Persistence VS Creativity

A quotation I find especially useful for writers is this one from Calvin Coolidge.

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not: unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

Calvin Coolidge was one of America's least heralded presidents, but I, being one who is not afraid to submit my writing for publication, have made his words my mantra. My goal is to submit something, could be one poem, one short story or a group of poems, at least once a week. I’ve had tons of rejections, but since 2018, when I began submitting my work in earnest, I have had two short stories, two essays, one guest column and fifteen poems published in various journals and anthologies. I haven’t broken into the “big leagues” when it comes to the publishers who have accepted my work, but I keep trying.

Is my writing not creative enough to be selected? I sometimes tell myself my writing measures up but my credentials don’t. If I can’t cite having been published by Rattle, Atlantic Monthly, Paris Review, Tin House or other prestige publications, why would those magazines want to include my writing in their pages?

At times like these I refer to another source of inspiration, the words of Ira Glass, host of the series This American Life. Ira Glass is a brilliant reporter who has won praise for his radio and television work, among them being The Edward R. Murrow Award for Outstanding Contributions to Public Radio. The excerpt below, drawn from one of his programs, is what he has to say about creativity.

“What nobody tells people who are beginners—and I really wish someone had told this to me— is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not.

But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story.

It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take a while. It’s normal to take a while. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.

I follow his advice by writing every chance I get. I also study the work of successful writers for inspiration and to hone my taste. Ira Glass appears to be almost as keen on persistence as Calvin Coolidge, which, for me, makes persistence the winner.