A lot of times people ask the question ‘where do you get your ideas?’ as a big question of writing. For a lot of people the ability to generate ideas seems like the most important part of writing and creating. And at the beginning, maybe it is. Learning what makes a good idea can be tough at the start but with time the ideas keep coming and the ability to focus on them becomes the most important thing.

So what are the most important traits for someone who wants to create? Well, in my humble opinion, these are the 5 that I’ve found most important.

1. Focus.

The ability to sit down and focus on one idea and see it through to the end is one of the most important traits to develop. When I first started writing I would start one story, get a new idea and abandon the story and start a new one. I ended up with a whole lot of half-finished pieces and nothing completed. Focusing on one all the way through to the end has made all the difference.

2. Patience.

Publishing and writing are slow beasts. Nothing moves super fast, even when you are self-publishing, you still need to take the time to write the project, get it edited, laid out, etc. Nothing moves as fast as you’d like it to and learning to not get so frustrated with that is a vital skill.

3. Love of Story.

You’ve got to love the art of telling stories to really get a firm understanding of how to tell one. Reading, playing games, watching movies, learning from other storytellers is so important. If you love a story you can see its good and bad side and learn from that.

4. Curiosity.

Creatives are curious about the world, about how things, about ‘what if’ questions and all the uncertainty that comes with it. We like learning about new things, wonder about why things are this way and want to be constantly learning and growing about new things. Ask why and learn as much you can.

5. Persistence.

This is one of the important traits to build up. Writing can be a tough pursuit. There are plenty of rejections and challenges along the way. It can be lonely, disheartening and down right painful at times. To keep at it requires stubbornness and a push to not give up.

Those are the five traits that I’ve felt like ave helped me the most in my writing journey. What would you add?