How Do You Define Success, and How Has It Changed Since You Started Writing?: From Our Readers (Comment for a Chance at Publication)
This post announces our latest From Our Readers question: How do you define success, and how has it changed since you started writing? Comment for a chance at publication in a future issue of Writer’s Digest.
Our upcoming January/February 2022 issue is focused on success. So, we would love to know how you define success in your writing career, and if that definition has changed since you started your journey!
Our formal question: How do you define success, and how has it changed since you started writing?
I entered my first writing competition when I was in elementary school. I won, and the prize was a bound copy put into my local library.
That was when I decided that I wanted to be a published author.
When I finished my first book-length project in high school, I envisioned book signings around the world, literal bags of fan mail, and a life that revolved around creating the next story, the next main character.
My, how times have changed!
I took my first editing job in college, and a new path unfurled. By the time I was freelance editing during my MFA program, I knew I would be diverting from my intended goal.
I found joy in pinpointing the potential in someone else's work, the pain and pleasure of revisions, and felt a deep satisfaction of watching authors I'd worked with celebrating publication day. While some might roll their eyes and say something like, "Well, those who can't do, teach" (a phrase I have a deep loathing of as the daughter of two amazing middle and high school teachers), I have found that success might don a different face than we expected.
How do you define success, and how has it changed since you started writing? Share your answers with us in the comments below for a chance to be published in the January/February 2022 issue of Writer's Digest. Here are the guidelines:
- Provide an answer to the question "How do you define success, and how has it changed since you started writing?” in the comments below.
- Answers can be funny, weird, poignant, thought-provoking, entertaining, etc.
- Remember to include your name as you would like it to appear in print.
- Deadline for commenting this time around is October 13, 2021.
- Only comments shared below will be considered for publication, though feel free to share your answers on social media with the following hashtags: #WDReaders and #WritingAchievement.
Note on commenting: If you wish to comment on the site, go to Disqus to create a free new account, verify your account on this site below (one-time thing), and then comment away.
Since obtaining her MFA in fiction, Moriah Richard has worked with over 100 authors to help them achieve their publication dreams. As the managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine, she spearheads the world-building column Building Better Worlds, a 2023 Eddie & Ozzie Award winner. She also runs the Flash Fiction February Challenge on the WD blog, encouraging writers to pen one microstory a day over the course of the month and share their work with other participants. As a reader, Moriah is most interested in horror, fantasy, and romance, although she will read just about anything with a great hook.
Learn more about Moriah on her personal website.
