Everyone, including writers, defines success differently.
For some, winning Powerball could mean success. Or a swimmer bettering their personal best might consider that success. Then another reaching higher to achieve gold.
So how does a writer consider success?
Do you judge success by how many books have been published? Or by how many books you sell? Sounds reasonable and if that’s your goal and you achieve it, well done you!
But what if you’re still writing that first draft and haven’t published any books? How does someone like me, an aspiring writer, judge success?
Here’s my list of what I consider are my successes:
- I achieved my daily word count goal most days while writing the first draft of my first manuscript…and the second one.
- I finished the first draft of two manuscripts and wrote those two small but significant words: The End.
- One manuscript has been edited to as far as I feel comfortable sharing it with a small world – small steps.
- I submitted my manuscript to two competitions and a publisher.
- I won NaNoWriMo in 2021 and 2022, reaching the 50k word goal both times.
- This year I wrote 22,000 words of a new story. And even though I didn’t make the ultimate 50k goal, I now have more words than I started with.
I hope my list helps you realise your own successes.
Even if you haven’t finished your first draft, the fact that you keep adding words is a success. Keep planning, keep writing, and keep achieving those small goals.
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Happy writing and reading.