Success! Or Not.
Tuesday, February 10. 2009
The plethora of comments on a recent blog post brought home to me that the definition of success is very subjective. This topic is a broad one, so in this post I'll focus just on one aspect of that elusive state of being: At what point can I consider myself "successful" as a writer?
My personal, very specific criterion has been the same for the last few years, and it is this: I want to become a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Why? Because one's writing must meet a certain minimum level of quality in order to qualify one for membership. Specifically, I'll need to get a few spec-fic short stories or a novel published, in professional markets. If I meet the qualifications, and become a member of the SFWA, I'll feel I can truly call myself a spec-fic writer.
That's not the end, of course. I'd love to get multiple novels published, have a best-seller, be able to live solely on the proceeds from my writing. All those goals are going to be much more elusive than SFWA membership. So I think joining that august body will suffice as a goal for the near future.
I'm curious how others measure a "successful writer." I maintain that enjoying one's own writing is necessary, but insufficient for success—I must have validation from others to be confident that what I'm putting out isn't time-wasting dreck. These "others" must be knowledgeable either in the individual or in the corporate. The former means agents and publishers; the latter would represent a large number of consumers. That is, I'd want my work to be admired either by a "gatekeeper" in the industry, or by a sufficiently big crowd of supporters that I don't care what the cognoscenti might think. (This sentiment also sums up why I'm not a fan of self-publishing.)
One must have goals; this is mine. Now off to continue slogging toward it.
The plethora of comments on a recent blog post brought home to me that the definition of success is very subjective. This topic is a broad one, so in this post I'll focus just on one aspect of that elusive state of being: At what point can I consider myself "successful" as a writer?
My personal, very specific criterion has been the same for the last few years, and it is this: I want to become a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Why? Because one's writing must meet a certain minimum level of quality in order to qualify one for membership. Specifically, I'll need to get a few spec-fic short stories or a novel published, in professional markets. If I meet the qualifications, and become a member of the SFWA, I'll feel I can truly call myself a spec-fic writer.
That's not the end, of course. I'd love to get multiple novels published, have a best-seller, be able to live solely on the proceeds from my writing. All those goals are going to be much more elusive than SFWA membership. So I think joining that august body will suffice as a goal for the near future.
I'm curious how others measure a "successful writer." I maintain that enjoying one's own writing is necessary, but insufficient for success—I must have validation from others to be confident that what I'm putting out isn't time-wasting dreck. These "others" must be knowledgeable either in the individual or in the corporate. The former means agents and publishers; the latter would represent a large number of consumers. That is, I'd want my work to be admired either by a "gatekeeper" in the industry, or by a sufficiently big crowd of supporters that I don't care what the cognoscenti might think. (This sentiment also sums up why I'm not a fan of self-publishing.)
One must have goals; this is mine. Now off to continue slogging toward it.
My personal, very specific criterion has been the same for the last few years, and it is this: I want to become a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Why? Because one's writing must meet a certain minimum level of quality in order to qualify one for membership. Specifically, I'll need to get a few spec-fic short stories or a novel published, in professional markets. If I meet the qualifications, and become a member of the SFWA, I'll feel I can truly call myself a spec-fic writer.
That's not the end, of course. I'd love to get multiple novels published, have a best-seller, be able to live solely on the proceeds from my writing. All those goals are going to be much more elusive than SFWA membership. So I think joining that august body will suffice as a goal for the near future.
I'm curious how others measure a "successful writer." I maintain that enjoying one's own writing is necessary, but insufficient for success—I must have validation from others to be confident that what I'm putting out isn't time-wasting dreck. These "others" must be knowledgeable either in the individual or in the corporate. The former means agents and publishers; the latter would represent a large number of consumers. That is, I'd want my work to be admired either by a "gatekeeper" in the industry, or by a sufficiently big crowd of supporters that I don't care what the cognoscenti might think. (This sentiment also sums up why I'm not a fan of self-publishing.)
One must have goals; this is mine. Now off to continue slogging toward it.
Craig on :
In reference to the earlier post, I don't think time spent pursuing a goal is time wasted - especially if you enjoyed the time that was spent. Whether the goal is attainable is still to be seen.
Keep working at it; You have already exceeding me in my writing pursuits which consists mostly of false starts and being bogged down in the details rather than just writing.
Curse my INJP tendencies!
Brent on :
Re: INJP...did you mean INTP? And you strike me more as an ENTP...how long ago did you take a Myers-Briggs assessment?
Craig on :
I took it most recently last week as part of my psych class. I took a version of it several years ago with the same result, just different percentages. Most recently it was 22, 50, 75, 25.