Do YOU Have What It Takes?

I often wonder about this as many of my unpubbed friends can attest to. I'm certain they have gone through the same thing, over and over . . . and over. It's sort of cyclic and hormone related.
And, believe it or not, I think even published writers wonder about it, too.
Do you have what it takes to become a full-time writer?

True, I'm mainly concerned with writing a good novel at a relatively decent speed that I'm hoping some publisher will pick it up. Whereas the published author wonders if this book will be better than the last one. Deadlines, edits, copy edits, proposals are the proverbial Sword of Damocles hanging over the author's head. Multiply that for the authors who write for different publishing houses and/or genres or have two-three books coming out in a year. Yikes!
No wonder some 'inferior' books get published by normally stellar authors.

Even when I go through a period where I wonder why I write and if I'll ever get published, I always think of those authors who have been writing DECADES before they got published. There are a few of them out there. And you know what they all have in common:

PERSEVERANCE.
Timing and luck also play a part, but I don't have any real control over those factors.
I CAN control what I write and how much I write daily.

The key is to tough it out. Keep writing. If you want to give the submission phase a break, by all means do. Actually in this economy it will be rough selling. But don't discount it. I'm hearing many first time authors are getting a shot. Shoot, many authors are wondering if publishers will be buying their option books or simply 'downsizing'. Look at it this way--signing a first-timer is cheaper than paying the higher advances to the published author. It's the same way companies hire fresh-out-of-college workers and part-timers over more experienced, and expensive, workers.
So that's what I'm doing--writing.
Write On!