by Tiffany S. Doran

I had some pretty bang-up ideas for this article, but I pushed them all aside. Why? Because I didn’t believe in them enough to pursue the ideas and follow them through to completion. I didn’t think they would fit. How many times has that happened to you? How often do you make things harder than they really are? For me, it’s nearly every day. I even overthink overthinking.

Success looks different for every person. My idea of success is bringing in enough money from my published books that my husband doesn’t have to work fourteen hours a day unless he wants to, and we can go on vacation or a weekend getaway whenever we like. That’s my long-term goal, but I saw myself as successful in the short term when I typed the words “The End” on my first novel.

Success will probably look different to you. To be successful, you have to look inside yourself and believe not only in your writing ability, but also in yourself.

Long term versus short term are two very different things. Anyone can have short-term success, but where are you going to be ten or twenty years down the road? Where is that short term really going to take you? Set yourself up for long-term success by looking at the big picture, not just the small picture frame. We live in a microwave society—everything has to be now—and we are always trying to fit it all in. But is that the best way to view your success as an author?

Realize that despite everything you’ve been through, you are truly amazing. Be proud of yourself and confident in your writing ability, and let your work do the talking. You can be quiet, but you can be fierce.

I used to let fear hold me back, but now it drives me. I come from an unforgiving background. I was bullied terribly in school so I dropped out. There were times I thought of running away in hopes of never being found. I was put down, pushed aside, constantly felt as if I were nothing and that no one cared. Why did I go through those things? It took me a long time to find the answer to that question and it wasn’t until this past year that I did.

Quite simply, it was to make me a better version of myself. I took all the fear and all the pain and all those past hurts that I felt and turned them into motivation to climb to where I am today. If you had told me back then that I would be thirty-nine years old, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a writer of novels, and a columnist for Books & Buzz Magazine, I would’ve laughed.

Finish writing your book, and then publish it—because it’s going to be a one-way ticket to the life you’ve dreamed of.

Where you are today is all that matters; it is all you have. And it’s important to realize that despite everything you’ve been through or are now going through, you are truly amazing. Be proud of yourself and confident in your writing ability. You don’t have to be boastful. Instead, let your work do the talking. You can be quiet, but you can be fierce.

In your journey, don’t let anyone—your friends, your family, your co-workers, or even your spouse—hold you back from accomplishing what you’ve set out to do. There are always going to be naysayers in every crowd. Don’t listen to them.

“The proof is in the pudding,” I always tell my daughters. In other words, don’t just say you’re going to do something, actually do the work and get it done. Hone your craft by practicing every day. Write things that in the end will get deleted. Strive to be a better “you” today than you were yesterday. Writing is like a relationship: it takes commitment, trust, honesty, and time to build something strong.

I want to show you that you can absolutely do anything you set your mind to. Anything. So finish writing your book. Then revise, revise, re-revise, and revise again. And then publish it! Because your book is going to be a one-way ticket to the life you’ve dreamed of.

Tiffany S. Doran is the author of soon-to-be-published Desires of the Heart. She’s a Tier IV Rising Star Author at ChapterBuzz, where you can see what she’s currently working on. You can also pick up copies of Tiffany’s published books on Amazon, and connect with her on her blog.