Welcome to The Iron Jaw—a monthly column on the writing life brought to you by me, Alane Adams. As a children’s author with ten books out in the world, I confess I’ve spent most of my life avoiding the one thing I wanted to do most—write stories. If you are an aspiring writer—this column is for you. If you’ve dreamed of making that book in your head a reality—stick around. If you’ve been writing for years but are stuck—read on because every word will resonate.

The meaning behind the name of the column is simple—if you’re going to be a writer you have to have an iron jaw. Agents will reject you. Editors will snub you. Reviewers will scourge you. Bloggers—don’t get me started. You have to be able to take a lot of hits and keep standing which means you must develop a thick skin and an iron jaw so you can keep going even when the world wants to knock you down.

Like most writers, I knew from a young age I wanted to write stories. Writing isn’t a career you thumb through in a catalogue and select—it chooses you. Maybe you think, “Not true! I decided to major in English on a whim and now write perfectly proper prose reporting on recipes or lifestyle or lord knows what, for which I get paid a healthy salary.” Good for you. Read a different column. This is for those writers who would kill to become published. Who would sell their next of kin to have an agent return their phone call. Who would weep at the sight of an encouraging letter from an editor.

Writing is the curse you wish you weren’t born with, the burning desire you would trade for an interest in knitting any day. Consider the lunacy behind it—it takes countless hours, if not years, to write, edit and submit a manuscript, all the while knowing rejection rates are sky-high. It’s an irrational decision at best, an embarrassing hobby at worst. We know it’s an uphill battle, but we push the boulder up the hill, sweating, praying, agonizing, and hoping when we reach the top, what we do will be valued.

Why do writers strive so hard for a near impossible dream? Why do we stare down the odds and write anyway? Because we are possessed by a singular idea—a desire to share our story—to have characters that have lived so beautifully in our  mind exist in the outside world entertaining readers, making them be seen, heard, loved, hated, cried over, and laughed with. We want our stories to come to life. In some ways it’s like bringing a child into the world and setting it free.

Many unpublished writers think unless they have sold a book, gotten an agent, or received some type of formal recognition, that they can’t call themselves writers. Not true. The truth is writing is a way of life, the skin you were born with, like it or not. You can spend years, even decades, pursuing other interests and have successful careers, but being a writer means deep down you long for, ache for, yearn for, nothing more than a keyboard and a blank page.

You know you’re a writer if beginning a new story is like starting a new relationship. That flush of excitement of getting to know the other person (in this case your characters), feeling that tingling chemistry, getting excited at the thought of spending time with them. Writing is like falling in drunk love until that moment you hit a wall and wake up, suddenly seized by doubts of  What was I thinking? I am terrible at this. I can’t begin to compete with other great writers. My story is packed with clichés and misplaced modifiers. And the dream gets shelved, only to eat away at your soul, niggle at the edges of your thoughts as you longingly hold books in your hands other authors have published and wonder: How did they do it? What makes them different than me?

I know the secret to how they did it. The singular difference between them and you can be summed up by one word. It’s not talent—if you were born with a writer’s heart, you were probably given raw talent. It’s not craft, though craft is incredibly important. It’s not who you know, although if your uncle is an agent, send him a very nice Christmas present with a copy of your manuscript tucked inside. It’s not quality. It’s not originality. It’s not editing. It’s not timing. It’s not any of this. So what is it?

Persistence.

The writers who ultimately publish their novels are people just like you who made a conscious decision to pursue their writing dreams no matter what. You think they didn’t run into roadblocks? Gone With The Windwas rejected by almost forty publishers before becoming a success.  Harry Potter author JK Rowling was rejected multiple times and said, “I wasn’t going to give up until every single publisher turned me down, but I often feared that would happen.” It’s hard to imagine a world without Harry Potter, a series that ignited a renewed interest and passion in reading for an entire generation. Imagine she had given up and not sent out that synopsis—One. More Time.

Some successful writers had longtime careers doing other things and made the switch later in life. Some figured it out in college and never swerved. But they all faced rejection, writers block, discouragement, self-loathing, and an indescribable sense of failure wrapped up in joy. And the one thing they all shared was this persistent commitment to marching forward in spite of everything. They committed themselves to writing even when it was hard. They accepted the rejections that piled up and didn’t let them bury them. They committed the time to not only write but master their craft by learning to edit and revise. And when they had a complete manuscript they took the hardest step of all: they tirelessly sent it out into the world to be rejected again and again and again without ever giving up on their dream.

So if you’re not writing, but have a writer’s heart, what’s your excuse? Too old? So what, tomorrow you’ll just be a day older and no closer. Write the story anyway. Too young? No one will take you seriously until you take yourself seriously. Too hard? Welcome to writing! No one in their right mind becomes a writer because it’s fun. It’s hard work with a very, very, very low chance of success.

If you persist, I can’t lie to you, it will be a hard road. You will doubt yourself. Doubt your talent. Doubt your commitment. Doubt the universe will ever give you a break. But don’t quit just because it’s hard. Don’t give up because you hit a bump. Don’t curl into a ball because you get a bad review. Don’t wallow in self-pity when an agent tells you your work is not original. You’re made of sterner stuff than that.

In other words, don’t give up.

You have value as a writer. Your words matter. With hard work, you can create a unique voice that an audience will want to connect with. You have to first find the voice and second find the audience. So when you’re sitting there alone in front of the computer trying to find the courage to write, don’t let fear and doubt eat away at you. When you feel like giving up, reread this column and then write another paragraph. When you feel like the world is against you, stop fighting and let it pass. When you feel like you will never make a dent, never be heard, never be noticed, then grit your teeth, and write some more. Writers write. They persist. They develop their craft. They push forward. But most importantly, they never give up.

Be a writer.