There’s something important for writers in the pool shark’s methods. Ours is a calling in which we invest many hours and much of ourselves. At the end—and along the way—we’d like to feel that we’re making progress, that we’re accomplishing something. In other words, we’d like to feel successful. So we, too, need to not only make the shot—write a great article, chapter, novel, or short story—that’s in front of us, we need to set ourselves up for the next one. Writers, too, must be good hustlers—we must set ourselves up for success.

We’re not talking about physical setup, such as the arrangement of our writing spaces to be the most productive, buying different colored pens to use in revision, or tossing out the old word processor in favor of a new computer. Neither is our subject (for now) how one scene in a novel sets up the next, or how an intimate knowledge of your characters’ geometry sets up how they’ll act in a given situation (more on this to come), or even how a detailed scene list sets up a compelling story (we’ll talk about that later, too). Instead, we’re operating at a level that is both larger and smaller, simultaneously more public and more personal, more directly tied to the writing in front of us and yet originating not on the page but in the heart and mind.

I’ve met very, very few writers who didn’t want success—we all do. I’ve also met very few who have really thought through their definition of this thing that they so dearly desire. This seems somewhat odd. If a writer is willing to invest hours of his life in order to become successful, it would seem only appropriate for that writer to be able to define success—to know when he’s achieved what he’s been struggling for. Otherwise, he might be a success and miss it.

The first step in achieving more success is to know what it is we’re trying to achieve. What is this thing called success that we’re setting ourselves up for? It’s critically important for writers of book length fiction to understand that there are several kinds of success, with different levels and different "flavors" for each kind.

Commercial Success

Commercial success comes from selling one book at a book signing all the way to making the bestseller list. This is the success most authors daydream of: the six-figure contract and the big bucks movie rights deal. Because of a thousand factors, almost all of which are outside an author’s control, super-compensation commercial success is extremely difficult to attain.

There’s critical success, ranging from the positive email from an anonymous reader who hates everything she reads but stayed up all night with your story, to a positive review from a tough, learned, knowledgeable book critic, to "Best Mystery…Best Mainstream…Best Whatever…" awards from contests and competitions. This kind of success won’t pay the bills, and because it also depends on other people, achieving critical success is somewhat beyond the writer’s control. The writer can, however, increase her chances. How? By improving her technique, increasing tension and suspense, developing more rounded, complex characters, and so on. In other words, writing a better book increases one’s chances of achieving critical success.

Personal Success

Personal success is the most difficult to define, because it is personal and individual to each writer. For some, it means overcoming their own fear of failure and actually writing, instead of talking about writing. For others, it means completing that first full first draft after a dozen ten-, twenty-, or even a hundred- page false starts. Still others achieve personal success by writing through the sandstorm of minutia that daily life brings, or by taking just one more step on the long journey of pursuing their vision. 

Because personal success normally depends almost entirely on the author, it is the kind of success over which the author can exercise the most control, and the kind of success the author has the greatest chance of achieving. Personal success is also perhaps the most often overlooked and undervalued, especially in a society where achieving fame and fortune are integral parts of the shared cultural dream. Yet, personal success is the longest lasting and least subject to battering from the winds of outside forces. Long after the money is spent, after the readers have moved on to the next new writer on the block, and after the critics have forgotten your name and your work’s titles, it is personal success that remains with the writer.