You Don’t Have to Do “Big Things” to Make Your Life Count

Not Everything You Do Matters

Photo by olly @ Adobe Stock

I wanted to be the next big literary novelist. I wanted to write something beautiful, something that became a classic, like Grapes of Wrath or Beloved. I wanted my work to matter.

I entered a nationwide competition, previously won by a number of significant authors in New Zealand. The prize was a year-long mentorship with an established international author. It had launched many great writers’ careers.

I won. I thought, this is my chance to do something big!

Halfway through the year, I realized I didn’t like the story I was writing. In fact, I wasn’t enjoying fiction writing anywhere near as much as I thought I would.

I finished the year and learnt a lot. Perhaps one day I will write a novel — I’m getting back into fiction again recently — but I discovered in that year, I love writing non-fiction articles more. But magazine writing is never going to win me a Nobel Prize for literature. Does it matter?

Many things you do will feel insignificant.

Non-fiction articles are often one of those insignificant things. A few people read them; even viral ones are featured for a moment and then they’re gone. They might have made a…