Writing Success

Carolyn Howard-Johnson shares writers’ resources on her award-winning blog Sharing with Writers

 Contributed by Karen Cioffi, Children’s Writer

Writers has their own view of what Writing success is. Some writers may simply want to get a book or article published; others may want to be on the New York Times Best Sellers List; others may want to make a living writing; and others may be seeking wealth and fame. The key here is to dig down and really know what your perception of writing success is.

Once you are sure what you are aiming for, take the necessary steps to become the writing success you dream of. Sounds easy, right? Well, we all know it’s not; if it were, there would be no struggling writers.

The first problem we encounter is actually realizing how we perceive success or what we want from our writing efforts. According to Jack Canfield, co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul, the number one reason for being stuck and not realizing your potential or goals is the lack of clarity.

Step One: You Must Define Your Goals 
It’s not sufficient to state you want to be a published writer; you need to proclaim the specifics. You want to be a self-help nonfiction author of published books and magazine articles, earning an income of $100,000 per year. You can even get much more specific than that—the more specific your goals and intentions are, the more likely you will attain them.

Step Two: Prepare a Plan
When you finally have a breakthrough and know exactly what you want from your writing efforts, you need to prepare a detailed plan. Your plan, just like your goals, needs to be very specific. 

Think of a recipe: You plan on baking a cake, but you’ll need more than just the ingredients; you’ll need the exact amount of each ingredient, the proper procedure for mixing them together, the baking temperature, how long to bake it, how long to cool it before removing it from the pan . . . you get the idea.

Now you’re on your way. You have specific goals and a detailed plan, but you’re still not achieving success.

Step Three: Take Action
Think of the first two steps as the foundation of your house. To move forward toward success, you need to build the house. This takes action; it actually takes more than just action; it takes ongoing action and perseverance to carry you through to completion.

Step Four: Projection
You have the other steps down pat; now, picture yourself attaining your goals. According to motivational speakers, you will have a much greater chance of making it happen by projecting success. This step encompasses a number of strategies such as envisioning, projection, projection boards, and affirmations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author, working ghostwriter, rewriter, and coach. If you’d like to learn more about writing for children or need help with your story, visit Writing for Children with Karen Cioffi. 

You can check out Karen’s books HERE and her DIY webpage HERE.

Connect with Karen on SOCIAL MEDIA. 

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MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the multi award-winning author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning #HowToDoItFrugally Series (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTXQL27T/ ) of books for writers including “The Frugal Book Promoter” (https://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromoIII), and “The Frugal Editor” both offered in their third editions by Modern History Press. Others in that series are “How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically,” and two booklets, both in their second editions also from Modern History Press. The booklets, “Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers” (https://bit.ly/LastMinuteEditsII) and “Great First Impression Book Proposals” (https://bit.ly/BookProposalsII) are career boosters in mini doses and both make ideal thank you gifts for authors. The one on writing book proposals is also available as an Audio Book. “The Frugal Editor “(https://tinyurl.com/TheFrugalEditor), was recently released in its third edition. It is the winningest book in this series for writers. Carolyn also has three frugal books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it helps them understand what is needed to convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is “A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques” (https://bit.ly/RetailersGuide). In addition to this blog, Carolyn helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at https://TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs all things editing–grammar, formatting and more–at “The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor” (https://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com). Learn more and follow it to get news on her new releases directly from Amazon at https://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile.