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Why I Write for “Failure”…
.. and hope it brings me success.
When I started to write, 23'ish years ago, I was going to write the next Norwegian bestseller. I was ready to take on Jo Nesbø.
When I finished my first manuscript, a novella, loosely translated to “The prison lawyer”, it didn’t read like Mr. Nesbøs books. I can only describe it as food processed and transported through five feet of colon. So I went to a dark place. Literary. I still wrote, but I didn’t have the same drive as when I started.
In my last (and first post) here on Medium, I wrote that I was expecting to fail at this Medium thingy. Primarily because of the language barrier. But I am convinced that if I just keeping on writing, and failing, that one day my English will improve to a point where I can write decently. And maybe, if I fail even longer and harder, one day I can finally write that book.
In business, organizations that learn from failures and use the knowledge to improve often are immensely successful. I am also a business. Yes a small one, a very small one, but even so, the same mechanics is in play.
The problem is our built-in allergy for failure. We learn as kids that admitting failure means taking the blame.
When I fail, I can only blame my self. And every time it is the same reason for…