Questions of success.

Hello blogger buddies, I found this questionnaire on a friend's blog, Rebecca Knight: http://rebeccaknightbooks.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-do-you-know-when-youre-successful.html

You should check it out if you haven't. She was talking about being successful or not at your goals, and I liked the idea, so I decided to run with it myself. So here are my answers to her questions.

1) Why am I writing? I write because its something that I enjoy. Exploring a world I created with people who I created. Something alluring about the whole God aspect I guess. :)

2) How long do I want to do this, even if I never get any credit or money from my work? Well I've been doing it since forever. Maybe not always in the same format, but I've stuck with it this long. Besides, like I said, I enjoy it. Not every day, but 90% of the days I do, so I would say until I don't enjoy it anymore. It could be tomorrow, or it could be till the day I die, I'm not sure.

3) How much rejection can I take? Rejection? I don't mind it. At first it was sort of disheartening, but as time wore on, I've kind of come to enjoy that aspect. Can you believe it, neither could I, but at least it means that I'm trying.

4) How much time do I want to spend on my goals, versus with my family, friends, and pillow? I have this pretty much set so far, maybe it will change when my kids get older, but I get about 10 - 20 hours a week in, some right after work, and some late at night, but that's about average.

5) What do I want to achieve Big Picture? My goal is to entertain my readers whoever they may be. Getting published is probably the first step, but if my beta readers at least enjoy the story than I've reached that goal. I'm not after awards or recognition, I'm not much for being the center of attention in that regard.

6) Will I be satisfied when I get there? Every time I get a reader say that was cool, or I found the story interesting, I get there.

7) Am I satisfied if I never get there? Since, I've already gotten to taste it, I guess I can't answer this one.

8) What steps do I have to take to achieve that Big Picture thing? Write a strong story, consistent plot and great characters. The rest of it will follow, so I guess the small steps are to keep writing stories that have all of these elements.

9) Which one needs to be achieved first? I think they are all intertwined. Strong characters equal a strong story and a strong story needs a consistent plot.

10) What is my support system? Family, friends, and my critique buddies. They all support me in different ways.

11) How will I feel if I never achieve this? Is it worth trying anyway? It's totally worth trying. If I never achieve being published that's okay. It's something I want to accomplish, but writing something that someone can read no matter where and they say, "I enjoyed that". That's enough for me.

So these are my answers, any of them you want to know more about, or want to know more about? Let me know in the comments. Have a good weekend.