You don't start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it's good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That's why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.
Interpretation
Success in writing requires patience and persistence, as initial efforts may feel better than they truly are.
This quote by Octavia Butler emphasizes the importance of persistence in the writing process. It suggests that most individuals do not immediately excel at writing; instead, they often produce subpar work while believing it's of good quality. Over time, with dedication and continuous practice, one can improve their skills significantly. This reflects a broader truth about personal and professional growth, needing both patience and perseverance to achieve success.
In practice
In a writing workshop when discussing the process of developing one's style.
What I'm working on now - I'm back to fantasy, although considering that it's me, I'm turning it into a kind of science fantasy. It's a vampire story - but my vampires are biological vampires. They didn't become vampires because someone bit them; they were born that way.
Slavery was a long slow process of dulling.
Here I was into astronomy, and here into anthropology, and there I go into geology. It was much more fun to be able to research and write about whatever I wanted to.
There is no end To what a living world Will demand of you.
Better to stay alive," I said. "At least while there's a chance to get free." I thought of the sleeping pills in my bag and wondered just how great a hypocrite I was. It was so easy to advise other people to live with their pain.
Third, for people who aren't doing it already, take classes - they're worthwhile. Workshops or classes - a workshop is where you do actually get feedback on your work, not just something where you go and sit for a day.
The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful then a thousand heads bowing in prayer.
If anybody seeks your advice, offer right and sincere advice.
The people with very hard problems are understood by God. He knows what wretched machines they are trying to drive. Some day he will fling them away and give those people new ones; then they may astonish everyone, for they learned their driving in a hard school. Some of the last will be first and some of the first will be last.
It took me forty years of dealing with buddhism to finally realize that actually Buddha's discovery was happiness and bliss.
there is no reason why anyone should understand how it works… and of course no reason why anyone should care … unless you are curious, in which case I love you, for curiosity about the world and all its corners is a beautiful thing.
You can be shaped, or you can be broken. There is not much in between. Try to learn. Be coachable. Try to learn from everybody, especially those who fail. This is hard. ... How promising you are as a Student of the Game is a function of what you can pay attention to without running away.
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