Success as a Writer

‘What does that mean for you?’ I asked the group. At first no-one mentioned fame or money. 

Learning to express oneself as well as possible ranked high. (Oh, good! As facilitator, I must be doing something right.) For some people, just completing a piece of writing was a goal in itself. Further probing revealed that they meant completing it to their own satisfaction. 

‘What about having someone else read it?’ one person asked the others. Yes, they did all want that, but it was ‘down the track’ for most. Best-sellers weren’t even contemplated.

Other answers included getting published; getting published in a particularly prestigious literary magazine; completing TWO pieces of writing (so as to know the first wasn’t a flash in the pan); and touching people’s hearts. One woman said that she enjoys writing, but is just too lazy to strive for anything beyond that enjoyment. 

Teasing things out further, we realised that the bar shifts. After writing something that satisfies you, you want to improve even further; after achieving first publication, you look to the next. Success, then, seems not to be a fixed thing so much as a series of goals. It’s not only different for different people, but for the same person over time.

That realisation allowed everyone to admit that, yes, fame and fortune were desirable; it was just that they didn’t seem possible in the very near future. I think it’s good that the goal keeps receding, so we continue to stretch ourselves — as long as we don’t just give up trying, in the belief that we’ll never be good enough.

Halfway through the discussion, something very interesting emerged. None of us regarded ourselves as highly successful writers — but several of us were seen that way by the rest of the group. 

There’s Eddie, in his previous life the author of numerous scientific papers which appeared in relevant publications — a published author, in fact. (‘That doesn’t count,’ he said. ‘Hey, you WROTE them,’ we said.) Then there’s Nan. Not only did she have stories printed in magazines in the past, but a poem of hers was recently read — repeatedly — on Australia All Over, which is very wide exposure indeed. Lots of people have contacted her since, to request a copy. And there’s Andrew, former free-lance journalist and currently author of a children’s novel which sold out its first two (admittedly modest) print runs. It’s all relative!

So now I know one answer. What does success as a writer mean for you? Oh, it’s what X over there has and I don’t. 

I suppose no-one (even himself) would argue against calling Stephen King a successful writer. Or Seamus Heaney.  Or Deepak Chopra. Yet they are very different writers, and the measures of their success must differ too — popularity, money, literary reputation, persuading people to action....

Another answer is that success as a writer is whatever that means to you. Whatever that is, learning to express oneself as well as possible must be the perfect place to start.