How Writing Taught Me the True Meaning of Grit
- Cambri Morris
- Aug 11
- 4 min read
Many people have a story in them, but only those with the grit to sit down and write their story will have their story read. What is grit? According to Angela Duckworth, grit is a combination of passion and perseverance.
In other words, if you want to write a book, you have to be passionate and have the gumption to stick with it even when it sucks (and it will suck, I promise you, no matter how much you love your story).
Want to find out how gritty you are? Take the grit scale quiz to find out! I scored a 4.3 out of 5. If you want to improve your grit score, I recommend reading Angela Duckworth’s book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. In this blog, I’ll be talking about my own experience with developing the grit to become a writer.
Finding My Passion for Writing
Before I started writing, I had to have a passion for reading. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t love to read. I think I loved it the second I could decode a sentence from a page.
As a young reader, I got sucked into the Harry Potter fandom. I loved those books, but more than that, I loved the community those books created. After I put the book down, I could go online and discover the headcannons, fanart, and fanfiction that other readers had created. Something in me started to yearn to create something people loved that much.
In middle school, I read another series you may have heard of. It’s about this sarcastic teenager who was accused of stealing Zeus’s thunderbolt. He ends up becoming some kind of hero or something. Haha, I may have had a huge crush on Percy Jackson most of my teenage years (not sure that crush is gone).
If you’ve ever delved into fandomdom, you know that the Percy Jackson fandom (of which I am a passionate member) is a little…special. Never before had I seen such fervor about fictional characters. Rick Riordan accomplished something with his writing that few other authors have, in my opinion.
My Percy Jackson obsession inspired me to write like never before. I wanted to found my own fandom. I wanted to create something that people would write fanfic about. My passion for the fandoms I was a part of translated into a passion for storytelling.
What Most People Don’t Know About Writing a Novel
So I was passionate about writing, but passion alone doesn’t mean you can be a published author, not when so much goes into the process.
Writing a Draft Takes Grit
First, completing an initial draft requires considerable effort and dedication. For me, I was consistent in high school with writing every night before bed. That habit allowed me to finish three first drafts before I graduated.
First Drafts Shouldn’t be Published
Once you have a completed first draft, you can’t stop there. No, sir! You’ve only just begun the writing process. You need to give your manuscript a series of rewrites, beta reads, and edits. Each writer’s process looks a little different. I’m still nailing mine down.
When I was a newer writer, I would write a first draft and then move on to the next one. Now that I have more education and experience, I’ve started experimenting with the writing process to figure out what works for me. This is an ongoing process.
Being an Author Is a Business
One of the biggest reasons writing hobbyists never turn their writing into a career is that to be a full-time author, you have to run your own business. That’s right, folks, writing is a business. When you publish a book, you essentially become an entrepreneur, regardless of whether you publish traditionally or independently.
That means, on top of being a writer, you have to be your own…
Accountant
Marketing agent
Sales rep
PR manager
Business manager
I find this concept daunting, but exciting. I’m hacking away at the marketing side right now, and I’m excited to branch into the other areas of running a business once I have books to sell.
Finishing a Book | How The Hole in the Sky was Different
While writing The Hole in the Sky, I had a difficult time discerning when it was finished. There was always more to fix. Another draft to write. Another filler word to search for. Another opinion I wanted to get. In the end, my dad helped me realize I was procrastinating on setting aside a project I had dedicated so much of myself to.
So, it’s done. The Hole in the Sky is finished.
….At least until an agent picks it up and gives me more things to fix.
How did I do it?
I made time for writing: If you want to finish a book, you have to dedicate time to working on it.
I implemented feedback: I gave my manuscript to prospective readers several times to get their feedback, and I listened to them—within reason.
I stuck with it: I have been writing The Hole in the Sky for four years, while I was going to school and then growing a child. There were periods in that time that I didn’t write for months, but I always came back to it.
I stopped procrastinating: Because the book took so much time, I had a hard time letting go. When I eventually did put the proverbial pencil down, it was a relief.
You can finish your book too. You just need to pour a lot of love, time, and effort into your project. If you don’t have the grit to complete a book yet, you can develop more grit.
Good luck!
Read the First Chapter of The Hole in the Sky Here
The Hole in the Sky is about a mute young woman in an alien labor camp who must overcome trauma and a fractured relationship with her father to lead a rebellion that could free her family—if she doesn’t lose it in the process.
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