I guess it depends on how you define 'arrived.' And I think anyone who writes will attach their own meaning to that term. I too found it very satisfying when readers started getting in touch with expressions of enjoyment and questions about future writing. A couple years ago I published a series of seven interrelated stories called Taking Chances at smashwords. I don't make a lot of money from them - it's hardly a living. But I get a check every quarter. And it really is an ego boost that people will pay actual money to read my stories! I'm still amazed by that, and to me I guess that's 'arriving' in some small way.
Writing is stringing words and lines together. If you approve of it, that is all that matters. If you try to write for accolades, you will eventually find yourself mired in mud.
I knew I'd arrived when I won the best Non-Consent story of 2003 on Literotica. That encouraged me to pursue writing as more than just an outlet for my personal issues and now, eleven years later, I'm writing non-fiction and getting paid for it, too!
I just enjoy writing, too, but I think hearing from readers that they enjoy my stories, esp. the requests for sequels/continuations, are what tells me I'm getting an audience.
I have no idea. All I know is that I want to get much better. With each story I do my best to push myself harder and do better than the previous story. I feel that I have a very long way to go. I doubt I'll ever feel satisfied.
I will agree with what possibly, buz, and Emily kiss have all said.
I think Buz and Possibly said it best.
I love what I write, each time I write. But, I know I can improve each time I write, and I make sure to try and do that each time. I want to get better in many areas. Opening myself up to new things, exploring the world of writing. It is an endless, the world of writing is so open. Embrace it and grow always!
You've "ARRIVED" as a writer the first time you're brave enough to post or print something you've written.
Writers WRITE. (They don't THINK or TALK about it, they PUT IT OUT...)
SOMETIMES it hits and sometimes not... No matter... You're a WRITER if you write. (Not EVERYBODY will get you BUT some people will find stuff that you didn't even know you'd written... The WORDS you write are uniquely yours, but the way they are read is UNIQUE to every reader... That's the pleasure of it, in truth...)
Most of us here are writers. We tell stories and we place COLOUR in peoples imaginations. We CREATE images, feelings, scenarios, CHARACTERS, stories, where before THERE WAS NOTHING...
Not everybody can do that.
(Writers do. If you do that then, yeah... You're a writer... You've arrived... Welcome!)
It's fun, isn't it?
xx Stephen
Suck my dick some of me will rub off on you and you my friend will have arrived. I'ma lick it all night. Yeah you heard me right gurl. I'm going make you wet the bed. Sooo, I guess you better get to sucking. And I don't want to hear any complaining about how you're getting lock-jaw. Just suck my dick and sees what happens. You never know you may become the next best seller.
I kind of go by five different criteria.
1.) My name becomes well known enough to make me want to change it legally.
2.) I make enough in book sales each quarter to not need to work at other things.
3.) Someone I don't know asks for my autograph.
4.) Someone who "hates" reading falls in love with books because of something I wrote.
5.) I make a top ten list on the New York Times Best Sellers List (and stay on it for more than a year.)
I will feel like I have "arrived" as an author when all five of these things happen. But until then, I just write for fun.
After finishing a story that you've labored over you read it from the beginning. When you're done reading it you sit back and smile. That's really all that matters.
Big-haired Bitch/Personality Hire
When I take satisfaction in what I do and don't need validation from others. Don't get me wrong, feedback and support is ALWAYS welcome. Not just as an ego booster or tips to get better. When others are invested in my work, it adds to my level of satisfaction in my work, if that makes sense.
░P░U░S░S░Y░ ░I░N░ ░B░I░O░
For me i will never "arrive." There will always be room to grow and adapt. The growth I have already obtained is meaningful to me. When I review my previous stories or poems and see where I need to improve tells me I am making progress. When I get positive feedback from great authors like Ashleigh, Danny, or Milik, it means more than a Recommend Read or award. I have been an artist all my life. As a architect or painter and now a writer. Creativity is in my blood. Writing is just painting with words.
Mazza, dpw, you both rock. Many thanks.
