Dictionary.com defines success as
- the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the accomplishment of one’s goals.
- the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.
* * *
There are many opportunities for success in life. Winning a race, getting the lead role in a play, graduating from college, etc. But how do we define success in writing? I can imagine a list of possibilities: publishing that first book, securing an agent, receiving an award. But every time one goal is met, another rises up to take its place. I was having a hard time understanding exactly how to define success in my own writing, so I sought wisdom from that most knowledgeable of twenty-first-century oracles: the internet.
People who are famous must be successful, right? So they would be the logical ones to provide us with clues into what it was that helped them attain their status. I began my quest at medium.com and brainyquote.com, and I roamed around in their quote galleries, moving from room to room looking for the perfect definition of success. I found an enormous variety of ideas, and I’ve listed some of the quotes below for your enjoyment. I’ve also provided an occasional thought or two of my own in bold.
* * *
I started out with a couple of simple statements.
Reaching the goal is not success; success is moving toward the goal. –Bob Proctor So it’s the journey, not the destination?
Eighty percent of success is showing up. –Woody Allen Well, that’s encouraging, but I’m not convinced.
I moved on and found some quotes that were more to my liking.
Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure. –Confucius
Success is dependent on effort. –Sophocles
Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it. –Dalai Lama XIV
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. –Booker T. Washington
So it has to do with hard work and overcoming obstacles. But that’s not to say happiness doesn’t play a part.
Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. –Albert Schweitzer
Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get. –Dale Carnegie
All of these were good, but I soldiered on and found a group of fascinating (and confusing) quotes that mentioned the part failure plays in success.
Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm. –Winston Churchill I usually like quotes by Winston Churchill, but this one left me scratching my head.
Success is falling nine times and getting up 10. –Jon Bon Jovi I don’t understand this. How can you get up ten times if you only fell nine times?
Failure is success if we learn from it. –Malcolm Forbes It seems like this would depend on what we learn from it.
Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable. –Coco Chanel I read this one over about ten times, and I still don’t understand what it means.
Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom. –George S. Patton Once again, failure plays a part, and General Patton gives us a nice image to go along with it.
Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time. –George Bernard Shaw This one made sense to me.
Then I found a surprising quote from Andrew Carnegie who was once the richest man in the world. His net worth in today’s dollars would be over $300 billion.
There is little success where there is little laughter. –Andrew Carnegie I bet Mr. Carnegie was laughing all the way to the bank.
Speaking of laughter, here are a couple of quotes that had me chuckling.
All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure. –Mark Twain
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There’s no point in being a damn fool about it. –W.C. Fields
* * *
All of the quotes were interesting, and different people clearly have different measures for accomplishment, but I still hadn’t come up with a definition of success in my writing. Then I realized success may not be what I was looking for after all. I remembered this quote by Viktor Frankl in his book Man’s Search for Meaning:
“Don’t aim at success. …For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s dedication.”
Ah. Now we’re getting somewhere.
Interesting note: James Scott Bell’s TKZ post yesterday quoted Louise Parr, an author who had contributed to On the Art of Writing Fiction, published in 1894. Ms. Parr observed
there is a moral satisfaction in having done good work which no one can rob us of.
That was written 130 years ago, and it’s still as fresh and meaningful as it was then.
* * *
So TKZers: What is your definition of success in your writing? Is it one over-arching achievement or many goalposts along the way? Do you consider doing good work independent of recognition or success? Do any of the quotes in this post appeal to you?
* * *
Private pilot Cassie Deakin has one measure of success: to find the culprits who assaulted her uncle. But when she achieves that goal, she faces a much more difficult challenge.
Buy on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play, or Apple Books.
My definition has changed over the years, as I drilled down to the essence of why I write. I write to be read. So if I’m gaining new readers with every book – it’s a win.
Good morning, Laura.
I like the way you’re looking at this. It’s interesting how our definition of success changes as we get a deeper understanding of what we’re doing and what it means to others.
I think trying to grasp success is like trying to hold running water. Like you said, the goal posts keep moving. Each time I reach a goal (success), I look forward to the next one. I guess it comes down to celebrating each success along the way. (shrugs)
Good morning, Jane.
I love this: “I guess it comes down to celebrating each success along the way.” I’ve come to the conclusion that success is not just one thing, but many. Lots to celebrate.
Have a great week.
Given the number of definitions you uncovered, it seems to me that success is going to be a personal thing, and it might change over time. I certainly don’t want to be miserable doing what I’m doing, so if I get satisfaction from the process, if people occasionally tell me they like what I’ve produced, then I consider my efforts successful. Making money is nice, but if that’s the only reason we do this, we’re not going to be happy, so I suppose being happy about what you’re doing is a measure of success.
Good morning, Terry.
Yes, defining success is a personal thing. I think it’s important that new authors understand that the likelihood of becoming wealthy—or even making a living—is small. Loving what you do truly is the key.
So true! Money does not equate happiness or success!
Or to look at it from the other side, “You only fail when you stop trying.” The quote and variations of it are attributed to Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison.
Good morning, Michelle.
“You only fail when you stop trying.” This is a great addition. Never give up.
Have a good week.
With so much going on in my life right now (taking care of my grandson, helping my daughter get ready for a move, washing baby bottles, etc) success for me as a writer has meant thinking about my novel when I have a quiet moment. Words on a page are a bonus.
Kay, thanks for laying out this smorgasbord of definitions.
The one that resonated the most with me: “If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” –Albert Schweitzer
As Laura and Terry said, the definition changes with time. What I once thought meant success no longer does.
At this point, success means satisfaction in a job well done that helps others or somehow makes their lives better.
Good morning, Debbie.
“At this point, success means satisfaction in a job well done that helps others or somehow makes their lives better.” This gets to the heart of it. What could be better than doing a job well and seeing that others get a benefit from it?
Have a great writing week.
I like this one, Debbie: “success means satisfaction in a job well done that helps others or somehow makes their lives better.”
Coco Chanel and Mark Twain were saying the same thing. When I wrote my first book, I didn’t know the rules, didn’t know it was hard to get published. I wrote it, sent it to an editor I found at a big publishing house, she bought it, and they published it. I received hundreds of letters from people congratulating me, had a big book signing, and was invited to speak to book clubs and a creative writing class by a college professor. Success, right?
But I’ve felt like a failure ever since then, because I’ve not been able to replicate any of that. Quit while you’re ahead? I would have if my mother, who knew me well, hadn’t said, “Don’t you dare quit with one book just because you proved you could do it.” It makes me wonder if I’ve been writing to please others. I feel like my life is a success, but since this is about writing, I’d have to say that just sitting down and watching the story in my head unreel on the screen is my definition of success. If nice things come from that, it’s just icing on the cake of accomplishment, not the end goal.
Wow, Becky. That’s a story that needs to be told. Achieving success right out of the gate might not be a good thing, but I agree with your mom. You shouldn’t give up. Maybe you should write a book about an author who has immediate success but then struggles with the second book. I’d like to read that story.
Have a good writing week.
I found a few more:
When we succeed, we have worked hard. When others succeed, they are lucky.
The reason some people are successful is they put work and plans together.
A successful person is usually an average person who had a chance or took a chance.
Before success comes in any man’s life, he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat, and, perhaps, some failure. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to quit. That is exactly what the majority of men do. – Napoleon Hill
Finally,
Success has ruined many a man. – Benjamin Franklin
I think I like Ms. Parr’s quote the best!
Good morning, Gene, and thanks for adding to the list. I love these.
I had not heard the Benjamin Franklin quote before, but it’s impressive. We’re often told to seek success, but we rarely receive warnings about what can happen if we achieve it.
I also love the Parr quote. An example of a truth well written.
Success is being a better writer today than I was yesterday.
Good morning, Priscilla. Great observation. Always moving forward.
Have a great writing week.
Good morning, Kay. Thanks for tackling the chimerical topic of success in your post today.
I’ve finally arrived at an understanding that the externals of writerly success–Sales, awards, reviews, bestsellerdom etc– are outside of my control. When I do achieve them, that success is a source of satisfaction, but it’s fleeting. Moreover, as J. Dharma Kelleher notes in “Breakthrough,” we think that it isn’t until we achieve one of these external goals (and thus “succeed”) that we’ll be happy. But that’s not the case, because happiness that depends upon external success shifts to the next external goal.
Happiness is achieved in the things we can control–our writing. While we can’t automatically control how many words we’ll write each day, we can control getting to the blank page and writing. Same for editing. Publishing a book–we can control that, like an archer who prepares, practices, and then, to the best of her ability, launches her arrow at the target. Once the arrow has left the bow or the book is out in the world, it’s out of our control.
We succeed when we show up and do the work, to the best of our ability. We succeed when we learn from what we’ve written and the creative challenges in producing it. We succeed when we finish a book and launch it out into the world.
This is why Louise Parr’s quote Jim shared yesterday speaks to me.
Well said, Dale! We need to remember that writing is a very subjective field, and external accolades are not the measure of one’s success.
Have a great week.
Great topic for discussion, Kay.
I think Terry is on to something: “so I supposed being happy about what you’re doing is a measure of success.”
We probably need to decide whether we want success or happiness. As your many wonderful quotes reveal, they do not always go hand in hand.
I am rereading Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird. In her introduction is this partial paragraph:
“Writing has so much to give, so much to teach, so many surprises. That thing you had to force yourself to do – the actual act of writing – turns out to be the best part. It’s like discovering that while you thought you needed the tea ceremony for the caffeine, what you really needed was the tea ceremony. The act of writing turns out to be its own reward.”
Have a successful AND Happy day!
Good morning, Steve.
I’m glad you brought up Anne Lamott’s book Bird by Bird. I’ve often quoted her statement “The act of writing turns out to be its own reward.”
Most of us didn’t understand that at the beginning of our writing careers, but I expect we all agree with it now.
Have a great week.
Interesting topic. As others have said, that definition is personal to each one of us and may change over time. 15-20 or so years ago, I brainstormed a list of possible novel ideas I’d like to write (plus a few non-fiction topics). That list was roughly 30-40 or so different ideas. Over time, I lost interest in some of those possible stories for one reason or the other.
Success for me as a writer is simply ensuring that for each of the story ideas that burn in me year after year, that they at least get written, whether published or not. The worst thing would be having an idea I was totally sold out on but never brought it to fruition in a written work. For me, writing is exploration. I write to satisfy my own curiosity, not someone else’s. I want to carry out my mission as fictional explorer on the novel ideas that mean the most to me. I don’t want to regret not having written them out.
“I write to satisfy my own curiosity, not someone else’s.”
Indeed.
Good thoughts, Brenda. As writers, we have to be true to ourselves, and putting our words out into the world is a privilege and a responsibility.
I don’t know who said this, but I like it:
Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.
When someone tells me that what I wrote touched them in some way, that is my definition of success.
Great post, Kay! I particularly enjoyed this quote: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There’s no point in being a damn fool about it.” –W.C. Fields
*Chuckle chuckle…
Good morning, Deb!
I think it was Churchill who said “Success if not final…” I like your definition of success.
I also laughed out loud at the W.C. Fields quote and had to include it in the post.
Have a great writing week.
Great post, Kay. The W.C. Fields quote is priceless.
Success for a writer is two simple words: The End.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Rose. I agree. “The End” are two of the most satisfying words in the English language! Definitely a mark of success.
Have a great week.
“I’ve built a life I don’t need a vacation from.”
That’s a great statement of success, Garry!
Sorry I’m late, Kay!
Interesting question. I judge success by how my novels touch lives. If my writing makes them think, feel, and leaves them wanting more, then I consider it a success.
Good morning, Sue.
“I judge success by how my novels touch lives.” Excellent! And it’s exciting to think our books will continue to touch lives far into the future.
I have this over my desk: success is that place in the road where preparation and opportunity meet. But too few people recognize it because it comes disguised as hard work.
I love that one, Patricia. Such wisdom!