An Accomplished and/or Successful Writer?

       “When women lose themselves, the world loses its way. We do not need more selfless women. What we need right now is more women who have detoxed themselves so completely from the world’s expectations that they are full of nothing but themselves. What we need are women who are full of themselves. A woman who is full of herself knows and trusts herself enough to say and do what must be done. She lets the rest burn.”

                                                                                                                     Glennon Doyle

Accomplished?

     Yes, I am accomplished on many levels and in many areas of my life. I once excelled at motherhood, have always excelled academically, continue to strive towards excelling as a writer. For me, those and many more examples define my being accomplished. You, Dear Reader, may have a different definition for “accomplished.”

     Bay Path’s MFA program, my instructors and classmates have all contributed to expanding my sense of accomplishment by bolstering my confidence as a writer in and out of class. Instructor and Peer feedback has served in making even more aware of how & what I write, how I edit & revise, but more importantly, allowed me the experience of sharing my vulnerabilities with a live audience – Priceless.

     For me, there is no correlation between my being accomplished and not being published. I’ve grown more accomplished in my craft while at Bay Path, but technically have yet to “be published.” Oh, I’ve self-published on a former blog, on Medium, that kind of thing, but not as the result of a submission or contract, yet that does not detract from what I’ve accomplished as a writer.

     

       “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.”

                                                                                                                     Winston S. Churchill

Successful?

            Most of my accomplishments in writing that I’ve consider successes have come unexpectedly, be it an idea or assigned prompt, what I had planned to write was pushed aside by pure inspiration – Viola! A Success! Therefore, most of the time, I do not associate being accomplished with being successful Getting (consistently & fairly) paid for one’s craft and having earned the right to be called an Author – even if I only have one book published – Those are the milestones Ineed to reach to feel successful in my craft. Mind you, nowhere am I setting Bestsellerdom as one of the milestones to reach. Truth be told, I’d settle for having submission be consistently accepted and being paid for them, I’m easy that way.

     This doesn’t mean I’ll ever abandon the desire to be the published Author of at least one book.