kenscholes and I were chatting briefly in IM this morning. He's working on the sequel to his profoundly excellent novel Lamentation , and the discussion was about process. We agree on the success formula: Brute persistence kenscholes: naturally, there must be talent and skill in appropriate doses. But the production engine is persistence. jaylake: people seem to have a hard time with that jaylake: as if writing were some mystical, magical act kenscholes: yeah, because they're lazy and want a magic bullet. kenscholes: or because they're scared and want a magic bullet. It's amazing how often I get asked "How did you break in?" My answer is almost always some variation on "I write a lot, and I fail a lot." People really do want something more (or less) than that, it seems. Write. Fail. Write more. Fail less. (See "brute persistence" above.)