Do you ever have moments when you feel like writing isn't giving back as much as it takes from you?

Yeah, me too. All the time. I want the praise and adoration of my fellow writers and adoring fans (hi mom!), but then look at the number of followers, the number of reads, and think, you know what? I can do this make-believe crap in my head, why do I need to share it with people who don't appreciate me?

This is one of the primary causes of so-called writers' block, an official-sounding word which means "I lack motivation" sometimes with an audible "waaah" at the end.

It's not wrong to want your work to have meaning. It's why creative people create, and I'm not talking about all you "art for art's sake" hippies. That's nonsense because art without appreciation is stagnant, and stagnation is rot, and rot is death, and you don't want to be that one weird guy waddling around showing off a journal full of corpses, do you?

The point is you want people to notice you, and that's fine. Despite all my snark about doing it because you want to do it, it's okay to desire recognition, it just can't be the thing that drives you to finish, or to do better, and the reason is simple, and it's the lesson in this chapter:

YOU CAN'T BE ANYTHING YOU WANT.

So much of success is being in the right place at the right time, that spark of luck that you were never responsible for. Knowing it doesn't let you off the hook, because luck finds those who are prepared. Have you read enough that you can tell the difference between good writing and bad? Have you done all you can to develop your skills? Have you COMPLETED YOUR WORK and published it in a place where you can be seen? 

If you haven't been able to answer yes to ALL of those questions, luck is gonna walk on by like the saucy bitch she is and z-snap all up in your grill, y'all.

In the same vein, if you're writing to become rich or famous, stop now because you're setting yourself up for heartbreak. Those people rarely find what they're looking for because their focus is on wealth and fame, not becoming a better writer.

It doesn't mean you can't be successful, but you might need to take charge of what that word means for you. Can you make a living as an author? Sure you can. But well-meaning adults need to stop filling kids' heads with fantasies about following their hearts, because your heart is very nearly as lazy and fickle as your brain, and it'll give up on you the second it runs out of fuel.

There's a deeper meaning to chasing your dreams that we, as a culture, have lost along the way. Dreams aren't a drifting balloon that you'll eventually run down if you pursue it long enough. Dreams are a monstrosity of steel and concrete that you can one day assemble if you put in the work, sweat, and blood, even when it means there's no reward, even when you don't want to, even when your ink runs blue.

Yes, you can be mighty, but not for wanting. Writing is a difficult and lonely process, and your goals are out of your reach, so what are you willing to do, what effort are you willing to put in even when it hurts, to get there?