What’s Luck Got to Do With Your Writing Dream?
Since it’s St. Patrick’s Day, let’s talk about luck—specifically, how much (or how little) it actually matters when it comes to our writing success.
Me? I’m not a big believer in luck—at least not when it comes to writing.
Do lucky things happen?
Sure. Sometimes they even happen to me LOL. Like that one time I didn’t get flattened by the K Street bus because my paper flew out of my hand right before I was about to cross.
Or the time my daughter and I decided to play one more game of Monster Match before heading to Home Depot—if we hadn’t, we never would have driven by at just the right moment to save Ruby-Rue, the homeless little puppy who became our newest family member.
That was serious serendipity.
Both moments were lucky, but in neither case was I consciously working toward a goal.
And that’s exactly why I don’t believe luck plays a role in writing success.
Because luck doesn’t write the books—we do!
When it comes to long-term goals—like writing the best book we can—luck has nothing to do with it. It’s all about elbow grease, persistence, patience, and craft. Now publishing success…that’s a different story, which we’ll talk about in just a sec.
Honestly, I get a little irritated when big name authors talk about their “lucky breaks” because it shifts the focus away from the years of work they put in to have something ready at the time the universe called for it. I don’t think their intention is to make it look easy by any stretch, but our society sensationalizes outcomes, and the quicker the better.
I much prefer to listen to the writer who steps up and says, “Yep, wrote ten novels that didn’t get picked up. Learned a shit ton. Worked hard. Kept working. And then, I found my agent or my audience.”
Now, let’s be real—publishing a book in today's marketing landscape and making a lot of money doing it? That’s where luck and timing do come into play.
The right agent with the right editorial contacts who happens to be looking for exactly what you wrote?
The perfect moment when the market aligns with your story?
The random stroke of luck that lands your book in front of the right reader at the right time?
Yep. There’s some lucky timing involved in those scenarios but still—here’s what too many of us forget—LUCK DOESN’T COME FIRST.
First, we have to write the damn book!
And not just any book. We have to write the best book we’re capable of writing at the time and have patience with ourselves and the process as we learn how to do it better and better. That part? 100% on us.
So while I absolutely wish you luck—now and always (avoid K Street buses, and if you see a stray pup it might be because it belongs on your couch)—what I really wish for you (and me, too) is willingness and love by the bucket loads.
The willingness to stay in it when it gets hard, because we love it.
The willingness to do the work and learn the craft because we love it.
The willingness to keep going because we love it and also … because we love it.
Publishing is not just for the “lucky” few.
Writing and publishing a book is not a pipe dream reserved for the chosen ones who caught a lucky break. It’s something we can all do.
Maybe you’ll land a traditional deal. Maybe you won’t. Maybe you don’t even want one. But if your goal is to write a book that people will read and enjoy?
You can learn how to do that.
Luck has nothing to do with the quality of the books we create. That’s all effort, skill, and dedication—and that is something we can control.
So let’s stop confusing publishing luck with writing success.
Because writing success is in our hands. And it starts with finishing the best book we can possibly write.
