How Do We Measure Success and Failure?

 

      I wanted to make a technical writer’s wages writing books like I liked to read.  So I could quit work and write full-time.

      I wasn’t able to sell my books to New York.

      I worked for a living and wrote before and after work.  And during work, after I got a job writing technical manuals.  This got me fired, but that gave me something to write about.

      Not being able to sell my books to New York gave me something to write about.

      I kept writing.

      Now I have finished 39 years of 40-Year Run, my stack.

      The last year is going to be interesting.

      Maybe my luck will change.

      Maybe it won’t.

      Maybe I’ll die before I finish 40-Year Run.

      If I don’t die, I’ll finish it.

      Maybe it will be published.

      Maybe it won’t.

      There are a lot of maybes.

      Was it worth it?

      Maybe.

      Would I do it again?

      Maybe.

      Would I encourage other people to do what I did?

      Maybe.

      Do I understand what happened?

      Maybe.

      Does it matter?

      Maybe.

      Was it all for naught?

      No.  It was all worthwhile.  It was mostly rewarding.  I don’t know.

      Maybe I’ll keep growing.

      Growth is a natural process.

      Nothing interferes with it, really.

      Don’t you keep growing?

      You don’t have to be a writer to grow.

      A writer just keeps track.

 


 

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