I’ve spent the last four years mentoring about seven writers.
In that time I’ve also evaluated dozens of other writers, without choosing to mentor them. I saw something in those seven that I didn’t see in the rest.
That “something” I saw was a set of qualities that I think are unique to remarkable writers. And I wanted to start documenting those qualities — those things that make writers stand out from the rest of the population.
Now a typical list on writers usually revolves around habits common to a lot of professions (obsession, perseverance, getting up early, reading a ton, and so on).
That’s too easy.
What I’m looking for is a constellation of qualities that we can say a writer has thatno other profession can claim.
This is not an easy task. But here’s my stab at it.
