I’m not the most talented writer in the room. Never have been.
But I can grind.
My first agent told me he’d seen a million talented people — and 99% of them fizzled out. The ones who made it weren’t the most gifted. They were the most relentless.
It doesn’t matter what creative field you’re in. Keep showing up day after day, and the game of numbers will work in your favor.
Steve shows you the predictable Resistance points that every writer hits in a work-in-progress and then shows you how to deal with each one of these sticking points. This book shows you how to keep going with your work.
A short book about the writing of a first novel: for Steve, The Legend of Bagger Vance. Having failed with three earlier attempts at novels, here's how Steve finally succeeded.
Steve shares his "lessons learned" from the trenches of the five different writing careers—advertising, screenwriting, fiction, nonfiction, and self-help. This is tradecraft. An MFA in Writing in 197 pages.
Amateurs have amateur habits. Pros have pro habits. When we turn pro, we give up the comfortable life but we find our power. Steve answers the question, "How do we overcome Resistance?"
The danger of discovering your talent too early is that it can become a substitute for discipline. Knowing you have talent feeds one of the most human weaknesses: procrastination. It makes it easier to say, “I’ll do it tomorrow — talent will carry me.”
No different than working out. It’s a daily discipline like lifting weights or practicing with a instrument. I don’t have to be a great writer to be a ‘writer.’ But I do have to write to call myself one. By the way, Steve. That book about Mickey Marcus? ‘Chasing the Shadow: Mickey Marcus’ 200 Days of Destiny.’ Not me. But cheered on by me. NYC-based Steven Ossad wrote it. He has done sone excellent historical writing. But he’s a curmudgeon.
I like my own stuff.
Thanks Steve
Ben May
Retired Disney Executive
Orlando
Jerry Ellison July 2, 2026 at 9:07 am
Very insightful and early in my career I was guilty of that. It just seemed too easy: The very first story I ever wrote, at the age of 21, sold instantly to Penthouse Magazine. Later, I applied my talent to something far more meaningful. At 41, I became the first person in the modern era to walk the 900 mile route of the Cherokee Trail of Tears. My resulting book, Walking the Trail, sold instantly to Random House, which nominated the book for a Pulitzer, opening the door to six-figure advances.
I couldn’t agree more. To this day, people say to me, “you are so talented”. But the truth is, I stuck with my art and worked on it for decades, almost every day.
Thank you very much dear Steve. Your video idea was extraordinary.
Talent is just a word. What I have inside me, and I struggle a bit to only keep it from vanishing, which I consider as a parallel to talent, is an interesting energy. If I care enough for my emotional state, energy, food, and some wideness of spirit, and protection from a million shit holes that surrounded me like the 300, there is something inside me, some called it the beast inside, some with other words, that must be very important for the possibility to push humanity forward (or backwards of course). It is like the energy we have. Not only being (the energy) a field of grinding, but simultaneously a field of blooming, widening, cunningness, an energy that is like a fire essence that moves instead of just holding ground – I don’t know how to express it.
Have some bad news too. A couple of days ago it was revealed to me that a treasure that I was waiting for from my generation, a great estate of my generation that someone from the blood-line had, was stolen by cunning older people. One chance of my life to explode, to attack poverty with canons, which I was waiting for since I was a kid and I was given words about it, was stolen relentlessly. More than that, in that will, although I admired the person in all their life and I tried my best to be with integrity but also with love for them with the powers I had each period although they had a hard character, I was the least served of all. He was mocking me. Wow. Crows, loneliness, alcohol, failures, they can terminate legacies and futures. Here another time when the laws of the Universe don’t accumulate to light the Light, but they can f*** it just because. The lines of fate are infinite, moving together in a cable, and it is impossible to control them all, even if you have a strong integrity and rights.
Persistence is what matters. Talent is waaaay down the list and talent is BS anyway. Talent is something amateurs talk about. Look at all of the natural talents who didn’t make it in their field. Countless amazing athletes when they were kids, but never went pro, or weren’t pro for long, because they lacked persistence.
Sure, we all have natural proclivities toward certain things. Some are much better with words than others. But someone who is average with words, yest writes everyday for years, and persistently markets those books, sells books for a living.
Jorgeon July 1, 2026 at 5:31 am
So true. Thank you for always adding value, brining insights and truth bombs.
Susan Goldinon July 1, 2026 at 7:43 am
A writer’s beautiful words mean nothing if they cannot communicate the truth we have lived to help another human being. And this takes repeated effort and daily practice. Isn’t that why we are here, to help each other? To be another crafty writer with wonderful word choices, and great plot structures in mind is nice, even miraculous, but does it matter more than if I can talk someone off the suicide ledge or talk my way out of being shot at gunpoint? Our words can encourage and inspire if we sincerely want to communicate, whether or not communication is even possible, I wonder at times. But I have to believe that my ceaseless striving to produce sincere words to share experiences transcends my own ability to create.
What came to mind was a scene from Gates of Fire, a phalanx on line and feet churning the mud. A quick Goodreads search surfaced:
“In that moment the phalanx forms a unity so dense and all-divining that it performs not merely at the level of a machine or engine of war but, surpassing that, to the state of a single organism, a beast of one blood and heart. The foemen’s arrows rained upon the Spartan line. From where I found myself, just behind the rear-rankers, I could see the warriors’ feet, at first churning in disarray for purchase on the blood and gore-beslimed earth, now settle into a unison, a grinding relentless cadence.”
When I used to interview people for a living, the most successful of those had an eerily similar answer when asked why they made it and others don’t. “I didn’t quit,” they said.
The same with marriages. Celebrities, for example, who endure often quote this brilliant strategy: “We didn’t get divorced.”
We like to think there’s some secret formula that, if only we found it, would be the key. The answer, as Occam’s Razor would suggest and Steve just told us, is much less glamorous: “Keep going.”
Smudgieon July 1, 2026 at 9:18 am
Yup! Go Steve!
Jackieon July 1, 2026 at 9:24 am
Some call may call it stubbornness. I call it sticktoitness. Whatever, persistence pays if not money, for sure the satisfaction of knowing you did your best.
This is my super power—I get things done. It probably started when I was a little kid and my parents discovered I was “gifted” in music (piano, specifically) and decided that I would be a concert pianist. Never mind what I wanted. But the lessons and practice, practice, practice. Heck, I had my 10,000 hours in before I hit high school. Discipline was drilled into me to the point that it’s second nature.
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Patronu aradığında sürekli hasta olduğunu söyleyerek iş yerine yalan söylüyor
porno hikaye Patronu artık bu kadarının gerçek olamayacağını ve rapor görmek istediğini dile getirip telefonu kapatıyor
türbanlı Olgun kadın hemen bilgisayarının başına geçip özel bir doktor buluyor ve onu arayarak evine davet ediyor
porno Muayene için eve gelen doktor olgun kadını muayene ediyor ve hiç bir sıkıntı olmadığını söylüyor
brazzers porno Sarışın ablamız ise iş yerine rapor götürmesi gerektiğini bu yüzden rapor yazmasını istiyor
brazzers porno fakat doktor bunun pek mümkün olmadığını dile getiriyor
sex hikayeleri Daha sonra evli olan bu kahpe doktora iş atarak ona yavşıyor ve istediğini alana kadar durmuyor
Porno İzle Karılarını takas etmek isteyen elemanlar hep birlikte evde buluşuyor
türkçe porno Güzel vakit geçirdikten sonra kızlara isteklerini iletiyorlar ve hatunlarda kocalarının bu isteklerini kabul ediyorlar
seks hikayeleri Hemen ellerine telefonları alan elemanlar karılarına video eşliğinde sakso çektiriyorlar
porno izle Hiç beklemeden sikişe geçen elemanlar hatunları değiştire değiştire sikmeye başlıyorlar.
The danger of discovering your talent too early is that it can become a substitute for discipline. Knowing you have talent feeds one of the most human weaknesses: procrastination. It makes it easier to say, “I’ll do it tomorrow — talent will carry me.”
No different than working out. It’s a daily discipline like lifting weights or practicing with a instrument. I don’t have to be a great writer to be a ‘writer.’ But I do have to write to call myself one. By the way, Steve. That book about Mickey Marcus? ‘Chasing the Shadow: Mickey Marcus’ 200 Days of Destiny.’ Not me. But cheered on by me. NYC-based Steven Ossad wrote it. He has done sone excellent historical writing. But he’s a curmudgeon.
I like my own stuff.
Thanks Steve
Ben May
Retired Disney Executive
Orlando
Very insightful and early in my career I was guilty of that. It just seemed too easy: The very first story I ever wrote, at the age of 21, sold instantly to Penthouse Magazine. Later, I applied my talent to something far more meaningful. At 41, I became the first person in the modern era to walk the 900 mile route of the Cherokee Trail of Tears. My resulting book, Walking the Trail, sold instantly to Random House, which nominated the book for a Pulitzer, opening the door to six-figure advances.
I couldn’t agree more. To this day, people say to me, “you are so talented”. But the truth is, I stuck with my art and worked on it for decades, almost every day.
Thank you very much dear Steve. Your video idea was extraordinary.
Talent is just a word. What I have inside me, and I struggle a bit to only keep it from vanishing, which I consider as a parallel to talent, is an interesting energy. If I care enough for my emotional state, energy, food, and some wideness of spirit, and protection from a million shit holes that surrounded me like the 300, there is something inside me, some called it the beast inside, some with other words, that must be very important for the possibility to push humanity forward (or backwards of course). It is like the energy we have. Not only being (the energy) a field of grinding, but simultaneously a field of blooming, widening, cunningness, an energy that is like a fire essence that moves instead of just holding ground – I don’t know how to express it.
Have some bad news too. A couple of days ago it was revealed to me that a treasure that I was waiting for from my generation, a great estate of my generation that someone from the blood-line had, was stolen by cunning older people. One chance of my life to explode, to attack poverty with canons, which I was waiting for since I was a kid and I was given words about it, was stolen relentlessly. More than that, in that will, although I admired the person in all their life and I tried my best to be with integrity but also with love for them with the powers I had each period although they had a hard character, I was the least served of all. He was mocking me. Wow. Crows, loneliness, alcohol, failures, they can terminate legacies and futures. Here another time when the laws of the Universe don’t accumulate to light the Light, but they can f*** it just because. The lines of fate are infinite, moving together in a cable, and it is impossible to control them all, even if you have a strong integrity and rights.
Wow.
My love to you, Diana, the team, the friends.
I’m writing.
Persistence is what matters. Talent is waaaay down the list and talent is BS anyway. Talent is something amateurs talk about. Look at all of the natural talents who didn’t make it in their field. Countless amazing athletes when they were kids, but never went pro, or weren’t pro for long, because they lacked persistence.
Sure, we all have natural proclivities toward certain things. Some are much better with words than others. But someone who is average with words, yest writes everyday for years, and persistently markets those books, sells books for a living.
So true. Thank you for always adding value, brining insights and truth bombs.
A writer’s beautiful words mean nothing if they cannot communicate the truth we have lived to help another human being. And this takes repeated effort and daily practice. Isn’t that why we are here, to help each other? To be another crafty writer with wonderful word choices, and great plot structures in mind is nice, even miraculous, but does it matter more than if I can talk someone off the suicide ledge or talk my way out of being shot at gunpoint? Our words can encourage and inspire if we sincerely want to communicate, whether or not communication is even possible, I wonder at times. But I have to believe that my ceaseless striving to produce sincere words to share experiences transcends my own ability to create.
What came to mind was a scene from Gates of Fire, a phalanx on line and feet churning the mud. A quick Goodreads search surfaced:
“In that moment the phalanx forms a unity so dense and all-divining that it performs not merely at the level of a machine or engine of war but, surpassing that, to the state of a single organism, a beast of one blood and heart. The foemen’s arrows rained upon the Spartan line. From where I found myself, just behind the rear-rankers, I could see the warriors’ feet, at first churning in disarray for purchase on the blood and gore-beslimed earth, now settle into a unison, a grinding relentless cadence.”
Same deal.
Amen, Joe.. Amen, Steve.
When I used to interview people for a living, the most successful of those had an eerily similar answer when asked why they made it and others don’t. “I didn’t quit,” they said.
The same with marriages. Celebrities, for example, who endure often quote this brilliant strategy: “We didn’t get divorced.”
We like to think there’s some secret formula that, if only we found it, would be the key. The answer, as Occam’s Razor would suggest and Steve just told us, is much less glamorous: “Keep going.”
Yup! Go Steve!
Some call may call it stubbornness. I call it sticktoitness. Whatever, persistence pays if not money, for sure the satisfaction of knowing you did your best.
This is my super power—I get things done. It probably started when I was a little kid and my parents discovered I was “gifted” in music (piano, specifically) and decided that I would be a concert pianist. Never mind what I wanted. But the lessons and practice, practice, practice. Heck, I had my 10,000 hours in before I hit high school. Discipline was drilled into me to the point that it’s second nature.
Thank you Steven. I needed to hear this today.