Michael Lopp wrote a simple post about what you can expect your writing to do for you. The one that caught my attention was, “45% will do much worse than you expect when published.” That is a high percentage, but it sounds right.

Writing—and all sorts of creative endeavors, really—means becoming very familiar with disappointment. You learn to become friends with it, set tea out for it (so to speak), and to work hard with it hanging around uninvited and often overstaying.

Similarly, but on the flip side, an author or artist doesn’t get to actually choose which of their work resonates with their audiences. “You hate your hits,” as A$AP Rocky says. That’s also disappointing—to know that your most popular work isn’t one you actually want to be recognized for.

Whether you fight disappointment or befriend it, the story you tell yourself about disappointment should add energy to your creative work and keep you creating.