Writing is the great equalizer
You might be skinny, fat, male, female, old, young, gay, straight, Black, white, Asian, a senior vice president, an entrepreneur, a new college graduate, a person with a Ph.D., somebody who never graduated, a cancer survivor, a person in a wheelchair, or an olympic athlete.
When you write, it doesn’t matter.
If you can write in a way that is logical, persuasive, witty, engaging, startling, appropriate for context, and connected with the audience, you will succeed.
If you cannot, you will fail.
That’s why getting good at writing clearly, succinctly, and effectively is worth working on.
That means doing it a lot, and getting feedback from somebody who can help you learn. That person is an editor or mentor. Find one where you study or work.
About books
A lot of you want to write a book. Here’s what matters if you write a nonfiction book:
- The quality and originality of your idea.
- The quality and size of your author platform.
How you look is not on that list.
Ideas and platforms are things you can work on. I wrote a book about it, but there are lots of other resources.
Writing and publishing shorter pieces — for example, on a blog — is a good way to boost both.
Yes, who you know also matters. But what maximizes the number and reach of the fellow authors who can help you?
The quality of your idea and the size of your platform, again.
Publishers don’t really care about race, age, sexual orientation, or all that other stuff. They care about the quality and originality of your idea and the quality and size of your platform.
You can also self-publish or use a hybrid publisher. Will your book succeed then? Sure, if you have, you guessed it, a quality, original idea and an effective platform.
Books are harder to succeed at than other types of writing. But the things you need to succeed are within your control, and they have nothing to do with how you look.
Today would be a good day to get started.