At times I write in this blog about success. Today I want to look at success from a different angle. First let’s examine success itself, just not with writers. I think everyone would agree Elvis Presly was a successful performer/singer. The Beatles and Melissa Etheridge were also successful performers. No one would argue otherwise. We all know Elvis Presley was a truck driver before he became the famous performer. We know the Beatles were once names the Silver Beetles and played in nightclubs before becoming the best known band on the planet. Melissa Etheridge played for small groups and I actually saw her at the , performing a free summer concert before she was well known.

Even Stephen King went through coming up from nothing. Many of you have heard the story about Stephen King throwing his first draft of ‘Carrie‘ into the trash because he thought it was garbage. His wife rescued it and the rest is history. (Click on the Carrie link because the article there is a very worthwhile read.) Stephen King had his doubts about his ability to write, even after ‘Carrie.’ He wrote three stories under the name Richard Bachman to see if his first success was just a fluke or whether he had real talent. Remember, this was after his success with ‘Carrie.’

Another example of a successful performer is Harry Chapin. Okay, listening to an hour of most of his songs and drinking a fifth of Scotch will drive anyone to suicide, but still he was successful. In one of his engagements he recorded a conversation titled ‘Dirty Old Man.’ In it he said,

In the sixties I wrote about four hundred songs
Before anybody even paid any attention

Four hundred songs! Imagine writing four hundred songs before you even begin being considered successful as a performer!

In all of the cases above, no one will argue with them being successful. They rose to the top. They rightfully earned fame and fortune. They were huge successes. They also demonstrate two other qualities that many of us forget; determination and perseverance. Carrie was turned down by thirty publishers. Thirty! Harry Chapin wrote four hundred songs, Melissa Etheridge played free concerts in podunk towns and the Beatles played in nightclubs.

Many of us have doubts about our talent for writing. It certainly isn’t unusual and it’s a trait shared by even the best writers or performers. Success also means different things to different people. Would I like to be on the New York Times best seller’s list? Of course. Will I ever get there? Probably not. But you know what? I’m already successful. My family likes my stories. My friends like my stories. The people working in my vets office like my stories. Not out of kindness mind you because they do tell me about things they didn’t like. But overall all reviews are positive and that’s success for me.

I know an author online, Melissa Foster, who I consider a friend, though we have never met. She is definitely a successful writer. By anyone’s standards, she is a success. She goes to book promotions, book seller events, conferences. She goes on speaking tours, conferences and talks about writing. She seems to love it and gives back to her readers as much as she gets from them. It’s another form of success. To me however, doing those things would be hell. I’m a recluse, I avoid people almost as much as Howard Hughes. Going out into public like Melissa does would be torture for me and I certainly wouldn’t call it a sign of my success.

Success, like love, seems to have many different definitions. We all know what love feels like, we all know, to some degree what success feels like. To each of us though each is individual. It’s personal. It’s unique.

You can define success by having your stories enjoyed by the personal at a pet hospital or by millions. You can define your success by the money you make or by the enjoyment you get out of writing. Success is how you define it. However, you will never achieve success without determination and perseverance. Write four hundred stories like Harry Chapin wrote four hundred songs. With determination and perseverance you’ll achieve success, no matter how you define it.