By Beth K. Vogt
“I never dreamed about success, I worked for it.” — Estee Lauder (1908-2004), American businesswoman
I came across the quote by businesswoman Estee Lauder while working on several different blog posts. Her words encompasses a truth I believe: Living the dream – any dream – means doing the work.
If you’re reading this blog post, odds are we share the dream of being a writer. The only difference is how we would answer some basic questions like:
- Where are you along the writing road?
- What are you writing?
No matter our answers, at some point we have to stop dreaming and do the work to succeed.
You may be thinking, “That’s your big tip for writing success, Beth? Stop dreaming and start working?”
Don’t abandon this blog post yet!
Let me get more specific:
To End 2018 with Success:
- Finish Something.
- Being even more specific: If there’s something you started in 2018 and it is sitting on your desk or in a file in your laptop or iPad unfinished, finish it. Or tomorrow. But definitely finish it before January 1, 2019.
That witty blog post you started that’s languishing, half-written?
Finish it.
That synopsis for a new book idea that’s incomplete because, well, writing a synopsis is hard work?
Finish it.
That request from an editor or agent when you were at the ACFW conference a few months ago for sample chapters or even a full manuscript?
Finish it.
That – GASP! – list of thank-you notes you forgot to write after the conference?
Finish it.
Sometimes success isn’t about the size of the mountain we scale, but about finishing the climb. Getting to the top and standing there, saying, “We did it,” even if we’re not standing atop Mount Kilimanjaro.
Yes, we’re writers. Creatives. Dreamers.
But let’s do the work that comes with the dreams we’re pursuing. Let’s finish what we’ve started – one specific thing we’ve left undone this year. And then, let’s count the finishing a success.
How can you end 2018 with writing success? @bethvogt #ACFWBlogs #writetip #writerslife www.acfw.com/blog Share on XBeth K. Vogt believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” A Christy Award winner, as well as an ACFW Carol Award winner, Beth is the author of nine contemporary romance novels and novellas. Her first women’s fiction novel, Things I Never Told You, released May 2018 from Tyndale House Publishers.