I’ve asked myself this question a million times.

“What separates the successful writers from the ones that never make it?”

I’m sure — if you’re an aspiring author — you’ve wondered the same thing. Over and over again, for hours, until you go insane.

Well, after 20 years, I’m pretty sure I’ve figured it out. And it’s not really surprising. In fact, the answer is out there, in your face.

It’s just discipline. That’s it. No big super-secret reveal.

It’s kind of a mundane answer, but I’m convinced that discipline is the single largest determining factor. 

Here’s why: because at some point, writing your way to success is going to be hard. It’s hard in different ways for every author. Maybe the writing is hard. Maybe the editing. Maybe the marketing.

Or maybe it’s something that falls under the subcategory of “sacrifice.” Like choosing writing over most everything else. Gluing your butt to a chair instead of going to a party. Holing up with your laptop and cranking out words instead of watching a movie.

All of these things are hard, but they’re not all hard for every writer. So, I think we have a tendency to look at a list of writing challenges, feel great about the ones we don’t find so challenging, and then let the ones that do affect us get in the way.

I did it for a very long time. I focused on my strengths, ignored my weaknesses, and then sat around wondering why I wasn’t a famous author.

Then one day I finally cracked down, took an honest look, and accepted that my weaknesses were stopping me. And I decided to address them. 

Writing is my strength. I’m fast, and I’ve been doing it for so damn long that I’m willing to say that I’m pretty good at it. Not perfect, but I put myself in a percentile that could write bestselling books if you’re judging purely on technical skill.

So…why wasn’t I published? Why wasn’t I selling novels? Because my weaknesses far outweigh that one strength. 

I’m easily distracted, and honestly, I would rather play a video game than do the hard work of writing a novel. I’m willing to admit that. It doesn’t mean that I don’t love writing — I do — but it’s harder than playing Fallout. It’s mentally taxing and lacks the built-in dopamine loop of a post-apocalyptic RPG.

I also didn’t want to do my own marketing. I don’t even use social media for fun…so I refused to do any kind of book promotion. I really had no interest in doing signings or hawking my books at cons. If I was going to be a writer, I just wanted to write, dammit!

Oh, and then there was the final hurdle. See, the kind of sacrifice I needed to make wasn’t really time. It was money. I needed to pay for editors and covers and marketing. On top of adding expenses, I also needed to cut back on paying work to make more time for writing. I had to make some serious financial decisions. 

And I wasn’t really afraid to make them. It was more a problem of life being simpler if I didn’t make these decisions.

But the kind of success we authors are looking for isn’t normally something you coast into. You don’t really dabble and make a living with it…largely because of that transitory stage between working a normal job to survive and reaching a point where you can live off of your writing.

There comes a juncture where you kinda have to go all in — somehow.

And this is where discipline comes in. Because without structuring this attack against whatever is holding you back, you’re inviting chaos. 

We need a plan. We need direction. We need to make broad, sweeping choices that all point toward this goal of becoming someone who makes their living as an author. 

Otherwise, it could become one of those “I quit my job to pursue my passion but ended up sitting around eating Doritos until the landlord kicked me out” situations. 

We don’t want that.

No, it’s far better to identify the hurdles that are getting in your way, formulate a plan to address them, and then take them on. Motivation and inspiration have nothing to do with this. 

Those things are crap because they come and go. You can’t count on motivation or inspiration to be there when you need them. In fact, they almost never show up when it matters most.

What you can count on is your decisions. Active decisions to do what’s going to lead to your goals. These are often hard decisions, but you have to make them anyway. 

That’s discipline. 

And it will get you further in your writing career than inspiration or motivation ever will.