Is It Possible to Be Too Ambitious?

It’s a question worth asking if you’re a writer.

We all have big dreams, and big dreams involve big projects, lots of planning, blood, sweat and tears. Writers want to be known, and they want to put out their best possible work into the world. That takes time. And as we are all acutely aware, we don’t have all the time in the world.

So, is it possible to embark on a writing project that is too ambitious? Can we overreach ourselves and fall short?

In the end, it depends on each one of us.

Ambition is not in and of itself a bad thing, mind you. The desire to improve and grow is a natural and good thing for a writer. But writing and publishing also require a fair dose of humility. We are not all going to become the next Hugh Howie or Brandon Sanderson. And they only reached the heights they did because they worked really hard for a really long time to get there. So, how hard are you willing to work? Just as important, how hard are you able to work? Time isn’t infinite, and you might genuinely be limited by work schedule, family, and other things that pop up in life. If you try to expend time and focus you don’t actually have to spare, yes, you are being overambitious.

What about experience? How many books have you written before? Planning to write an epic trilogy that will sell a thousand copies when it’s your very first published work? Maybe you want to back off on that plan for a while. Write some smaller books first, find your voice, build up your skill. The story of the one-off novel that becomes a literary masterpiece is very alluring, but let’s not assume it’s going to happen to us.

Yes, you have talent. I have talent. We all have talent, and we can sharpen that talent into something great and memorable. But desire is no substitute for talent. What we want and what we have to work with are very different things. If you don’t have the experience, get it. Then write your magnum opus.

Overambition is overreach. It is to push yourself beyond your capabilities. Writing is like exercise. You flex your storytelling muscles every time you do it. That helps you build bigger muscles that can handle a bigger workload and more complex stories. It’s discipline. Weightlifters don’t start off with 400 pound weights when they begin their training. They work their way up to it.

Is it possible to be too ambitious? Yes. But the measure of that ambition changes over time. What is too ambitious now may be achievable ten years later, because in ten years you’ll be a better author. Keep writing. Keep stretching your limits. Shoot for the moon, but don’t assume you’ll get there on your first shot.

If you just so happen to be enjoying my blog, feel free to subscribe. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life.

My first book, A God Walks up to the Bar, is available on Amazon.com. Witness the modern day adventures of the Greek god Hermes in a world much like our own – and with demigods, vampires, nymphs, ogres, and magic. The myths never went away, they just learned to move on with the times. It’s a tough job, being a god!