Grit for Writers: Why Passion and Perseverance are the Keys to Your Success by Tamar Sloan

Author:Tamar Sloan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jess Connors Publishing

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I was born to write, but almost dying stopped me cold for more than two years.

I published my first novel in late 2011 and had built up a modest but decent following for my Paranormal YA series. But in early 2013, I became quite sick.

It was pregnancy that made me very ill and almost cost me my life. It also cost me more than $50,000 in medical debt. It meant I needed to work two jobs while figuring out how to be a parent and struggling to recover my health. There was no time left for writing.

So, I worked and paid that debt off in just over a year. I enjoyed every moment with my daughter and husband, and when finally I had room to breathe again, I returned to writing.

Everything was different now. Not only was I a Mom and a more than two year out-of-practice writer, I now had a lovely diagnosis of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder to contend with.

And I realized awfully quickly that all the anxiety that came hand-in-hand with my newfound OCD could kill my dreams or help me to finally achieve them. You see, stress is energy. It’s power. It’s a tool, if you know how to work it.

And I refused to give up.

Writing was just too much a part of who I’d always wanted to be, who I still was somewhere deep inside. It was who I wanted to be in the future. Above all that, I wanted to show my daughter that dreams never die. She needed to learn that “Strong Woman” wasn’t just a couple words splashed across a T-shirt, but also a way of life.

And so—with a lot of fear and more than a little hesitation—I came back, bruised and battle-weary, weaker than before, but also so much stronger.

My approach to writing changed, but so had the kind of story I wanted to tell. With all I’d been through and with the stories and values I hoped to pass on to my daughter, I switched from writing Paranormal YA to Christian Romance. I wanted to show her that there was kindness in the world, and that she could add to it.

I started up again slowly, finding my new voice, and doing my best to connect with the readers who want to hear it. I truly started over, deciding to write under my real name this time instead of a pen name.

I kept going, kept learning, kept doing the things that were important to me—and it was then that I finally found true success as a writer.

Now in 2017, I publish more, earn more, and—most importantly—my words are changing lives. They offer hope and comfort to my readers. They remind me how precious life is, especially to someone who came very close to losing it. They enable me to be the best mom, the best writer, the best me.

And, to think, I’d almost given it all up.

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