ISWG September 1 Blog Hop: How do you Define Success as a Writer?

Hi all! The Insecure Writers’ Group is a group of writers offering motivation and encouragement to all those taking on the challenges of writing. Every month the ISWG sponsors a blog hop where writers can blog about a topic related to overcoming obstacles and exploring various aspects of the writing journey. If you’d like to participate in a future hop you can join here. It’s always a rewarding experience, and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in writing and sharing with other writers.

Every month there is a discussion question. This month the question is as follows:

September 1 question – How do you define success as a writer? Is it holding your book in your hand? Having a short story published? Making a certain amount of income from your writing?

I liked this month’s question a lot, because it gave me the opportunity to do some soul searching and re-examine some of my goals with writing. Just like with everything I write about here, this is all personal, my perspective. The way I define success is different from the way someone else might. Which, in the end I think is a good thing. It’s important to understand why something makes you feel “successful,” and what your individual goals are. When you let others or society dictate what should make you happy, you frequently end up the exact opposite. So here goes.

I define success as a writer kind of like I define success as a person. I take it day by day. I’m a newbie writer, so my main goal right now is to finish my book! I’ve rewritten it so many times, unhappy with this or that, and now that I’m in the homestretch it feels sort of surreal. But right now, it takes up all my focus. Once that’s done, my goals will grow and expand. Along the way, I’d like to connect with people, to support other writers, and to hopefully make the world a little better. If I can give someone somewhere an escape, even for just a little while, I will feel very successful.

I don’t know how my goals in writing will evolve, but for now I can define them as two basic things: 1) to write books that readers enjoy and 2) to write books that I’m proud of, and that make me happy!

What about you? What do you consider to be success in writing? Let me know in the comments!

Happy writing,

-Winter