It’s time for another Insecure Writer’s Support Group post! This month’s question is: 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 define success as following through on your dreams and finishing your projects. If you are a true writer, you will complete your manuscript or story, edit it properly, and get it published. It doesn’t matter if it sells well so long as it’s the best you can possibly make it. Making money from your work is a great perk, but even if you don’t , you can still call yourself a writer. Most people who “want to write a book” never finish it, so if you are in the minority who do, be proud of that fact. And if you have to self-publish, it still counts as publishing.
Of course, that insidious insecurity will make you feel as if you’re not really a writer, or not a successful one. I’ve sold short stories and e-books. I even get a (very small) quarterly paycheck from my publisher. But there are still days when I don’t feel successful at all. I really want to sell my science fiction and get my other novels out there on the marketplace. Even though I tell myself that my other work has been sold, my little negative voice says the sci-fi must be sub-par if nobody wants it. So I need to work on that and realize that I am a “real” writer anyway.
