I'm stealing the idea for this blog post outright from CJLA client Mary Ann Scott. I haven't told her quite yet that I am doing so, but I'll probably cave before this goes live, just because I'm a nice person. That and, you know, we work in an era of intellectual property being a good thing to keep an eye on, so I'd hate to cross any lines. You can even go read her post first before hearing my thoughts. In any event, Mary Ann saw an announcement about a book deal on a writers' message board that also happened to speak to the writer's goal of being published in her 20s. It's definitely very impressive--and I myself can claim to have a twinge of jealousy about that one. But of course, there are a lot of factors at play: talent, hard work, and luck. I'm not going to talk about luck, because it's obviously the most elusive factor whether it's trying to get published, or getting a job, or finding the love of your life. Talent can also only get you so far, though. Sure, we hope a certain amount is present that spawns the whole endeavor in the first place. All the luck in the world can't save something that has no spark. And just because it has a spark, doesn't mean it's refined enough to fly. So really it's the work you put in that determines the kind of writer you will be. It's the work that can make the talent really something. And the work that can put you in the right place at the right time (which is the real definition of luck, right?). My grandmother always likes to say, "If you don't put it in, you can't take it out." No effort = no results. Like a diet.  Which means you need goals. Getting published in your 20s might not be a realistic goal, unless you're the most gifted and lucky person on the planet and you start at age 18. And it doesn't pay to take short-cuts either. That why we agents spend so much time hounding you about queries and plot and voice. We want the real deal. Talent AND hard work. The luck part we try to handle for you. So decide what realistic goals are. And don't start with "Getting published." How about:  - writing a book-length work, even if no one sees it ever?  -  perfecting your dialogue?  - getting your narrator to become a three-dimensional character?  - if you're writing a historical novel, how about perfecting your knowledge of that time period? At the end of the day, it's not about how many conferences you go to, or how many agents you query. It's about the product you create, which means you need those craft-based goals. And the hard work should happen before you start querying and continue long after you first get published. To circle back to the beginning of this post, Mary Ann may not have been published in her twenties, but her other goals have certainly gotten her where she is now. Without all that attention to craft, her writing wouldn't be something for me to fall in love with. And trust me, when you read her book (which I promise you will), you'll see that her goals were worth it.  Now...use the comments section to drop in some of your writing goals.