This comes right as I was pondering this question. I think that, consciously, I realize the act of writing itself is what’s most fulfilling and success is getting to do it day in and day out, but on a deeper level, I feel the need for an audience. Without people who read my work, it feels like it’s just me in an echo chamber, and that can drive one crazy. Ultimately, I think success is knowing that your words have reached somebody.
Yep, love that, Andrei. Like you, I do not write just for myself. I want to be read too! Reaching readers is huge. Thank for stopping by and giving your thoughts!
Thank you for these thoughts, Kathy! I've been thinking about this a lot lately too, namely how as soon as one goal is achieved, we want the next thing. I do feel those elusive, big, ego goals drive me to an extent, at least right now in my writing journey, yet I also feel a truer, more lasting kind of success happens when I start feeling a piece click into place - and this is directly related to showing up regularly to do the work. And then of course, as others have said, there's the feeling of success when others connect with the piece. Such a nuanced word and so many layers.
Yes, nodding here, Joy. I feel all of this as well. I had just gotten going as a writer (I started kind of late) when I was stopped in my tracks for two years with a chronic pain condition It forced me to re-evaluate the whole idea of setting goals and going about achieving them. I never could count on "good" days in which to work. It forced me to really slow down and take pleasure and a feeling of success from the process of writing itself! As you say, when things "click into place." Now as my health is a bit better, I find myself more goal oriented, but that kind of "success" always feels a bit fleeting. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts, Joy.
Resonating with all of this, Kathy. And I'm so glad you're feeling better now too! Though it's so interesting to me when our bodies (or life conditions) force us to slow down and reevaluate how we define something. I'm finding that right now too, with my living situation caring for / assisting my mother who's having some health issues. And my pleasure! I always enjoy your newsletters so much :)
Thank you for this! It resonates so hard. I have three of the four examples you list that inhibit goal-making, and I can’t bear to hear the word goal anymore!
I mentioned recently in my health-condition support group that maybe we don’t need goals - because we have an unpredictable condition that makes us feel bad enough. For me, I have an overall understanding of where I want to go with writing for example, but I take a small action, see how it works for me, and iterate from there. I feel like this allows scope for change and imagination. Two of my healthcare practitioners work this way with my therapies,and I realised why they are so effective, I never feel l’ve ‘failed’ to meet a goal. ✨ go well into the new year 💕
Oh gosh, I love the approach you take, how you come to an understanding of where you want to go and take a small action in that direction. I feel lucky to be basically pretty healthy, but I've dealt with chronic pain in the past and chronic migraine and insomnia. One doesn't know how many "good" days one will have. I'm glad you've found something that works for you!
I’m sorry to hear you’ve had those pain conditions. They are really hard! I’m glad things are better for you now too. I will hopefully recover at some point too.
I meant to say, I loved your use of ‘Intention’ as well. It perfectly describes my approach. 🙏🏻 in this respect, success for me is being able to take even a tiny action in alignment with my intention.
Beautiful, perfectly-timed reminder, Kathy. Such beautiful answers, especially Maureen Langloss, that writing is a way to create meaning and therefore a meaningful life. Gorgeous. Thanks so much.
Recently I sent a couple of pieces to a couple of friends and aksed what they thought of them. I was pleased with them but had a couple of doubts about a couple of things. oth my friends praised my writing but raised a couple of points about the work. Guess what. they were the things I'd been bothered by. Their comments have helped my get closer to what I wanted to say. And I realised also that this kind of criticism is wonderful. Is it enough though that a couple of friends liked it? Well, it will do for a start and it's made me wonder if one day someone I don't know might read my work and think if's pretty good, to get a couple of responses from A. Nonymous-Other who thinks it's OK would be tremendous.
Oh I agree, Andy. And to have readers like that, who confirm your own doubts about a piece, but in a helpful, constructive way, is pure gold. It's so good, too, to get affirmation that a piece we feel is good really IS good! I appreciate your thoughts here. Thank you.
I’m reminded of the movie Caddy Shack. The Judge asks Chevy Chases’ character “If you don’t keep score, how do you measure yourself against other golfers?” And he says “By height.”
I’m a lifelong writer and I write to cultivate myself and my language which I use in my clinical work. I’m also a discourse analyst and I think of human bodies as the artifacts of millions of years of texts from the level of DNA and on up. Last week I heard the text of one of my poems coming out of my mouth to explain something difficult to a struggling young woman. I publish to audiences of one person at a time and hearing that poem and seeing the look on her face was a milestone!
I love how you express this, Lisa: "I think of human bodies as the artifacts of millions of years of texts from the level of DNA and up" and how you use your writing in your work, for patients. Your feeling of success comes from their response. How fulfilling that must be!
Oh, the success has been saving and creating myself with my writing. Having a lifeline that I’ve written myself, in this case long ago, to throw to one of my patients is gravy!
So many great thoughts! I need my goals there to help me grow - otherwise I have a terrible habit of helping everyone else reach theirs and mine get left. Instead of celebrating the success, I now celebrate my attempts - the finished grant proposal, meeting the submission, the ‘finishing’ of a project. I am trying to teach myself that these are more important than the result or ‘success’ that does or doesn’t come. It’s starting to work... :)
Yesterday, during a FaceTime call, a subscriber told me she showed her husband one of my works, and he enjoyed my free verse poem. He said it resonated deeply in him. That was success for me, to touch a reader, and to have had a member of my small community of readers share my work!
I'm pleased to see more posts like this. I hate the 'you must write every day' type of advice - it may be brilliant for some but for many it doesn't work for the reasons you point out and can actually be inhibiting. I don't consider myself a successful writer by many standards - have earned only a few pounds/dollars, have had only a small number of competition wins/placements but loads of non placements and rejections, novel not published but I still send stuff out and have had 70 pieces of my work published in one form or another and I've had people tell me that they enjoyed my work so neither do I consider myself a failure.
Thanks for stopping by and reading and commenting, Lindsay! I've never been one to write every single day or advise others to do so, though I know it works for others. I'm all for "whatever works for you" because we truly are all different. Congratulations on your70 published pieces! That's wonderful. And yes, here' to enjoying our lives and our work. Amen.
Success is subjective. Externally--in terms of society--I think it’s broadly and superficially denoted as wealth, fame, notoriety. But more honestly, internally, and reflectively, it depends on each individual human heart. For me? At 40, ditching the traditional route I’ve had some success in but have been wildly, hungrily chasing for the past 15 years and writing on Substack has been The Thing. Writing quality articles and doing it consistently according to my own rhythm; this, to me, is success. And the fact that this platform allows me to write authentically, honestly, and without worry of ideological censorship.
Yep, I love it for that reason too, Michael! I've hear whispers that you know who is looking to buy Substack too. I hope not! Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Success is getting bad writing news one day -- a bad review, rejected manuscript, nobody reads your blog -- and sitting down to write the next.
Love it! Yes!
Amen!
❤️❤️🔥🔥
well said - process, process, process
100%
This comes right as I was pondering this question. I think that, consciously, I realize the act of writing itself is what’s most fulfilling and success is getting to do it day in and day out, but on a deeper level, I feel the need for an audience. Without people who read my work, it feels like it’s just me in an echo chamber, and that can drive one crazy. Ultimately, I think success is knowing that your words have reached somebody.
Yep, love that, Andrei. Like you, I do not write just for myself. I want to be read too! Reaching readers is huge. Thank for stopping by and giving your thoughts!
All it takes is one...
Well said my friend 🔥🔥🔥🫰
Thank you for these thoughts, Kathy! I've been thinking about this a lot lately too, namely how as soon as one goal is achieved, we want the next thing. I do feel those elusive, big, ego goals drive me to an extent, at least right now in my writing journey, yet I also feel a truer, more lasting kind of success happens when I start feeling a piece click into place - and this is directly related to showing up regularly to do the work. And then of course, as others have said, there's the feeling of success when others connect with the piece. Such a nuanced word and so many layers.
Yes, nodding here, Joy. I feel all of this as well. I had just gotten going as a writer (I started kind of late) when I was stopped in my tracks for two years with a chronic pain condition It forced me to re-evaluate the whole idea of setting goals and going about achieving them. I never could count on "good" days in which to work. It forced me to really slow down and take pleasure and a feeling of success from the process of writing itself! As you say, when things "click into place." Now as my health is a bit better, I find myself more goal oriented, but that kind of "success" always feels a bit fleeting. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts, Joy.
Resonating with all of this, Kathy. And I'm so glad you're feeling better now too! Though it's so interesting to me when our bodies (or life conditions) force us to slow down and reevaluate how we define something. I'm finding that right now too, with my living situation caring for / assisting my mother who's having some health issues. And my pleasure! I always enjoy your newsletters so much :)
Thank you for this! It resonates so hard. I have three of the four examples you list that inhibit goal-making, and I can’t bear to hear the word goal anymore!
I mentioned recently in my health-condition support group that maybe we don’t need goals - because we have an unpredictable condition that makes us feel bad enough. For me, I have an overall understanding of where I want to go with writing for example, but I take a small action, see how it works for me, and iterate from there. I feel like this allows scope for change and imagination. Two of my healthcare practitioners work this way with my therapies,and I realised why they are so effective, I never feel l’ve ‘failed’ to meet a goal. ✨ go well into the new year 💕
Oh gosh, I love the approach you take, how you come to an understanding of where you want to go and take a small action in that direction. I feel lucky to be basically pretty healthy, but I've dealt with chronic pain in the past and chronic migraine and insomnia. One doesn't know how many "good" days one will have. I'm glad you've found something that works for you!
I’m sorry to hear you’ve had those pain conditions. They are really hard! I’m glad things are better for you now too. I will hopefully recover at some point too.
I meant to say, I loved your use of ‘Intention’ as well. It perfectly describes my approach. 🙏🏻 in this respect, success for me is being able to take even a tiny action in alignment with my intention.
Beautiful, perfectly-timed reminder, Kathy. Such beautiful answers, especially Maureen Langloss, that writing is a way to create meaning and therefore a meaningful life. Gorgeous. Thanks so much.
Thanks for reading, Robyn! I loved the candid responses to that question and yes, Maureen's especially!
❤️❤️🔥
My pleasure, Kathy! :-D
Recently I sent a couple of pieces to a couple of friends and aksed what they thought of them. I was pleased with them but had a couple of doubts about a couple of things. oth my friends praised my writing but raised a couple of points about the work. Guess what. they were the things I'd been bothered by. Their comments have helped my get closer to what I wanted to say. And I realised also that this kind of criticism is wonderful. Is it enough though that a couple of friends liked it? Well, it will do for a start and it's made me wonder if one day someone I don't know might read my work and think if's pretty good, to get a couple of responses from A. Nonymous-Other who thinks it's OK would be tremendous.
Oh I agree, Andy. And to have readers like that, who confirm your own doubts about a piece, but in a helpful, constructive way, is pure gold. It's so good, too, to get affirmation that a piece we feel is good really IS good! I appreciate your thoughts here. Thank you.
Great piece, thank you! I love that you've shared all these voices and varied perceptions of 'success'. Inspiring as always ❤️
Hi Patience! Thanks so much for reading. Hope you and yours have a great holiday.
I’m reminded of the movie Caddy Shack. The Judge asks Chevy Chases’ character “If you don’t keep score, how do you measure yourself against other golfers?” And he says “By height.”
Haha! Love it.
I’m a lifelong writer and I write to cultivate myself and my language which I use in my clinical work. I’m also a discourse analyst and I think of human bodies as the artifacts of millions of years of texts from the level of DNA and on up. Last week I heard the text of one of my poems coming out of my mouth to explain something difficult to a struggling young woman. I publish to audiences of one person at a time and hearing that poem and seeing the look on her face was a milestone!
I love how you express this, Lisa: "I think of human bodies as the artifacts of millions of years of texts from the level of DNA and up" and how you use your writing in your work, for patients. Your feeling of success comes from their response. How fulfilling that must be!
Oh, the success has been saving and creating myself with my writing. Having a lifeline that I’ve written myself, in this case long ago, to throw to one of my patients is gravy!
Wonderful, Kathy! You are a true, giving teacher. So enjoyed reading this <3
Wonderful, Kathy! You are a true, giving teacher. So enjoyed reading this <3
Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment, Ignatius!
So many great thoughts! I need my goals there to help me grow - otherwise I have a terrible habit of helping everyone else reach theirs and mine get left. Instead of celebrating the success, I now celebrate my attempts - the finished grant proposal, meeting the submission, the ‘finishing’ of a project. I am trying to teach myself that these are more important than the result or ‘success’ that does or doesn’t come. It’s starting to work... :)
Ah! Love the idea of celebrating attempts, Freya! Yes, to making the efforts, trying things, showing up, etc. Thank for sharing your thoughts on this!
Yesterday, during a FaceTime call, a subscriber told me she showed her husband one of my works, and he enjoyed my free verse poem. He said it resonated deeply in him. That was success for me, to touch a reader, and to have had a member of my small community of readers share my work!
Oh man, yes. That's it, right? That's everything. Making a connection with readers. Thanks for sharing that, Jenice!
I'm pleased to see more posts like this. I hate the 'you must write every day' type of advice - it may be brilliant for some but for many it doesn't work for the reasons you point out and can actually be inhibiting. I don't consider myself a successful writer by many standards - have earned only a few pounds/dollars, have had only a small number of competition wins/placements but loads of non placements and rejections, novel not published but I still send stuff out and have had 70 pieces of my work published in one form or another and I've had people tell me that they enjoyed my work so neither do I consider myself a failure.
Thanks for stopping by and reading and commenting, Lindsay! I've never been one to write every single day or advise others to do so, though I know it works for others. I'm all for "whatever works for you" because we truly are all different. Congratulations on your70 published pieces! That's wonderful. And yes, here' to enjoying our lives and our work. Amen.
Success is subjective. Externally--in terms of society--I think it’s broadly and superficially denoted as wealth, fame, notoriety. But more honestly, internally, and reflectively, it depends on each individual human heart. For me? At 40, ditching the traditional route I’ve had some success in but have been wildly, hungrily chasing for the past 15 years and writing on Substack has been The Thing. Writing quality articles and doing it consistently according to my own rhythm; this, to me, is success. And the fact that this platform allows me to write authentically, honestly, and without worry of ideological censorship.
Michael Mohr
‘Sincere American Writing’
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/
Yep, I love it for that reason too, Michael! I've hear whispers that you know who is looking to buy Substack too. I hope not! Thanks for stopping by and commenting.