Writers, are you still writing?

The writing business is such where only a few make it and many do not. Those are the statistics and they can be quite depressing.

When I started writing, I began with nothing but my laptop and an idea. I do not have siblings or parents and because I've never been in touch with an extended family, the prospect of having families turning into fans and reviewers was void. Regardless, I published my first novel and crossed my fingers, hoping that someone might read it. That was almost six years ago and I am still writing.

Of course when one puts a book out, they want to be not only read, but also to be able to make a reasonable living out of it. However, such a possibility becomes available to only a handful of authors. So are they lucky? Would the others be correctly classified as the majority unfortunates?
How do you label yourself?

I consider myself successful. Perhaps, my definition of success is slightly different from what others might perceive it. Starting from basically nothing, I am grateful for the response and appreciation I have received over these past few years. You see, success is very subjective. It all depends on your goals in the industry. Do you want to be a bestseller? Do you want to earn $20 to $30k a month? Or do you want to be simply read?

I wanted to follow my passion of writing. That was my objective in writing. I was basically hopeless at everything else. I was usually depressed slogging through jobs I hated and doing my best living up to standards set by others. I soon realized, I had lived half my life doing everything else but doing what I wanted to do. When opportunity presented itself, I grabbed it with both hands and set off to fulfilling my dream. Telling stories.

What are your goals? Have you experienced instances of not wanting to write? What were your reasons? Remember to always revert back to the basics. What got you started on the writing path in the first place.

We live in a fortunate age and time when everybody is giving an equal platform to publish their books. Gone are the days where we had to depend on publishers and literary agents to approve of our work. Some of the best books in literature happen to come from self-publishers such as The Martian by Andy Weir and Still Alice by Lisa Genova. Yours could be the next. Just don't quit. Because if you don't put your thoughts, your ideas and your book out there, no one else will.

Not everyone is going to like your books. Not everyone is going to appreciate your unique concept. Some may win with a single try, while others would have to work harder at it . But so long as you're trying, you're still in the game.

But there's one other primary lesson life has taught me in this rat race of becoming the best. Chase your passions and success will chase after you.