The three qualities a business author needs

ByJosh Bernoff
Photo: Aurelien Guichard CC BY-SA 2.0

I know you’re experienced and think you’re a decent writer. And I know you have what you think is a great idea. But after working with many dozens of authors, I’ve learned that you need more. These are the three personal qualities an author needs to get to the end of the book creation process successfully:

  1. Intelligence. Authors solve problems. That demands resourceful intelligence. I’m talking about content problems, like coming up with a differentiated idea. Political problems, like how to deal with your boss. Structuring problems. Writing problems. Motivational problems. It’s not enough that you’re a problem solver. You need to be an original thinker, one that finds creative solutions that are different from what everybody else has tried. That level of creative intelligence is essential for an author.
  2. Ability to learn. Authors find themselves in uncharted territory often — both in terms of content and in the writing process. They try things. They make many, many mistakes. Their coaches and editors (and life) show them what they did wrong. Then they need to become smarter based on what they did wrong. It’s not only a question of recovering from mistakes. You need to love the process of failing, analyzing your failure, and getting smarter.
  3. Perseverance. There are so many times along the way where it will be easy to give up. You will see another book that’s similar to yours. You’ll doubt your own insights. You’ll believe you wasted lots of energy on efforts that came to naught. You’ll suffer writer’s block. Authors who make it through these roadblocks and continue are the only ones whose books end up published.

Notice that these qualities are not what we normally associate with author skills. Yes, you need writing ability. Yes, you need to be able to explain concepts simply. You need to be a decent storyteller. And you need financial resources, of course.

But those are all things you can learn or acquire. I’m not sure you can learn intelligence, ability to learn, or perseverance. They’re more like essential personality traits for authors.

They’re also the reason we have all those wrinkles on our faces.

These are entrepreneurial qualities

These same three qualities are necessary to succeed as an entrepreneur.

That’s probably not a coincidence.

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One Comment

  1. “[Intelligence, ability to learn, and perseverance are] also the reason we have all those wrinkles on our faces.”

    I am fascinated to find how strongly your quote above aligns with Anu Garg’s A.Word.A.Day quote that I received today:

    Time engraves our faces with all the tears we have not shed. – Natalie Clifford Barney, poet, playwright, and novelist (1876-1972)

    Stuff like this – coincidental things – happen all the time, but they still astonish me when they do.

    By the way, I appreciate your analysis of those three necessary qualities or attributes. You are right: They cannot be taught, they must be experienced directly in order to develop and shape us, regardless of our field or industry.

    Reply