Great points! I’ve managed to make a living as a writer since 2012, which is worth celebrating on its own. But the big moments (selling a book, winning an award) don’t come often. If you want to keep sane and motivated on a day to day basis, you need to celebrate all the little wins. And have a life outside publishing. Friends, family, hobbies, vacations.
This was perfect for my book release date (the same day as your post). Yesterday, I was cheered on by many kind Substack readers (and texts from friends and family). Knowing that characters who’ve lived on the page for so long will be engaging in the real world (with real readers) just stuns me.
Some internet wisdom I came upon (that I’m about to butcher lol) compared perceived successes and failures to rooms at a party. You don’t live there but are ultimately just passing through.
And loved the post. As long as you’re defining success on your own terms, it makes it easy to stay the course
Really love this post; it's easy to feel like the goalposts are always moving if we aren't being intentional about how we approach it. I'm in revisions right now and finding a lot of joy in watching this manuscript get better before my eyes––no matter what happens to it, it's pretty satisfying to see that there's way more room than I thought until I hit the ceiling.
Love this. It’s a great reminder that no matter how much success you achieve, there’s always room to spiral. I bet some Nobel winners spiral. It takes intense everyday awareness to not. I have a playwright friend who says he starts planning the next show right before production week of his current show, that way he doesn’t get lost in over-analyzing every little thing that went wrong or coulda been.
I love that story about the playwright friend. I did the same thing after Victim was out on submission (wrote a screenplay about something unrelated for fun) and in the interim of waiting for it to be published (started messing around with ideas for book 2). Feel like it's the healthiest thing you can do honestly
Go, Andrew, go. Write on! My reflection: https://www.whitenoise.email/p/joy
Thank you, Tom! Will read
Most books sell hardly any copies, so to see your book in the hands of a real reader, presumably on her commute, is HUGE. Well done!
Thank you, Terry! I was hype to see it. Certainly felt like a big deal to me
Great points! I’ve managed to make a living as a writer since 2012, which is worth celebrating on its own. But the big moments (selling a book, winning an award) don’t come often. If you want to keep sane and motivated on a day to day basis, you need to celebrate all the little wins. And have a life outside publishing. Friends, family, hobbies, vacations.
Thanks for the reminder of all this.
That’s incredible, Lee! Not many people get to do that. Awards and prestige aside, you’re already in an esteemed group. Congrats man
This was perfect for my book release date (the same day as your post). Yesterday, I was cheered on by many kind Substack readers (and texts from friends and family). Knowing that characters who’ve lived on the page for so long will be engaging in the real world (with real readers) just stuns me.
Congrats, Melanie!! That is incredible news. I hope you enjoy the journey
Some internet wisdom I came upon (that I’m about to butcher lol) compared perceived successes and failures to rooms at a party. You don’t live there but are ultimately just passing through.
And loved the post. As long as you’re defining success on your own terms, it makes it easy to stay the course
Really love this post; it's easy to feel like the goalposts are always moving if we aren't being intentional about how we approach it. I'm in revisions right now and finding a lot of joy in watching this manuscript get better before my eyes––no matter what happens to it, it's pretty satisfying to see that there's way more room than I thought until I hit the ceiling.
Love to hear that, Nina! I'm rooting for you
Love this. It’s a great reminder that no matter how much success you achieve, there’s always room to spiral. I bet some Nobel winners spiral. It takes intense everyday awareness to not. I have a playwright friend who says he starts planning the next show right before production week of his current show, that way he doesn’t get lost in over-analyzing every little thing that went wrong or coulda been.
I love that story about the playwright friend. I did the same thing after Victim was out on submission (wrote a screenplay about something unrelated for fun) and in the interim of waiting for it to be published (started messing around with ideas for book 2). Feel like it's the healthiest thing you can do honestly
On the train, I was that ethnically ambiguous, sort of menacing-looking dude reading a paper copy of The Economist.