude later on? Can you explain what you mean?

I am a natural born writer who needed instruction and practice to develop my aptitude. In first grade I invented a wild tale about my family that I shared with the class during show-and-tell. The teacher was so convinced, and distressed, that she called my mom to make sure we were going to be alright. My mom had to sit me down and explain the difference between real and made-up stories, so I guess for me storytelling was baked in the cake. That innate propensity alone would never have been enough, however. I also needed the instruction I’ve received in writing classes to understand and improve my craft. That need will never end.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

I just started a new novel that began its life as a short story. It was getting to be a long story, though, so I showed it to my daughter (who is also a writer and writing teacher) and asked for her advice about what I could cut. Instead, she told me she had “bad news”: what I was writing didn’t want to be a short story; it wanted to be a novel. So I am about 25 pages into a different book than the one I’d been planning to write. I will need to do a lot of research to finish it, but I am excited about this cast of characters and the world I am creating for them to inhabit.

Through my publisher I’m also undertaking a series of interviews with authors I admire. I’m really look forward to that.

Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experience, what are the “5 Things You Need To Be A Successful Author or Writer”? Please share a story or example for each.

1 . Write what you want to write. Don’t try to anticipate the market. Your work won’t be authentic and you will probably guess wrong.

When submitting my book to agents and publishers I received contradictory advice. One person would tell me to make the sex more graphic and another person would tell me to cut all references to one character’s faith. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I would never be able to please everyone, so I needed to focus on writing my book, in my voice, one I would be proud to show my grandchildren someday.

2 . Believe in yourself. The voice inside your head that prods you to write is the one you should heed, not the voice that fuels your self-doubt.

Imposter syndrome is a real thing. It is not at all the same thing as having humility or a realistic assessment of your gifts. For way too long I listened to my inner critic to the exclusion of all else. That kept me from even finishing the book, let alone trying to get it published. It took someone else believing in me, more or less scolding me, not to succumbing to self-doubt. A writing friend said something like, “It’s okay to admit that you think you can do this, that you think you are pretty good at it. That’s not hubris, that’s confidence.”

3 . Don’t give up when one door closes. That doesn’t mean being pig-headed. Consider why that door closed and learn from it, then look around for another door opening. There WILL be one, sooner or later.

When the original publisher imploded I was crushed. I even considered that it might be a message from the Universe or God or Whoever that I should just quit. I read a lot of writing blogs and heard Courtney Maun speak about her similar crushing experience and realized this kind of nightmare is actually fairly common. Yikes! What a business. I had never equated being a writer with being an entrepreneur, but there are a lot of similarities. Both fields require taking risks, showing persistence, and devoting years of effort in order to achieve success.

4 . Remember that success is different for every writer and it might even be different from your own vision. Be willing to recognize success when it shows up in a different way than you expected.

I got my first contract without an agent. That publisher was very small and did not have much of a PR staff, so its authors were responsible for getting blurbs, posting on social media, etc. I asked an agent I knew to blurb my book, and she wrote a really nice one for me. After the publishing company collapsed, she then reached out and offered to represent me. Publishing door slammed, agent door opened. I did not expect it to happen like that.

5 . Your writing may or may not change the world, but it will have an impact. Even if only a few readers are moved, or convinced, or inspired by your writing, you will have made a positive difference in the world. As one of my writing teachers says, “It’s our job to bring the light.”

It’s very easy to despair in these tumultuous/unprecedented/disorienting times. Of course, every time is tumultuous/unprecedented/disorienting in its own way. So much of that discord is out of our control, but as writers we can choose to highlight what is still hopeful, good, inspiring in the world around us. If we won’t, I am not sure who will..

What is the one habit you believe contributed the most to you becoming a great writer? (i.e. perseverance, discipline, play, craft study). Can you share a story or example?

(I don’t think I am yet a great writer. Someday I hope to be.) The habit I am trying to inculcate is striving for excellence instead of perfection. Nothing is or can be perfect. When I realized I might be using my quest for perfection as excuse for never finishing my novel, I came to realize that my very best effort was going to be, had to be, good enough. I can hope that each very best effort is better than the one before it, and therefore that each project will also be better than the last.

Which literature do you draw inspiration from? Why?

I love the Russian novelists (Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky) , the English Regency and Victorian authors, (Jane Austin, the Bronte sisters, Dickens) the great American novelists (Steinbeck, Stegner, Marilyn Robinson). In my opinion, though, it’s hard to top contemporary Irish fiction writers. I am inspired, even awe-struck, by Claire Keegan, Maggie O’Farrell, Niall Williams, Colm Toibin, Paul Murray.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Grow the next generation of readers! Read to our children from day one. Make reading a pleasant pastime in every home, every classroom. Make libraries inviting places for everyone. Talk about books, listen to books, teach kids to have a book with them wherever they go. Reading makes the world known, opens the imagination to a world that could be, and connects persons across cultures and time.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Dianeparrish.com or on Instagram @dianeparrishauthor

Thank you so much for this. This was very inspiring!