on Writers Helping Writers:

What makes a successful writer? Is there a recipe somewhere for the secret sauce that will guarantee success?

Well, that depends at least partly on how you define success. Society imposes external metrics on us: publication, bestseller lists, awards, fame and fortune. These are tangible, easily measured by outcome, but thinking of success in terms of the externals can lead to a dangerous practice of valuing the end more than the means. It’s thrilling to hold your book in your hands and see your name on the cover, but that’s a fleeting moment compared to the years (yes, years) it will take to get there. If you don’t love the process, you’re in for a whole lot of frustration and unhappiness.

But there’s another way to define writing success: on the level of process.