We are writers, we love to write.
Sounds like the beginning of a high school cheer, doesn't it.
We have our success stories and we have our sad stories.
Some of our success stories are each sentence and chapter we complete, each story we write that brings us compliments and each time our name appears in print.
Success comes slowly.
Contrary to popular belief, there are no over night successes. Each success has taken many nights of hard work.
This is one of the sad stories.
Just this morning my son and I were talking about getting paid for a job.
I said, "Everyone gets paid for their work," and then kinda added, "except for maybe a writer."
"Well, that's different," he said.
I couldn't believe this comment came from my son. But it seems that a lot of people have that mind set.
Until we get paid the compliment of getting compensated for our work, we must be happy with our little success stories.
We must keep on writing. We must keep on submitting. We must not get discouraged and quit, for there is a lot of hard work behind every "overnight" success story. We have a lot of stepping stones to cross on our journey to success.
One of my little stepping stones that I crossed recently.
I had an article published in our local paper.
If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you might see my byline.
By Janet F. Smart Guest Writer
Tell us about one of your stepping stones to success.
Posted by Janet F. Smart on Creative Writing in the Blackberry Patch
©Janet F. Smart
Writing is such a love offering I think we sometimes send out this vibe that we don't need paid because the writing itself is payment enough. I'd like to get past that.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to read this article you wrote -- anywhere I can find it?
hi Granny Kate. I looked around on their site and finally found it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jacksonnewspapers.com/news/x272281924/Artifact-hunting-in-Jackson-County-by-Guest-Writer-Janet-F-Smart
If you go to the above link, it should take you to it. Of course, it is printed in just one big paragraph, not formatted like it was in the newspaper.
Congratulations on your article, Janet! I believe writers write because we can't stop.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of the reasons why writers are so depressed. We are one of the most hardest working professions and yet get little pay or recognition for it. And we get criticized by many.
ReplyDeleteBut, we write because we have to. Our creativity yells at us if we don't. Wonderful post.
Congrats, Janet! You have a nice place here. I've signed on as a Follower. :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Janet, upon your article being published in the the newspaper. Yes, writing is indeed a labor of love. We do it because we love it, and not for the money. It would be nice to get some money, but the joy of writing is enough for me.
ReplyDeleteI'm proud of your successes. I see what you are doing and what you've done and it seems a lot to me. Especially writing for Two Lane Livin frequently.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad that we don't get paid accordingly but that's the way it is.
It's one reason I finally wrote a novel because my short stories were not going anywhere.
Hang in and your turn is coming.
Blessings, Barb
Can't wait to meet you at the writers conference.
Success sometimes comes one word at a time, I'm thinking, and like you said, we need to keep moving forward.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your article! That is exciting. It's so much fun to see your name in print, isn't it?
Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting. It's great to meet you! I enjoyed my visit. :)
Happy weekend,
Karen
Congratulations on getting your article published. I know you must be thrilled.
ReplyDeleteOur newspaper has a guest column on Sundays that runs a contest once a year. Five people get chosen to do a monthly column for 12 months. I tried several times, with no success. But I did have a little more success submitting book reviews.
You are persistant and that's what it takes to be successful.