How do you judge your success as a writer? Some advice from Bill Murray
JA
January 24
Last week, I stumbled across these two posts on The Rover by Canadian author Noah Richler on the topic of literary success. The criteria used were pretty predictable, based on the dual touchstones of praise and income:
… good reviews, comments from friends, being nominated to lists, perhaps even winning a prize or two. These plaudits matter, even more so when that first royalty statement arrives and you realize just how much in the wilderness you are… The second barometer, of course, is income. Most writers, the ones who cannot count on royalty streams, do something else – teach, broadcast, write for newspapers, magazines or advertising companies, etc. The sensible writer sets himself a target, has a ‘P & L’ sheet, a bottom line.
While of course income and critical success do matter (for who wouldn’t be thrilled to win a prize or get a series of good reviews), something about this analysis bothered me and it wasn’t until I happened across this post by Justine Larbalestrier and via her Maureen Johnson that I managed to put my finger on it. This from Justine’s blog:
It’s doesn’t matter what game you’re in, judging yourself solely by external measures will do your head in. You are not a good writer because you get good reviews or because you’re a bestseller or a prize winner. You can continue to work hard and write your best and yet stop getting good reviews and prizes and spots on bestseller lists. If you depend on those measures to determine your worth you are in for a world of pain.
And from Maureen’s:
Getting into the writing game can be kind of hard, and it’s an arena where you’re often judged by things that either you can’t control or things that have very little to do with your book itself. How your book will sell, what people will think of it, what cover it will get, what money will be spent to place it in prominent places in the bookstore . . . it's generally out of your hands. You will get unexpected bursts of luck from unlikely corners, and at the same time, people will slam you sideways in scathing reviews. All par for the course.
She also quoted the oft-quoted Bill Murray, who had something to say to the graduates at the Columbia School of Arts. Here, paraphrased, are the a few words of wisdom from the hand of Steve Zissou and Peter Venkman. It’s a little schmalzy (as most grad speeches are), but has a point:
Look, people thought I was going to be a huge failure, but then I got kind of lucky and made it. And I had and have lots of amazing friends, and we’ve seen each other’s careers go up and down. Take my advice: don’t go comparing yourself to other people. You will go insane. It’s pointless. Your fortunes may rise and fall, depending on all kinds of things you have no control over. Keep your friends. Never compare all the outward markers of success. Do what you love, because that’s all you really get and that’s all that matters and that’s all that will ever really work. And don’t be an as$h&^e.
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Comments
24 Jan 10 at 8:51
Reviews are good, comments sustain, money is handy. Success is in the mind, too many get into writing to get out of 9 to 5 and measure success stuck in the 9 to 5 mindset of how much and who likes. Externalising your happiness and sense of success is always dangerous.
...24 Jan 10 at 12:20
Sometimes those who were seen to be a failure in their times were later looked upon as a success. They had been misunderstood and ahead of their times. Progressiveness and innovation is also a marker of "success". But to use the words success and failure to define a persons work creates damnation before one even begins writing.
...24 Jan 10 at 15:05
Re. Bill Murray - one of Australia's most successful writers of recent times once said to me that the best advice she could give was to compare yourself to no one. And I do think it's probably the best advice around, especially for writers for whom good news is pretty hard to come by. But what are the best 'internal measures'? Is writing simply because it feels good or because it stops us from going nuts enough?
...24 Jan 10 at 21:57
I think this speaks to the inherent undercurrent of fashion that is present in most creative disciplines. As inconnu notes, a lot of artists that were maligned in their own generation have been hailed as revolutionary in later ones. While sometimes an artist may experience the rapid-spread wildfire that a new idea can bring, often it's a slow cultural shift that brings their work into sharp focus. Now, one could be cynical and say that this is driven by the financial side of things--marketing and the endless search for the 'next best thing'--but I'd like to think it occurs as a result of a general enlightenment of the population as to the message that an artist is trying to put across. An acceptance of that form of expression as being relevant.
I guess either way, people looking to be sustained by their creative output are at the whim and mercy of the faceless. In light of that, the only respite that can be taken is in your own personal journey towards what you think is your own best work. And if it coincides with those others, you'll enjoy some success along the way.
(As an addendum, this also reminds me of the age-old argument between writing for yourself and writing for an intended audience)
...25 Jan 10 at 9:46
Yes that's a good point phill - they're both in the same vein. On that note I've always felt like you can't write for anyone but yourself, simply because you'll never be able to please everyone.
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