Process, Project, or Career Success?

To me, writing success is being able to flip back through the calendar and say, “Yeah, I feel good about what I gave to my writing this year.” To counteract all the negative junk that clutters a writing life—e.g., rejections, silence, delays, discarding 100 pages that just don’t work—I’ve found it helpful to check in with myself every couple of weeks and be honest about how I’m spending my time. Frankly, it’s a loose standard. And the looser the standards, the better writing I seem to do. Whatever it takes to stay out of your own way, right?

I think of this as the 70/20/10 rule. Life gets busy and schedules have to bend, but generally, I spend 70 percent of my time doing things to finish a draft, 20 percent of my time making sure the project works as a whole, and 10 percent of my time getting myself out in the world, going to readings, submitting work, applying for things, and taking classes.

This method directs the most energy to the activities I have control over. I made some graphics to share examples of what those activities are, below.

Process Success

Process success is where the magic happens. I'm only being a little bit figurative here. When I think about the books I've loved, they do seem a little bit magical. Writing a book means holding on to whatever sparkle of inspiration got you started. Over the course of years, you find a way to transform it into a story that allows the reader to experience that same glimmer, whatever it is. It is vital, and when you stay in touch with it, it is your "zone." It also needs nurturing: free time, freewriting, artist dates, and the constant light and fresh air of new ideas. By taking good care of yourself, you can do this roll-up-your-sleeves, make-time-every-day, have-a-plan sort of work. 

Project Success

Project success is where the navigation happens. Eventually, a novel-in-progress needs to be coherent, have a vision, flow well, and deliver on its promises. Great beta readers or a freelance editor can help keep it on track. Most of the time, though, you will be charting these waters on your own.

Career Success

I've seen writers spend years trying to create writing career success before realizing that it is mostly out of their control. If you don't find an editor, agent, and publisher who firmly understand your goals and vision, you might be setting yourself up for failure (both real and perceived). In any case, it's a common mistake to focus too much on career success instead of the other kinds of success that ARE in your control.

I hope you'll share this with your writing group or keep it in mind as you set your 2023 writing goals! If The Threepenny Editor can help you with your project, we’d love to hear from you!