You don’t need to be famous to be a published author

I wish I could tell my younger self this.

Fame need not be your worry. After all it is not the one that gets published but your work, that thousands of words you bled from your mind down to your text editor.

Back then I focused myself on getting noticed, posting a few chapters of my novel in wattpad in hopes that one day it would go viral and attract a publishing house. Turns out, you don’t really need to be super famous to be noticed. You only need to produce one real good novel.

Looking back at it now, I knew my motivation was wrong. I should have focused more on my craft, on taking risks on querying publishers yearly, on veering my eyes off of famous writers savoring their successes.

It’s sad how I spent a long time in between my writing journey doubting myself, being depressed on the low engagement on my published works on wattpad, and being shy whenever someone refers to me as a writer, as if my ears mistake it as an insult, that I don’t deserve to be called one — when I shouldn’t be.

True, there are times that you must allow yourself to mope. Writing, as I have experienced a long time now, is not all fun and games. There are times you need to take a break and think things through.

But if I can go back in time, I would tell myself to get out of bed, tap on his keyboard, and vomit words out on his brain. I want him to feel rejected so many times that he would just go numb and just no longer care whether his work would get accepted or not — which I am now — because that’s how things should be.

I was scared of rejection before which was why it took me this long to get my work noticed.

At least I know now how to do things in this career.

Just focus on your craft, never mind the others for we are all taking our unique roads to success, take a break but not too often and not too long, and be brave.

You will not go far if you are always scared to take the first step.