In the end, no matter what it takes to get your book on the shelf, there will be people who love your writing and those who hate it. We are all eventually on equal terms.
My personal measuring stick has Stephen King at the top with J.K. Rowling a close second. If I let their success intimidate me, I would never put another word to paper again. But I’m not competing with them at this point. I’m competing with myself. I run a race against a clock of my own making. My greatest opponent is fear. But I’ve beaten it before…and I will again.
Maybe sometimes it wears J.K. Rowling’s face and I imagine beating the crap out of it with my measuring stick of success but that’s a topic for my therapist to handle.
Note: This post is for the Insecure Writers Support Group hosted by the awesomeness that is Alex Cavanaugh.
AMEN!
ReplyDeleteFrom a writer's standpoint, I wouldn't want to be in JK Rowling's shoes right now (monetarily, hey, bring it on!). Imagine the yardstick of success she has to go up against for her follow-up work. So, yeah, even the most successful don't get out of this Insecure Writer stuff, I'm guessing.
ReplyDeleteLike your attitude, girl. :)
This post is so true. We can't measure our success by other people, otherwise... EEP! o.0
ReplyDeleteI hear hypnotism works.
ReplyDeleteJK Rowling is poor... JK Rowling is poor... JK Rowling is poor...
I learned right away that it's not healthy to measure my success against other people's. Because someone will always have a bigger book deal than me. Someone will always sell more books than me. Someone will always get a movie deal. Unless you're Stephen King, Meyer, or Rowling, of course!
ReplyDeleteSo I've redefined what success is for me. I'm successful because I can write every day. There was a time when I couldn't. But now I can, and that means life is good. :)