This week: Time Horizons Edited by: Jeff-o'-lantern 🎃  
More Newsletters By This Editor 
 
1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions
"Only a real risk tests the reality of a belief."
— C.S. Lewis
About The Editor: Greetings! My name is Jeff-o'-lantern 🎃 and I'm one of the regular editors of the official Spiritual Newsletter! I've been a member of Writing.com since 2003, and have edited more than 400 newsletters across the site in that time. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me directly or submit feedback in the comment box at the bottom of this newsletter. |
25 Years
Since this month's newsletter is being released during Writing.com's Birthday Week celebration honoring twenty-five years of existence, I thought I'd talk a little bit about quarter-centuries of time. Back when this site first started, we were a few months removed from fears that "Y2K" was going to send the world into a technological crisis. We were a few months prior to one of the most consequential elections in United States history, where the presidency was decided by 537 votes in Florida and the intervention of the Supreme Court.
It was seven years before the invention of the iPhone, the Mission: Impossible and X-Men film franchises were only on their second and first installments, respectively, and Beyonce was still topping the charts as a party of Destiny's Child. Writing.com had no trinkets, no newsfeed, and only a small handful of merit badges and awardicons to give out.
We've come a long way in twenty-five years!
For me personally, I was just graduating high school. That was before two years of community college, two years of film school and, now, twenty years of professional experience working in the entertainment industry. The year 2000 was two years before I met my wife, and we'll have been married for eighteen years this October.
Twenty-five years is a really long time!
In the Bible, Abraham waited twenty-five years for the fulfillment of God's promise to give him a son. Some of us, like Abraham, have been waiting a long time for the things we want to happen to come to pass. And the world can sometimes change dramatically in the intervening period of time.
There's a saying that people will overestimate the things they can accomplish in a year, but underestimate the things they can accomplish in ten years, and that's a lesson I've learned many times (often the hard way!) over the years. Annual goals can be great, but many of us (especially when it comes to professional goals like becoming a full-time writer) tend to overestimate what we can accomplish in only 365 days. At the same time, it's difficult to see ten years ahead on the horizon and predict where you'll be.
Let's take the example of trying to become a full-time author.
If you follow the advice that you have to write a million words before you start finding your voice as a writer, you might think, "Well, that's only like 2,740 words a day... and if Stephen King can write 2,000 words a day, I can do that for a year and start selling books in no time!" And that's a very tall order to hit, day-in-day-out, for 365 consecutive days. The likelihood of something happening to derail you (illness, family emergency, travel, work obligations, etc.) is quite high, and even if you rush through a million words in a year, how much are you really learning about the process of writing books other than maintaining output volume?
On the other hand, if you set a goal of writing two books a year every year, and give yourself the space and time to work on developing them, drafting them, soliciting feedback and rewriting them, polishing them, even publishing them, and you do two 50,000-word books a year for ten years... you still get to a million words written, but also learn a lot of other valuable skills in the meantime. You learn how to handle feedback, and revise, and edit, and you take the lessons from the last project and apply them to the new one. Your experience builds on itself over a slower, steadier period of time, allowing you to hone your craft.
While there are never any guarantees and a lot of variables that go into a successful career, if you had to guess, which of these two methods do to think is more likely to result in a successful author career?
Whether it comes to writing, or a writing website, or for something else to come through in your life, don't overestimate what you can accomplish in a year. But more importantly, don't underestimate what you can accomplish in ten. Or especially in twenty-five. And all journeys start with a single step.
Until next time,
Jeff-o'-lantern 🎃
If you're interested in checking out my work:
"New & Noteworthy Things" | "Blogocentric Formulations"
|
This month's official Writing.com writing contest is:
You are also invited to check out these items from members of the community:
|
Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
To stop receiving this newsletter, click here for your newsletter subscription list. Simply uncheck the box next to any newsletter(s) you wish to cancel and then click to "Submit Changes". You can edit your subscriptions at any time.
|
Spiritual: September 03, 2025 Issue [#13329]
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
