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I just had the privilege of interviewing one of my favorite authors, Francine Rivers, whose novel, The Last Sin Eater, was just made into a movie. (How many of us would love to have our novel turned into a movie that is seen in theaters nationwide? Francine never dreamed it would happen, either.)

Something she said struck me. She admitted that every time she begins a novel, she is terrified. She wonders whether she can pull it off. This author, whose every book hits the best seller list, doubts she can pull the next book off!

So if you feel doubts when you face the blank screen, know that even great and successful authors like Francine Rivers face the same thing.

Something else struck me. Even though she is obviously a master at her craft, she continually reads books on how to write. She recently finished reading two books by Sol Stein (Stein on Writing and How to Grow a Novel), and On Writing by Stephen King. On her Web site FAQ’s (soon to be posted, if it’s not up already), she intimates that if she had read Sol Stein before writing The Last Sin Eater, she might have done it differently:

“[It was a] challenge … to capture the dialect of the Appalachian people without losing the reader. Only recently did I read a book on writing by Sol Stein and learned it was best not to use dialect. That would have made it easier write, and perhaps easier for the reader as well!”

How’s that for humility?

In my coaching of authors, one of the biggest things that separates people who succeed and those who don’t is how teachable they are. Successful authors always seek to improve their craft, hone their skills, learn new marketing techniques, be willing to stretch and try new things. If you trace the history of Francine’s books, you see that each novel is very different from the one before it (with the exception, possibly, of her novella series).

Successful authors welcome input from others on their writing. I know I always welcome input from my editors. When I got one book back with very light editing, I felt disappointed. Surely I’m not that good a writer that I don’t need input from an editor!

So this is my challenge to you, and to myself: Am I always seeking to learn and grow in my craft, in my calling? Do I welcome feedback, both positive and negative? Am I willing, even eager, to stretch? Is true excellence my goal?

I would love to hear what you do to help yourself grow and stretch. Please post your comments!

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 22nd, 2007 at 12:03 am and is filed under Writing, publishing, promoting books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.