As I’ve been making the transition away from blogging for other people and towards doing more creative work of my own, I’ve really had to think about what it means to me to be successful. And I’ve come to a conclusion:
To me, success means creating and completing a work of my own and managing to earn an income from the sale of that work.
It has been really important to me to figure this out because it helps to explain the reasons that I felt my work was lacking in the past and also helps to guide me in the right direction for writing in the future.
I have discovered that I didn’t feel successful in the past with much of my work because of the fact that the two different needs (creating a work of my own and making money from it) were not being met. There were many projects that I started on my own but I didn’t get to the point of making money from them because I was worried about doing the work that would pay me. I made a whole lot of money doing blogging and writing work for other people but I didn’t feel successful at it because I wasn’t actually creating anything of my own but instead was doing the footwork to contribute to the creative dreams of other people.
This doesn’t mean, of course, that the work I’ve done in the past lacks value. The work I got paid to do was good work that did help move other people’s dreams and goals forward. And the work that I’ve done creatively that I didn’t get paid for was work that was artistically fulfilling for me on some level. However, in moving forward, I’ve determined that it’s really important for me as a writer to make sure that the projects that I’m involved with are projects where my own creativity is at the forefront and yet an income is being generated.
Finding this balance seems to be what being a writer is all about in today’s world.
Support me with Flattr!
