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How To Be a Famous Writer
It’s simple (but not exactly easy)
Do you want to be a famous writer? Here’s the trick:
don’t stop.
In undergrad, the brilliant poet Crystal Williams visited to do a reading and q&a. One of the questions was: How do I become a famous poet? As I recall, she kind of rolled her eyes, but she also gave the most incredible answer: you just keep going. I’m paraphrasing here bc it was a while ago and I didn’t write it down, but she said: when you’re in your 20s, everyone’s a poet. By your 30s, half of those other poets have stopped. If you keep going until you’re in your 70s, there will be two of you left. Ta-da! Famous.
I love so much about this. Because really, when I ask myself why I would want to be successful, the answer is: to write more books. To have more artistic freedom. To be able to support and advocate for writers I love.
And there’s actually _nothing_ keeping me from doing that right now and for the rest of my days.
When I say that I teach mindset for writers, this is what I mean. It’s just a series of reframes and perspective adjustments that put me back in the seat of power and responsibility, AKA the present moment. All the things I thought I had to travel halfway to the sun to achieve are actually available right now. They challenge my courage in other ways, which is why it’s so tempting to construe “success” as a special crown that somebody in the bowels of the literary establishment bestows.
