What does it take to be a successful writer?
Ask around and you’ll get a lot of answers. A writer needs a desire to write, a regular writing practice, and an ability to accept feedback and grow. She needs persistence, courage, grit, and ambition. He needs to be open to learning about marketing and platform, and understand the sheer effort it takes to get where he wants to go.
Yes, there are a lot of things that writers have to do, but one thing that isn’t often talked about is what we have to give up. Inevitably, making the decision to focus a good chunk of one’s life on writing means something else has to go.
It means sacrifice.
A Successful Writer Has to Sacrifice
After I’d drafted several novel-length manuscripts and hadn’t yet gotten a publishing contract, I realized the truth staring me in the face: If I really wanted to be traditionally published, I was going to have to find a way to devote more time to my dream.
That meant something had to give in my schedule, and in the end, that something was my music.
It was a painful sacrifice. I was a musician (French horn, piano) before I was a writer, and I’d been involved in the community symphony and several other music groups for years. To give up a seat in the symphony, alone, meant never knowing if I would get it back.
I agonized over the choice, but in the end my desire for publication won out. I took a clean break from playing and teaching music for five years.
Fortunately for me, it worked. I got my first and then my second traditional publishing contract during that time, and officially kicked off my fiction career.
I’m now back in the symphony and in a number of other groups enjoying my music again, this time feeling much more balanced because I was able to fulfill my writing dream, too.
What will you have to give up to become your version of a successful writer? Below are five examples of some of the most common things.
5 Sacrifices to Make to be a Successful Writer
1. Successful Writers Sacrifice Their Time
Of all the sacrifices required, this is the most common one, because when it comes right down to it, writing takes time, and usually, a lot of it.
Most people start out thinking they can achieve their dreams in a year or two, when it typically takes more like ten. And that’s ten years of daily writing and platform-building and marketing and producing books—ten years of consistent hard work.
We all have our own definitions of success, but if you’d like to have a group of readers looking forward to your next book, be ready to devote a significant chunk of your life to that goal.
It also helps to understand that for the first several years, it will feel like you’re going nowhere, but as you get better at both writing and marketing, your efforts will start to snowball, and you’ll notice things picking up.
You can get there if you’re willing to take the time, but realize it will probably take a lot more than you ever imagined.
2. Successful Writers Sacrifice Their Money
To create a successful writing business—and if you want to earn money from what you write, you’re looking at creating a business—you have to be ready to make financial investments, in both yourself and your writing.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise, since it takes money to start any business, but many writers aren’t ready for it, and balk when it comes to turning over the cash.
You don’t need much to begin with—enough for writing materials and education, which can come in the form of books, workshops, mentorships, and conferences. Then it can get more expensive as you go.
As you get closer to publishing a book, your expenses tend to creep up. You may want to hire help to upgrade your website or get a professional photographer to create some quality headshots.
You may want to pay for some advertisements, enter contests to get your book noticed, or travel around to book fairs and bookstores to get your book in front of readers. You’ll likely move to a self-hosted website (rather than a free one) and you may start paying for more quality images.
Eventually the goal is to make enough with your writing to cover these expenses and more, but for the first several years, you’re likely to spend more than you earn, particularly if you’re trying to take your marketing to the next level.
In other words, don’t quit your day job just yet.
3. A Successful Writer Sacrifices Her Belief That She Can Do It All
The closer you get to writing success, the more you realize that sacrifice is in order, because you just can’t continue to do it all.
We think for a time that we can do our writing “on the side,” while we maintain a full-time job, take care of the kids and the family, volunteer, and keep up with the book club.
And that can work for awhile, but when you’re in the home stretch on your novel, or you’re gearing up for a launch, or you’re trying to reach that next goal and it’s just not happening, you begin to realize that you need more time for this writing gig, and that “on the side” just isn’t going to cut it.
“Nothing exceptional ever got completed without sacrifice,” says artist consultant Maria Brophy. “I run a business full-time, I’m a mom and I like to exercise. Writing a book means a lot of important stuff has to give. And all of it is important….I’m stuck in between the driving desire to create something great and the maternal need to spend time with my kid before he grows up. And that is the dilemma that every writer faces. You just can’t do it all. Something has to give.”
There are going to be times when your writing (and/or marketing) is going to have to come first, and that means you’ll have to sacrifice other things in your life, at least for awhile.
4. A Successful Writer Sacrifices His Desire for Immediate Gratification
We are a country of demanding folks. We want our food in under 10 minutes, our shipments delivered overnight, and our communication immediate.
This desire for immediate gratification often bleeds over into our leisure time. We want writing success, and we want it now, but we also want to go to the movies, spend the weekend playing, or head out to a party with friends.
Successful writers are able to sacrifice pleasures in the short-term in service to their long-term goals, particularly during the early years when building a writing business.
It’s hard sometimes to imagine that what you do tonight—whether you write or veg out in front of the television, for instance—can have much of an impact on your future, but it’s these very small daily actions that help you reach your goals.
“There are so many things that each of us wants right now,” says freelance writer Thu Yau. “Things that might encourage us to procrastinate when we really shouldn’t. We might want to do something simple like check our Facebook feed. We might want to do something more significant like buy a new car. But the question is—what is most important to us? We have to make the choice between our immediate desires and the needs that will propel our dreams forward.”
If you want to succeed in the long run, give up on immediate gratification. Writing is a long-distance sport.
5. Successful Writers Sacrifice Their Attachment to Comfort
There’s one thing about personal growth that tends to be true for everyone—it’s uncomfortable.
And the path to writing success requires consistent personal growth.
You not only have to learn how to write well—which can include going through uncomfortable critiques, edits, and rejections—you also have to learn to build an author platform and market your work, which tends to make you feel like a beginner all over again.
Once your book comes out, you have to put yourself out there even more if you want to attract readers. And since publishing is an ever-changing business, you can be sure that you’re going to have to learn something new just about every year, which is likely to take you out of your comfort zone many times over.
Author Tom Venuto notes that we tend to shy away from stretching ourselves because it can feel painful: “The second you leave your comfort zone, you experience pain, DIS-comfort and awkwardness. Since all positive changes take place outside the comfort zone, change is painful. The very instant most people feel the pain, they pull back inside the comfort zone. This is the reason why most people fail to improve themselves or create lasting changes in their lives: They are unwilling to put up with the pain of change.”
Are you willing to sacrifice comfort for your writing goals? Are you willing to feel awkward, insecure, and stupid? If so, success is on your horizon, as long as you don’t give up!
“There can be no progress, no achievement, without sacrifice, and a man’s worldly success will be in the measure that he sacrifices.”
-James Allen, As a Man Thinketh
What have you had to sacrifice for your writing dreams?
Sources
Brophy, M. (2010, March 23). Being Exceptional is a Sacrifice – Writing that Book is Hard. Retrieved from http://mariabrophy.com/business-of-art/being-exceptional-is-a-sacrifice-writing-that-book-is-hard.html
The Oracles. (2017, April 3). 10 Sacrifices Successful People Make for Their Dreams. Retrieved from https://articles.theoracles.com/10-sacrifices-successful-people-make-for-their-dreams-ccea9f14f6f2
Venuto, T. (n.d.). Climbing Out Of Your Comfort Zone – The Ultimate Secret to Lasting Change and High Achievement. Retrieved from http://www.howtobefit.com/comfort-zone.htm
Why You Should Step Outside Your Comfort Zone – Refined Revelry. (2018, March 5). Retrieved from https://www.therefinedrevelry.com/step-outside-your-comfort-zone/
Yau, T. (2015, May 13). 8 Things Successful People Sacrifice For Their Success. Retrieved from https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/8-things-successful-people-sacrifice-for-their-success.html
Nothing worth pursuing comes without sacrifice.
We also sacrifice our ego, something you sort of touch on number five.
Those rejections hurt immensely but they are also learning experiences.
Excellent post, Colleen.
So true, Ingmar. Thanks! :O)
Proven points all around, Colleen. Still, there are some sacrifices for which we need to seek God’s wisdom before it’s too late. It may seem a strange thought process to some, but I remember a time about 10 years ago when I kept asking God when it would be my time – my time to succeed, my time to shine. I dreamed of being multi-published, that one you mentioned whom everyone checks Google over and over to see when their new book comes out. I wanted it … bad … until ….
One day, I read a blog post about the fear of success. Quite interesting reading in which the author pointed out things some people never think of which go along with a successful writing career. It helped me see the timing wasn’t right because I was NOT willing to sacrifice some of those things. I was still homeschooling our final daughter and was NOT willing to give that time up so I could go on book tours and speaking engagements and more. I was NOT willing to leave my family for long periods of time. I was NOT willing to fly! (LOL!) And I was NOT willing to give up my other commitments at that point, knowing I’d made promises and had people counting on me. No, success and all its glory would need to wait for God’s timing and some careful, prayerful planning.
PS: It’s coming! The daughter mentioned above gets married June 23rd! However … there is the matter of three delightful grandchildren I’ve waited many years for …. Oh, well, it will be another of those things God will equip me to do if He calls me to it. Blessings!
So true, Cathy. You have to be ready and wiling to make those sacrifices, and we all have to make choices. I’m sure your children and family were well worth it.
All true and well when referring to AUTHOR (instead of writer), but
you fail to define what realistic sacrifices are….
Clearly, you have to spend time, but if one needs five years for one chapter, it might be wise to think again, if this writing exersize will yield anything, except personal satisfaction.
Secondly: nothing for nothing. If you delegate some of your (editing) work to hard working other people, you should expect to pay a fair price. Likewise for doing drawing for your cover, setting up a decent web site.
However, there are trolls that present extortionate rates, and there are always victims willing to pay.
Doing it all yourself? Perhaps possible, but it will cost dearly in time, and you need to have the proper connections.
Thanks for your thoughts, Hans.
Sacrificing (or shifting choices) wasn’t a conscious decision for me when I started down this writing path, but every item you highlighted has been impacted over the years. Great post. Thanks.
You instinctively knew, Jo-Anne. Cool. :O) Thank you.
You have to sacrifice needing your friends or families approval. Unless they’re also artists, friends generally don’t understand.
Such a good point, Jan. Definitely true! And not always easy to do. :O)
I resist the term sacrifice. I like the term choice. I’m shifting my choices to get what I really want. I’m not depriving myself (sacrifice), I’m moving towards what I really want. That attitude feels more fun and more satisfying for me.
Like that, Claudia. Nice way to think about it. :O)
Sacrifice is absolutely required for writing success- appreciate your 5 things and completely agree. As a single mother of two, I did sacrifice all of your five things and ended up with an award winning memoir, it absolutely pays off
Awesome, Rebecca! Love it when it pays of. :O)