A market can get glutted with providers, especially authors, a complaint that’s been around for over a decade. However, there’s always room for the exceptional author.

The exceptional author is exceptional in their pursuit of being exceptional. They dissect grammar, voraciously read and analyze the gifted writer, and aim for the best story. They do not settle. They die attempting to be better, even if they’ve already sold ten million copies. They hold real passion, the kind of passion a lot of people claim but do not fully understand.

If you feel stunted in your growth as an author, try to define what ceiling have you hit. Look through the glass and try to identify what those people on the other side are doing that you are not? What do you not understand that you could learn? What writing are you attempting but have not achieved yet, and why?

There are geniuses out there, for sure. But they have to project that genius in the proper direction to be successful with it. Then there are those who swear they’ll sweat blood as long and hard as they have to in order to be the best at what they do or want to do. Natural talent is nice, but it does not open many doors without motivation behind it.

Consistency and an overwhelming drive of persistence pushes you ahead and make people notice you and what you do. And if you show up every day, write every day, work hard to write today’s words better than yesterday’s words, and do so on and on and on, you are in essence making room for yourself at the table of the successful. It’s an investment. And it’s never compromise.