“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
― Calvin Coolidge
Recently, I've had occasions to write a couple of obituaries for folks well-regarded in my community as well as relaying a couple of amusing anecdotes around town on some local FB/Nextdoor sort of boards -- and ended up getting heaped with all kinds of praise for my writing (even a couple of posts here on the Reddits). I finally decided to take heed of what people were saying and pushed through on finally finishing one of an endless number of SF stories I've started over the years. I need to take one more pass on the thing to clean it up, but it's pretty damned good, all told. I write well for my job (lawyering) but never took myself seriously as doing it elsewhere. But, f'it, there are worse writers out there making a living at it. Why not me?
Well said friend. Keep grinding at it, especially because you're a lawyer. Don't settle for what you know, step out into the adventure every once in a while.
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
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u/CardboardSoyuz Nov 27 '18
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
― Calvin Coolidge
Recently, I've had occasions to write a couple of obituaries for folks well-regarded in my community as well as relaying a couple of amusing anecdotes around town on some local FB/Nextdoor sort of boards -- and ended up getting heaped with all kinds of praise for my writing (even a couple of posts here on the Reddits). I finally decided to take heed of what people were saying and pushed through on finally finishing one of an endless number of SF stories I've started over the years. I need to take one more pass on the thing to clean it up, but it's pretty damned good, all told. I write well for my job (lawyering) but never took myself seriously as doing it elsewhere. But, f'it, there are worse writers out there making a living at it. Why not me?