How do you measure your writing success?

I am a writer. A freelance writer. I always have my ups and downs. I cover court cases when I am asked to and self publish them. The internet is after all a writers dream. Where else can so many read your work. I measure my work by my readership and how it affects my reader. Take care, Ainge Oh spelling is not my best subject.

I consider myself to be a writer - but it's not my job, and I rarely get anything published. It's usually just me writing my own articles or editorials for small, local magazines (in my area) or me writing in my personal, private blog. There really IS no measure of success for me. "Success" in writing for me, is just.. happily being able to express myself through words. Because money and publication really aren't involved, "success" to me is just being happy with my work!

While I would love to ultimately make a full-time living as a writer, I don't consider monetary reward as the sole criteria for measuring success. If I can move a person while they're reading something I've written, then I've been successful. If a reader has reacted emotionally to what I've written, then it means they're involved in it. That is success, in my opinion.

Interesting you ask this as I'm currently wondering if I should just write for the love of writing or actually hope beyond hope someone might pick up my book and read it. Which brings me to this thought when someone said they'd buy my book if it was cheaper. Would they say this to Neil Gaiman and why should I lower my price simply because I'm not him? If one considers my writing equal to Mr. Gaiman's what makes mine less the worth? Even with an unknown name.

hmmm, that's a very interesting question. I doubt I even think of myself as successful writer, and I doubt I take writing seriously. It's more like an enjoyable hobby than a job. I enjoy the process of writing. I just hate the beginning. It's always so painful to sit properly and start to write. But once started, it's ok. I think I enjoy the process of writing more than anything. I guess that is the only success factor, that I have enjoyed writing.

The goal of every writer is publication. Some pieces are more important than what payment you receive for them and some pieces you get paid for are of little importance. I have published articles for no payment just to get a story to the attention of readers.

Since I either write for fun, like on MyLot, or commercially for freelance purposes, I guess I do not worry too much about my success. I just keep on writing regardless. I will have to admit that MyLot made me feel successful because people like what I have to say, and I receive both verbal compliments and best responses. I feel successful for my freelance agent because he keeps piling on the work. The best feeling, though is when my adult daughter complements me.

I have been a freelance writer for almost a decade now and have had my articles published in various magazines, newspapers and websites based in my country. Some of these publications are pretty well known but I don't consider myself successful in terms of how many of my write-ups have already seen print or how much money I make. (My colleagues would probably ask "What money?" LOL because we writers don't get paid much here in the Philippines.) I treasure more the feedback from people I interview whose stories I wrote about and from the readers who said that they have also been touched by those stories. In fact, I write down all the text messages I receive in a notebook before I delete them from my cell phone. I also save all the nice emails I get from friends and strangers alike who appreciate my work. When I go through some bad patches in my writing career (inconsiderate resource persons, demanding editors, botched up schedules, etc.) I try to balance these by remembering the good things I experience in my job and remind myself that I should relish the positive things instead of dwelling on the setbacks. The latest compliment I got was from an old high school classmate of mine last week. He wrote on my Facebook wall "Keep on writing - your articles are really good - from the heart!" And that just made my day :)

I personally think it is how much money you are making from writing but some people might just think it is writing to satisfy yourself and your creative impulses. I think how you satisfy yourself as a writer is a pretty individual thing and not necessarily how the next person is going to view it.

That depends on why you have become a writer?. To get money (or) to get fame (or) to share your experiences with your community (or) to see your name in print (or) you think you have got writing talent (or) blah blah.... Once you know why you are writing, you know if you are successful or not. In any case, if you want to get published you should know what publishers are looking for and if you fit the bill. Because publishers generally know what readers like. You can find answers to several questions here: http://www.leadstartcorp.com/faqs.html This website has a lot of useful information for aspiring writers and they even have a service called books-to-ideas if you struggling to express your ideas.

Hi art, Consider writing in small amounts better. Also consider writing like this gives more quality for me and not the quantity. I would like to able to write a lot more of course but time is the big enemy. I also find it nard to write offline sometimes. Sometimes I write with ordinary pen and paper. Again I can´t write a lot at the moment there are continual disruptions.Moneyside of writing I have not made much yet because I have only just started to realise what I want to write about. That also answers the questiion about my success in writing as well I think have´nt done enough yet. Take care.

The question any person who aspires to be a writer or is a writer should not be the monetary or celbrity gains which may or may not come with that. Take writing movies, for example. Most people will always assume that the directors are the ones who came up with the idea of their favorite film in the first place. This is actually a trend that only existed in the 70s and 80s. Nowadays, scripts are generally written by one or two people, and normally neither is a director. They might be a producer, but that's it. The question you should ask yourself is, why are you writing? Are you writing for the fame, the money, the recognition? Are you writing so that you can introduce yourself as (John/Jane Doe, Author/Screenwriter)? Or are you writing because you enjoy it? Are you writing because you have the passion and the patience needed for such an endeavor? My answer to your question is that if you feel you are doing something good by writing, whether that be writing a book of some kind or writing a script for stage or the screens, than you should continue. While income of any kind is nice for any writer, there are always going to be only a small few who can do it for a living. It's those people who must view it as a job. If you have a job yourself, and are only writing on the side, don't worry about what kind of reaction your work will get. I did that, and kept writing more and more complicated plots and subplots for my books and scripts that I drove myself crazy. And by that, I mean I was getting 2-4 hours of sleep, was drinking two or three 2-liters of Mountain Dew or other caffeinated beverages per day, and was also having to swallow 4 pills of Migraine medication just to be able to think clearly. Don't get swallowed up by visions of fame and fortune, of recognition. The only thing that'll do to you is drive you towards a cycle of depression that some people may not have a strong enough will to pull out of. Don't let others decide whether you're a good writer. Decide for yourself you are, then show those who doubt it just how wrong they are. If you gain fame or fortune along the way, great. If not, than you'll just be one among thousands of other writers who feel they could do well, but may not have the connections to do it with. Whichever path you choose, make it the path that you feel is right for you. I only ask you take heed of my warning and those of others who have gone on to be professionals, but had these doubts, too. Again, profit and such is great, but what really matters is how you might view your writing. The simpler a story, the more exciting it might be if you work on it just right.