Are there really six steps to excellence in anything? Tony Schwartz (author and CEO) thinks so. He wrote about them on the Harvard Business Review blog. I've listed them below and added my thoughts on how they apply to writing (I've also posted a version of this on my screenwriting site, www.screenwritingsuccess.com):
1. Pursue what you love. Write the kind of book you'd love to read. Ignore trends.
2. Do the hardest work first. So many new writers I run into are worried about getting an agent before they've finished even one manuscript. First write a great book, then worry about the rest.
3. Practice intensely. To me this means writing, getting informed feedback on your writing, reading scripts, going to movies and figuring out why they work or don't work.
4. Seek expert help, in intermittent doses. This can come from a writing coach, a workshop, online forums, and many other sources. Try to get feedback from people who have experience in the business rather than just academic knowledge.
5. Take regular renewal breaks. You have to refill your creative well. Don't just go to movies, also travel, go to museums and galleries, expose yourself to different ways of life, meet new people.
6. Ritualize practice. Set a regular schedule for you writing and stick to it.
Are you doing all of them consistently? Very few writers are.
(For help being more focused and productive, see my book, "Focus: use the power of targeted thinking to get more done," published by Pearson and available from Amazon and other online and offline booksellers.)
