I used to think that being successful in writing had much to do with luck. I felt at one stage that I should be getting published and that I was just unlucky. However I realise now that I was pretty naive. Since then I’ve done numerous courses, read lots of books on writing, written many pieces, and also looked at magazine and competition winning stories, and I’ve come to understand that even though there is a smidgeon of luck involved in getting published, (writing is after all a subjective pursuit), success has much more to do with hard work. It takes practice (lots of it!), focused study of the market or genre you’re interested in and an awareness of what competition judges or publishers are looking for, based on what they’ve published before. It is also important to read as widely as possible.

There is, therefore a huge amount of work required so success in writing necessitates total commitment to it. I don’t believe it is something you can do half-heartedly. Yet, commitment breeds determination, at least in my case it has, and that determination can help you to 1/ deal with not being successful, whether that’s due to bad luck or not, and 2/ acquire the tools and skills that will (hopefully) lead to success.