A Real Writer

Oh how I want to be a real writer. How wonderful would that be? Authoring articles and columns and books?! Being featured in the local newspaper, a national magazine, having a New York Times bestseller? I think all of the above would totally rock my world.




I keep disqualifying myself. It's usually the stupidest things that disqualify me, too. Like, learning how someone else has outlined a book, or created successful dialogue in their book. I think, nearly instantly, I don't do it that way, I'm not a real writer.



Then something I read talks about publishing terms, author's rights, subsidiary rights, and I think I'm not a real writer, I don't know about any of that.



Query letters come up, and I have yet to write my first one, and I begin wondering if I can ever become a real writer.



Yet, here I am, with a blog. A blog that I enjoy immensely no matter how much traffic shows up. A blog that I am dedicated to developing further as I learn more about myself. I also have a book in the making. Whether or not anyone else likes it, my Mom and I are enjoying it.



Maybe I am defining my success by what I consider to be the success of others. Maybe success for me is discovering what I'm passionate about through writing and in writing. Maybe success for me is just knowing I started, and finished, a book. Maybe success for me is writing a blog for a whole year...or maybe five years. While yes, I will admit that I want what I write to be well read by many, maybe I should stop defining success by how many people are reading. Maybe I should define success by the quality of each piece I write.



So, as I continue on this writing journey, I'm going to work toward producing quality, and set my standard for myself high. Then, maybe, just maybe, I'll look for some success by how many people are reading.



How do you define success?