Does Writing Make You Happy?

By Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief, Southern Writers Magazine

Brian Tracy, motivational speaker and self-development author with over seventy books translated into dozens of languages said, “Your ability to achieve your own happiness is the key measure of your success, of how well you are doing as a person.”

Most believe we have the ability to achieve our own happiness.

Tracy went on to say, “The key to happiness is this: dedicate yourself to the development of your natural talents and abilities by doing what you love to do and doing it better and better in the service of a cause that is greater than yourself.”

Look at his statement through a writer’s eyes. The words that jump out at me are––“dedicate yourself”. Ask a writer if they want to be a successful published author and they will say yes. Ask them how much time they spend honing their writing craft. You will find many responses.

Every successful author spends time honing their craft––regardless of how many books they have published and sold. Why? Because honing their craft makes them a better writer. They love writing. They read, study, attend conferences, writers groups––whatever it takes to make them better. This is the dedication to doing what you love.

Hint: If you do not enjoy what you are doing change what you are doing.

Everyone has natural talents and abilities. The secret is to find what your ‘natural’ talents and abilities are. This takes effort to discover and worth the time and effort spent.

Many times a writer is not pleased with something they have written. Most will continue to rewrite the piece until they are pleased.

Bryan also said, “Your happiness likewise depends upon your ability to please at least yourself in all things. You can be happy only when you are living your life in the very best way possible. No one can define happiness for you. Only you know what makes you happy. Happiness is an inside job.”

From a writers perspective this makes sense to me. If what we write pleases us, then we can be happy.

Remember, not everyone likes what we write. That is okay. If we like what we wrote it gives us the push, we need to continue to study and hone our craft and become better writers.

We need to be happy with our writing. Not because our writing is perfect but because what we wrote pleased us. This is the ‘spark’ we need to continue our writing journey.

Let us not forget the more we practice the better we become.