So many great points, as well as support for writers who don't receive traditional recognition.
I agree with your comment about the value of recognizing one's impact in small ways, even without the bestseller status.
Your comment about telling the truth is essential. In a small niche area where I write, there is an author who has essentially paid a scammy source to get a bestseller award. The author lies about their credentials and promotes themself widely, bartering away their integrity. I find this astonishing, but I imagine I am naive about how some folks achieve success.
thanks Gail. and honestly, everyone who pays for this crap should be punished by the algorithm. I’d love to see a sticker attached to their posts with a community notes on how they received the award.
What we thought about the situation in the opposite direction: could we sometimes focus on the process too much and become perfectionistic about it? It’s easy to talk about getting intrinsically energized by the flow of creative energy, without thinking of the end result; but what if we get so bogged down in the details of how we think the process “should” make us feel that we end up never achieving the goal because we neglect to see how our process is incongruent with our goal? It’s like planning to fill up your car with gas to see how far it can go, but if we use the wrong type of gas for our car (like using premium gas for a regular- type car) then our car becomes less efficient without us knowing it!
I don’t know what you mean when you say that replicating the mental image can be stifling. I can add that I tend to think of the idea of focusing on process over product in black and white terms (I.e. I should neglect the goal altogether and just muddle through life without seeing an end in sight). I wonder other people feel the way I do and if that is an underrated topic in self-development literature.
You have an image in your head of how you want things to come out in the process. And it can be hard to bring that to fruition for many reasons. Losing sight of it. Social comparisons. Failure to get it on the page in time. Difficulty expressing the idea in concrete terms. Particular mood states. Etc
Yes! please no pity responses or firefighters who want to hold my limp body in their arms and carry my up the stairs to my desktop computer. Well, maybe, if I already hit my 7,000 steps.
I love this article! It spoke to me in a deep way. I recently wrote and published a book "Flourishing in Retirement a 5-step guide to joy for the post-career woman". It did not make any best seller list but I did write it and present it most authentically. I get readers tell me that it's made a difference to them. I poured my heart and soul into it and enjoyed the process though tough at times. I also am proud to continue sharing my message authentically. Thanks again!!
Shelly I love when someone feels this. I’m glad it hit. The pressure is so intense and unfair to request the world give us more. And trust me I’m not immune
I really appreciate this honesty and reference to God - Would I be proud if no one was watching? This is the bullseye of intrinsic motivation for me. I guess I would also add, can you live with yourself if you don’t share it? Thanks for lending your perspective, I’ll be on the lookout for the new obscure genres.
And, perfect timing. I’m about to print 100 copies of my first book and I’m damn proud of it and scared.
I’m not even using any of those lists to measure. I’m going with a small, family owned printer out of principle.
But I’d certainly be lying if I said it didn’t matter to me if anyone bought/read it. I want people to read it. 😂
Also, Emily Dickinson is one of my role models and she had no recognition during her lifetime. All her manuscripts were hidden up in her attic and only published later. Look at how meaningful her work is!
So funny I came across your post because I had been thinking about this very thing earlier today. This insane, endless chasing of external validation and listening to all the things we MUST do when often they aren't what we feel called to do. If I get one comment a day from someone who was uplifted, encouraged, informed or charmed, then I've done my job. We don't give the ripple effect enough credit.
I was just reading about distinctions between Eastern cultures and Western cultures.
The gist is this: Western culture has a fixation on Nouns (outcomes, destinations, and labels) while Eastern culture focuses on the Verbs (the process, the flow, and the experience). I wonder if the fixation on ribbons, plastic trophies, and such is a feature of that Western bias. That tendency to external locus of control.
Fascinating perspective. It brought to mind being versus doing. Age for me. Has been offered me incredible insights. I raised myself (This had nothing to do with my parents) to be accomplished and an achiever, and to be successful so I could support myself. So I would never depend on anyone else. I think they were many times. I forgot. I was a human being with feelings that were valued, but ones I ignored. Not the easiest path to wellness, and I always tease that. I’m a slow learner, but it’s fascinating for me to look back and understand myself now. Thanks for offering me these insights.
What a bracing and beautiful post. It is so very easy in this life to be profoundly confused about what success actually is. To mean something, it has to be grounded within, and it has to be pegged to one’s own intrinsic sense of integrity and creativity and purpose. When it comes to writing, as you say, that means falling in love with the process and having that be an end in itself. Secondarily, it’s finding an audience, because writing is fundamentally social and it’s lonely to put words out into the void. Thirdly, these are a far cry away from externalities, such as making a lot of money or actually selling a lot of books. Fourthly it’s so much more true and meaningful than trying to game the system with fake prizes and bought accolades. if you’re in it for the right reasons, you know about the high that you get when you capture your meaning just so, or when the writing flows through you and just happens, or when that rare person reaches out to you to say that what you wrote meant the world to them. That’s what it’s all about.
So many great points, as well as support for writers who don't receive traditional recognition.
I agree with your comment about the value of recognizing one's impact in small ways, even without the bestseller status.
Your comment about telling the truth is essential. In a small niche area where I write, there is an author who has essentially paid a scammy source to get a bestseller award. The author lies about their credentials and promotes themself widely, bartering away their integrity. I find this astonishing, but I imagine I am naive about how some folks achieve success.
thanks Gail. and honestly, everyone who pays for this crap should be punished by the algorithm. I’d love to see a sticker attached to their posts with a community notes on how they received the award.
What we thought about the situation in the opposite direction: could we sometimes focus on the process too much and become perfectionistic about it? It’s easy to talk about getting intrinsically energized by the flow of creative energy, without thinking of the end result; but what if we get so bogged down in the details of how we think the process “should” make us feel that we end up never achieving the goal because we neglect to see how our process is incongruent with our goal? It’s like planning to fill up your car with gas to see how far it can go, but if we use the wrong type of gas for our car (like using premium gas for a regular- type car) then our car becomes less efficient without us knowing it!
Damn that’s another article. Absolutely. Trying to replicate that mental image can be stifling.
I don’t know what you mean when you say that replicating the mental image can be stifling. I can add that I tend to think of the idea of focusing on process over product in black and white terms (I.e. I should neglect the goal altogether and just muddle through life without seeing an end in sight). I wonder other people feel the way I do and if that is an underrated topic in self-development literature.
You have an image in your head of how you want things to come out in the process. And it can be hard to bring that to fruition for many reasons. Losing sight of it. Social comparisons. Failure to get it on the page in time. Difficulty expressing the idea in concrete terms. Particular mood states. Etc
Ok, and what do you have to say about the second part of my statement?
I don’t know. There’s a massive literature on perfectionism and cognitive biases. Tons of books.
Idea for a Part II to this: Why I Don't Need to be Rescued From Having Just Stated That I am Not a Bestselling Author
Yes! please no pity responses or firefighters who want to hold my limp body in their arms and carry my up the stairs to my desktop computer. Well, maybe, if I already hit my 7,000 steps.
I love this article! It spoke to me in a deep way. I recently wrote and published a book "Flourishing in Retirement a 5-step guide to joy for the post-career woman". It did not make any best seller list but I did write it and present it most authentically. I get readers tell me that it's made a difference to them. I poured my heart and soul into it and enjoyed the process though tough at times. I also am proud to continue sharing my message authentically. Thanks again!!
Shelly I love when someone feels this. I’m glad it hit. The pressure is so intense and unfair to request the world give us more. And trust me I’m not immune
Best subheader ever: You Are (Most Likely) Not a Bestselling Author
This issue has to push you towards face plants too. Thanks. I’m trying to get better titles. It’s hard.
I really appreciate this honesty and reference to God - Would I be proud if no one was watching? This is the bullseye of intrinsic motivation for me. I guess I would also add, can you live with yourself if you don’t share it? Thanks for lending your perspective, I’ll be on the lookout for the new obscure genres.
Yes!!! Great question for writers to ask. Thank you.
This was a great read. Thank you.
And, perfect timing. I’m about to print 100 copies of my first book and I’m damn proud of it and scared.
I’m not even using any of those lists to measure. I’m going with a small, family owned printer out of principle.
But I’d certainly be lying if I said it didn’t matter to me if anyone bought/read it. I want people to read it. 😂
Also, Emily Dickinson is one of my role models and she had no recognition during her lifetime. All her manuscripts were hidden up in her attic and only published later. Look at how meaningful her work is!
Proud of you Liz. Send a link here so people cans find it
So funny I came across your post because I had been thinking about this very thing earlier today. This insane, endless chasing of external validation and listening to all the things we MUST do when often they aren't what we feel called to do. If I get one comment a day from someone who was uplifted, encouraged, informed or charmed, then I've done my job. We don't give the ripple effect enough credit.
So true Marla. Who is called to be #87 on the USA Today bestseller list?
I was just reading about distinctions between Eastern cultures and Western cultures.
The gist is this: Western culture has a fixation on Nouns (outcomes, destinations, and labels) while Eastern culture focuses on the Verbs (the process, the flow, and the experience). I wonder if the fixation on ribbons, plastic trophies, and such is a feature of that Western bias. That tendency to external locus of control.
Fascinating perspective. It brought to mind being versus doing. Age for me. Has been offered me incredible insights. I raised myself (This had nothing to do with my parents) to be accomplished and an achiever, and to be successful so I could support myself. So I would never depend on anyone else. I think they were many times. I forgot. I was a human being with feelings that were valued, but ones I ignored. Not the easiest path to wellness, and I always tease that. I’m a slow learner, but it’s fascinating for me to look back and understand myself now. Thanks for offering me these insights.
What a bracing and beautiful post. It is so very easy in this life to be profoundly confused about what success actually is. To mean something, it has to be grounded within, and it has to be pegged to one’s own intrinsic sense of integrity and creativity and purpose. When it comes to writing, as you say, that means falling in love with the process and having that be an end in itself. Secondarily, it’s finding an audience, because writing is fundamentally social and it’s lonely to put words out into the void. Thirdly, these are a far cry away from externalities, such as making a lot of money or actually selling a lot of books. Fourthly it’s so much more true and meaningful than trying to game the system with fake prizes and bought accolades. if you’re in it for the right reasons, you know about the high that you get when you capture your meaning just so, or when the writing flows through you and just happens, or when that rare person reaches out to you to say that what you wrote meant the world to them. That’s what it’s all about.
Love this with a passion!
👍