A Post About Writers and Ambition

[davidbcoe]

Today’s post can be found at http://magicalwords.net, the group blog on the business and craft of writing fantasy that I maintain with fellow authors Faith Hunter, Misty Massey, A.J. Hartley, C.E. Murphy, and Kalayna Price, among others. The post is called “On Writing: The Value of Ambition,” and it’s about different sorts of ambition and how they

Comments

[davidbcoe]

Thanks so much, Jennifer. I'm glad you enjoyed the post. I struggle with creative ambition as well, still, after so many years and many, many books. And I think that the struggle itself keeps the work and process fresh. As soon as this becomes easy, I expect my work will suffer, if that makes any sense.

I'm sorry that you're having trouble with the MW site. I know that we use a Wordpress template, but the site itself is separate, and so if you're trying to log in to MW through Wordpress that won't work. You'd have to log in separately to MW and establish an account there (which is free and just takes a few minutes).

In any case, thank you so much for the kind comment. Best of luck with your work.

[lrcutter]

I was really interested in what you'd have to say about ambition. I do view you as an ambitious person, both personally and professionally. (It's one of the reasons why I like you.)

I have to say that while I've maintained creative ambition, and maybe output ambition, I lost a lot of my business ambition, the professional ambition about writing. I didn't think I could make it, that I'd ever support myself with my fiction.

Now I'm doing the indie pub thing, and I'm more ambitious than I've ever been before. I'm taking myself and my writing seriously and I will make it, I will support myself with my fiction in the next 10 years and then beyond. It's amazing what having a bit more control did for me.

[davidbcoe]

Hello, friend! So nice to see you here. Thanks for the comment. I think I have always been ambitious, but I don't think I was always so good at finding the balance among the various types of ambition. I think I was too fixated on the commercial side of things and have only found a certain peace with this profession and my place in it as I have focused more on those goals over which I have more control. I am so glad to hear that the Indie Pub thing is working for you and inspiring you to do more and reach for more. The world is a much, much richer place with Leah Cutter creating new fiction in it!