Have You Changed Your Mind About Writing Success?

A while ago, I wrote a post asking Muffin readers if they had ever written about something that they never thought they would. I also posted a version of the same question on my blog, and I received a lot of interesting responses. It turns out that in our writing journeys, things don't always go exactly as we planned. Most of the time, this turns out to be a good thing because we might be published in ways we never thought possible.

For writers, we also become surprised by how we define success. At my critique group over the weekend, we had a huge talk about success because one writer is doubting her ability to succeed at writing. Because she has children who will go to college, she is wondering if she will ever make enough money at her writing career. We all encouraged her to go for it right now. Her kids are young. She is working on a trilogy--one book published, next under contract, and currently writing the third. Her youngest child will be in full-day Kindergarten next year, and we said: give your writing and success some time. She might just surprise herself. But making money with her writing is how she defines success. And I'm sure none of us blame her. Actually, book sales and royalty checks are a measure at how well you are doing at marketing and knowing your audience. But does it define your writing success?

I'm going to say: NO, and not just because we at WOW! like to be inspirational and encourage you to follow your dreams and keep writing. I'm going to say that success is measured by each individual writer and his or her ability to reach writing goals. I'm also going to venture that similar to the topics we write about or the formats we use expanding beyond what we thought was possible when we started writing, success is always changing, too.

For me, I wanted to publish articles and stories for kids. I wanted to get something accepted by Highlights Magazine. I wanted to make money writing. I wanted to get books published. I wanted to be invited as a speaker at conferences. I wanted to do school visits.  I have done all of these things, and yet, I am like my critique partner. I don't feel overly successful right now. Why?

Good question! I'm not really sure. I think for it is because I had to put a halt on the path I was on when I got divorced. A lot of the time I spent marketing and speaking is now spent with a full-time job and single parenting. But this question is something I really want to explore for myself in the next few months. So, I'll be back with an update, but in the meantime, how are you currently defining success for your writing and is this different than when you first started?

Margo L. Dill is a writing coach, published children's author, blogger, editor, and instructor. She works full time as an editorial assistant for a farm media company. Find out more at margoldill.com. To sign up for her WOW! novel course, go here.