1. Finishing a first draft of a project for the first time.

2. Getting the job/gig/Finding the agent you never knew you wanted.

3. Having someone ask to read your work … and they actually do it willingly. :)

4. Having a well-rehearsed answer for the “What do you write about?” question.

5. And the “Have you published a book yet?” question.

6. Getting positive feedback that’s more helpful than “Good job! Keep writing!”

7. Getting negative feedback that’s obviously just from trolls. (It’s not quite as hurtful then. Sort of. Sometimes it’s kind of fun.)

8. Actually sort of maybe feeling like you know what you’re doing.

9. Publishing their first Big Awesome Thing.

10. Winning (or even being nominated for) an award. Even just a small one. It feels good to be rewarded for hard work.

11. Being recognized as an authority figure in your niche.

12. Truly feeling like you’re doing what you were put on Earth to do.

Meg is the creator of Novelty Revisions, dedicated to helping writers put their ideas into words. She is a staff writer with The Cheat Sheet, a freelance editor and writer, and a 10-time NaNoWriMo winner. Follow Meg on Twitter for tweets about writing, food and nerdy things.

Help Novelty Revisions become a more valuable resource for aspiring writers.  Join us on Patreon.