Comments on: What Does Success Look Like To You?

By: Leah Berkowitz

Leah Berkowitz — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 18:54:00 +0000

I would love to develop a more regular writing practice, though I am starting to think weekly rather than daily, since I work more than full time. As far as publication, when I was sending out my first children’s book, a friend asked me what my goal was (since, if it was just to get it out there, I could do that online). I said, “I’d like something I’ve written to have covers on it.” That helped put choosing a publisher and negotiating a contract in perspective.

By: KristenFalsoCapaldi

KristenFalsoCapaldi — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 13:11:00 +0000

I find that “living as if” really helps me. I seek out opportunities that will provide me with deadlines: contests, open submissions, nanowrimo, classes. This practice helps me to continue to tackle my writing as a professional endeavor. With each deadline I meet, I can reflect on the projects completed and celebrate the new skills I’ve developed. I am hoping to get an agent for my novel, but in the meantime, I am writing daily, continuing to put my work out into the world.

By: Leanne Sowul

Leanne Sowul — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 14:04:00 +0000

In reply to Jason Bougger.

Jason, it sounds like you’ve already given this topic a lot of thought! You’ve set yourself up for your personal definition of success.
It can be difficult to balance the big-picture goals with the everyday ones, so I’m glad you’re finding a system that works for you.

By: Jason Bougger

Jason Bougger — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 20:52:00 +0000

I measure my writing success in a variety of ways. Write a certain number of words this month, finish a certain short story, write a certain number of blog posts this week, etc. I set daily, weekly, and monthly writing goals, and if I reach them, I consider it a writing success.

But aside from all of the short-term goals, I have one major long-term writing goal and that is to make enough money writing (either fiction or blogging) to do it full time.

I try to keep that goal in focus as I work out the smaller ones.