Re: OFFSHORING ARTICLE/Non-Writers As Writers

[topsidefarm -at- mva -dot- net]

> Second, despite the wear and tear on my idealism after seven years of teaching
> and some hard knocks in the business world, I can't help reasoning this way:
> almost everyone, if they apply themselves, can learn to write a university
> essay. I know, because I saw any number of bad or inexperienced writers learn
> within a semester how to write a university essay, and some of them even went
> on to grad school. Surely, then, most people can learn to write well enough to
> get an article published or write a technical manual - especially when there
> are so many potential markets. At the same time, I've seen a number of people
> with a gift for words who haven't been able to become any sort of professional
> writer. I suspect that the difference between a professional writer and an
> amateur often isn't a matter of talent, but of discipline and persistence:
> discipline to learn the art of writing extremely well, and persistence to get
> published in the face of the endless flood of rejections that most writers have
> to go through at the start of their careers. Naturally, talent has something to
> do with how influential your words are, and how long they're remembered, but
> it's not the only, nor even the most important thing you need to become a
> writer.
> 
> Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604-421.7177

As President Calvin Coolidge said:
"Press on: nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance. Talent
will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius
will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the
world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone
are omnipotent."

Bruce, this has always been what seperated the winners in life from the
losers. Looking at you and the other successful people on this list, Cal's
quote becomes rather obvious.

I know in my own case, persistence is the only thing that has gotten me
through life. As a special ed student in the '60s, it was determined that
I would NEVER learn to read above the third or fourth grade level. The
experts told my parents to "get use to that fact". My parents refused to
accept it, and so did I. They worked damn hard to teach, and I worked just
as hard to learn. I wish those old witches from the school district were
still alive to see my successes.

Now as I writer, I am marginally talented at best. I know this and have to
face it. However, that fact hasn't gotten in the way of my becoming a
successful tech writer. I had to work very hard at it. And since it
doesn't come as naturally to me as to some other people, I still have to
work hard every day. Despite the difficulty, I still enjoy writing, so
I'll keep working in the field as long as I can.

To sum it up in a quick phrase: If I can learn to be a successful writer,
anybody can learn to be a successful writer!

Jason A. Czekalski

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