To besuccessful writer and get noticed, being good often isn’t good enough. You have to shine. You have to have something that puts you above all others. Of course though, nobody is perfect. Everyone has faults and flaws. But everyone has talents and abilities too. What’s your talent?

Find your talent and focus on it. Develop it. Showcase it in your writing so it really shines through. Remember, one thing that stands out is far easier to notice than ten things that are good, but not great. Make sure your best skill stands out.

Stacey’s Story: Start With Something Special

I had my breakthrough while takingbreak from writing. I was watchingmovie Bring it On and decided to watchbonus features. One of them wasinterview withdirector and he talked about howscreenplay got noticed because it opened withcheer song. That stood out, that got their attention, that made them want to readrest. I decided to takesame approach. I took chances withstart. I started withletter,poem,snippet fromdiary. It must have madedifference because with that one change,manuscript that had been rejected onefour times got purchased. –Stacey, Novelist

Carmen’s Story: Use Your Strengths

I was told by my teachers and by readers that my dialogue was really strong. So I decided to stop hiding it away and I put it right out front. I madefirst chapter of my novel almost all dialogue. It gotattention ofagent, who has since told me thatindividuality offirst chapter told him that he had foundnew writer withclear sense of style. He took me on and is now trying to sell that sense of style to publishers. Even better for me, he’s not just trying to sell my first book, he’s trying to sell me asnext new thing,young writer to look out for! –Carmen, Novelist

Editor Says: “Forget Modesty”

Writing is notbusiness where you can afford to be modest. You have to get in there and show what you’ve got. Whatever you do better than everyone else, show it off. Build your work around your best skill. Otherwise, you’re going to be lumped in withrest ofwriters that are good, but don’t stand out. –James, Editor

Editor Says: “I’m Looking for One Thing”

Many writers makemistake of trying to show me everything they do well. Forget it. I’m glancing at hundreds of manuscriptsday. To catch my attention, you have to hit me betweeneyes with one strong point that I can’t not notice. There will be time later to show me your other strengths. Forfirst contact, focus on making one clear point about yourself and make itgood one.

–Darryn, Editor

Susan’s Story: Is it ReallyFlaw?

Inearly days of Susan’s career, everyone advised her that she relied on dialogue too much. So she cut outdialogue. She kept writing but found her work lacked energy. Years later, she decided to ignore alladvice. The novel came naturally to her and it was almost all dialogue. The book reviews praised her unique style and voice. Susan learned her lesson—never suppress what comes naturally to you. Remember, what comes naturally to you might be your greatest gift, not your greatest flaw.

Top Six Ways to Find Your Strength

one. Ask other people what stands out about your work.

two. Read some of your best work and makelist of what makes it good.

three. Read throughcontents ofbook about writing and ask yourself if there isarea you are good at.

four. Think about what other people have said about your work. Are there any comments that keep being repeated?

five. Ask yourself what you care about when you write.

six. What do you like about other people’s work? Oftenthings you notice in other people’s work are alsothings that you are good at.

This article was posted on October onetwo, twozerozerofive