If you want to make it as a writer, then there are many things you’ll have to do, and do well. For now, though, the most important tool in your writer’s toolbox is persistence. This can also be regarded as “stubbornness” but whatever you call it, it’s valuable and you’re going to need it.
You’ll need thick skin, too. This means never, ever giving up, even if everyone tells you you’re going to fail and you’re the worst writer ever. You have to keep at it, even if you get compared to Stephenie Meyer. It may hurt at first, but take criticism as a chance to learn where you’re weak, make the necessary improvements, and become strong.
Persistence and thick skin go hand in hand. Thick skin allows you to stay dedicated, even when you fail (you will fail, but you will get back up and keep going, so it’s OK). Persistence allows you to keep working toward your goal, even when you’re not in the mood.
No one gets things right the first time, so don’t let a little disappointment shut down your whole operation. If you miss a deadline, or go a whole week without writing anything, or get a rejection for an application…well…this is just part of life. Every single successful person has failed – sometimes tremendously – before they succeeded. One of the key consistent factors amongst people who’ve achieved enviable success is that they were crazy enough to keep going when everyone else would have given up.
I’ve met many writers, business owners, and inventors, all of whom faced ridiculous amounts of rejection and failure before they made it big. Good things take time, and if you want to be part of that elite group of successful individuals, all you really have to do is work hard on a consistent basis and never give up (easier said than done, I know, but it’s true).
And there I said it again – “consistency.” Simply put, it’s more important that you work on your goal every day for twenty minutes than it is that you try and put in eight solid hours of work each day, get overwhelmed, and give up, berating yourself as a pathetic loser. Not only does this do nothing for your business success, but will make you feel terrible, too.
Don’t set yourself up for failure – if twenty minutes seems like a lot, then give yourself fifteen minutes every day. And you know what? If fifteen minutes is too much, do ten. Or five! Hell, do one minute of writing every day, I don’t care, just make sure it’s happening. I promise you, you’ll soon start to see progress, and what’s more, you’ll soon start to find that thirty minutes, and hour, or even two hours every day are not so hard to put in toward your goal. Start small and work your way up as you feel comfortable.
Push your limits, but not to the point where it induces a panic attack. If you’re not sure where that fine line is, try to shoot for this: Goals that put you a little on edge, but make you excited. Not terrified, not overwhelmed, not reaching for the scotch to calm your nerves, just…eager to get there. A small, steady amount of growth in progress will get you so much farther than if you set your sights so high at first that you feel certain you’ll never get there.
More than anything, just never give up on yourself. Think of the success you’ll someday enjoy to keep yourself motivated…and if that doesn’t work, think how awesome it’ll be to rub your success in the faces of the people who said you’d fail – it’s a pretty great motivator 
