Janet Evanovich: “If Writing Is Important to You, Don’t Give Up”

It’s important that you believe in yourself, even when you have ten years of failure like I did

Wake Up and Write is an advice column from Moms Don’t Have Time to Write. Today, we have Janet Evanovich— #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Stephanie Plum novels, including Fortune and Glory— who shared writing advice on the podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books, hosted by Zibby Owens.

“If it’s important to you, don’t give up.”

“Keep trying to do better. Keep learning. Join a professional organization like International Thriller Writers or Romance Writers of America. That really helps because it allows you to get a peer group. It allows you to learn some things about agents and the process and publishers. Basically, you got to keep your ass in the chair. You really do.

I like to tell people it’s like a job. If you took a job working at 7-Eleven and they expected you to be there for three hours at seven o’clock at night, you’d do it. You’d get there. If you had a cold, you’d show up anyway. You’d take some pills. Writing is like that. If you want to do it, you think of yourself as a writer. When people say, ‘What do you do?’ you say, ‘I’m a writer. I’m not published, but I’m a writer.’ Every day, if it’s only for half an hour, you sit down and write because that momentum is very important. It’s important that you believe in yourself, even when you have ten years of failure like I did.

Look at me. I was rejected for ten years. I was not giving up. Until you make my ten-year mark, don’t worry about it. Just keep going.”