Why do so many mediocre and bad writers over-estimate their talents and think they can write books people will enjoy reading?
Very interesting question and I personally know a few who think they are great writers waiting for their door to open (but they are not and everyone reading their blogs/stories/articles knows it).I think it’s because of the following primary reasons:Zero cost - Writing a book doesn’t cost you anything (except time which is usually abundantly available for these folks)Metrics undefined - There is no set standard to be successful. Art is subjective and if you tell them their writing sucks, they will quote some popular author who was once rejected by everyone around him/herEgo - people tend to believe they have a LOT to tell this world, though most people don’t really care about what they have to sayShortcut to fame - One book is all it takes to get to limelight (J.K.Rowling is the most quoted example here)No age barriers - you could write a book when you are 10, 20, 30, 40 or even 100 (though 100 would be pushing it)“Supportive” friends/family/relatives - When your friends, relatives and/or family members aren’t honest and critical, you receive a lot of false praises which makes you believe you are actually someone that you are notDenial - People are usually not OK with accepting defeat and “I’m trying to publish my work” is one of the (if not the) coolest excuses you could use for not being successful (I’m talented, but the time hasn’t come for the world to see my potential)Having said that, there are some genuine talents that are waiting for their moment and the only way to differentiate them from the “run of the mill wannabes” is reading their work, which most people don’t have the time for, especially given that talented folks are far and few, and to get to their work, you probably will have to read a ton of sludge first. It’s a weird setup indeed.
Can I ever be a successful writer when I failed English?
Well, no publisher is going to ask to see your exam results before deciding whether to publish your book. They're just going to ask themselves, "Would this be profitable if I published it?" If they see more than one or two spelling or grammatical mistakes in the first page, their answer will be "no", regardless of how good your ideas are or how passionate you are about the world you've invented. True, the publisher has editors and proofreaders who could fix your mistakes, but they take time to do their work, and they cost money. The next manuscript in the pile has a story that's at least as good as yours, and the publisher won't have to spend three months correcting all the problems that you left in. You could self-publish and bypass the gatekeepers. Most readers don't care what your academic qualifications are, but again, if your writing isn't of a high standard, you'll get few sales and poor reviews. Whenever I come across a book on the Kindle that I think I might like, if I haven't heard of the author, I always download the sample first before handing over any money. If the writing in the sample was like this question, which has at least six grammatical errors in as many sentences, I would stop reading and delete the sample.
Who are the famous and successful people who once did bad in school?
Einstein is a famous one for doing poorly in school. And look how he turned out. When Einstein was young, his parents seriously thought he was mentally disabled. His grades in school were so poor that a teacher asked him to quit and he dropped out when he was 15. Bill Gates was a Harvard School drop-out. Abraham Lincoln had only five years of formal schooling. Sir Isaac Newton also did badly in school. When he was young, he did very poorly in grade school, so poor in fact that his teachers thought he couldn't learn. Thomas Edison was considered a "dull student" by his teachers and was thought to be extremely disruptive in class and so was asked to leave. One teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything. BUT at age 10 he set up a lab in his basement and was already starting to work one experiments and inventions. Steven Spielberg dropped out of high school in his sophomore year. He was convinced to return, but was put in a "special ed" class. Woody Allen, an Academy Award-winning writer, producer and director, flunked motion picture production at New York University AND the City College of New York AND failed English at N.Y.U. as well. Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's never even finished high school. He got a GED as an adult. Walt Disney: I don't think that Walt Disney ever finished high school. He tried to join the military but couldn't because he was too young and after that never went back to school. Winston Churchill also did badly in school. He was shuffled through three different private schools.
Why are Youtubers writing books?
I think it's totally unfair how easy it is for their book to be successful. Sometimes they don't even write them themselves, they use a ghost writer. I just feel bad for the incredible writers out there who are not given opportunities and are turned away. :(