Saturday, February 15, 2014

Overnight Success

I heard a quote attributed to Robert De Niro: "It took me 20 years to become an overnight success."

This really struck me, because it is so true. Nobody notices you until you got your "big break". And because of that, your history shows one singular success which launched you into celebrity. And what nobody sees or cares about is all the work that went into it. 

How much did you have to do to get that big break? How much work did you put in to be good enough to be offered that big break? 

As a writer, it is all the same deal. It takes a tremendous amount of study and practice to get good enough for editors or agents to look at your work with interest, and it takes a lot of shopping around and a lot of rejection to get something that is good to be published. 

Once you do get traction, it starts to cascade. And once you hit the tipping point, it becomes a whole new world. Just remember that it may take you 20 years to become an overnight success. 

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