Cintia asked Christine Rimmer:

I'm an aspiring writer, but I'm dealing with two things: I get discouraged every single day because 96% of manuscripts are rejected, and I haven't had an idea for years, literally. There's too many people wanting to be writers, and knowing there's so much competition just kills me a little every day. When I get motivated, immediatly something appears about the industry that kills it. Any tips on how to deal with this?

Christine Rimmer Cintia, the honest truth is, you not only need talent and all that, you need persistence most of all. You need to keep going, keep writing right through all the fear and discouragement. That really is how people make it. They just plain don't give up. You also have to really LOVE the writing itself. I would still be writing if no one ever bought anything of mine. it's just...part of me. I've honed what I write to fit a market so I can get paid to write and not have to spend my energies on some frustrating day job. But even if I couldn't get anyone to pay me, I would write. And the more you write, the better you get. You have to write a lot of bad stuff and the good will come. But if you let yourself get discouraged, you're done. Because you'll never write the stories for someone to want to read in the first place. I wish I could tell you how to keep your spirits up. But I don't know what will encourage you. That will be specific to you. Some write because they're so mad at all the "idiots" who don't appreciate their writing. Some write because they HAVE to. Is this helpful at all? Probably not. I hope you keep at it. Because the determination to persist is the most important attribute of a successful writer.

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