This weekend I caught up with a friend of mine who after several beers sheepishly confessed that he had always wanted to write a book. He had an idea for a plot that he had ever since he was young. He’d fleshed it out in his mind several times over the years and wrote down some of the basic scenes. When I asked him for more information about the storyline he admitted that he felt shy talking about it. In fact, he felt silly for even wanting to write a book. It made me think – why are we so ashamed to say that we are writing? If we take up a new sport or learn a language or musical instrument we don’t hesitate to tell our friends. Yet to admit to writing, not on your life! For this reason, most writing advice books begin with the sage advice to declare yourself a writer. Surely beginner music lessons don’t begin with the advice to declare yourself a musician as you pick up your instrument every day. So why does the simple act of arranging words inspire so much self-doubt and public angst?
I think it all comes down to fear.
We are scared we’ll fail.
We are scared we’ll be laughed at.
We are afraid we’ll be stuck in the endless cycle of procrastination and never actually finish our book.
We are afraid to be held accountable.
Writing a book is a very personal endeavor. We bleed our private thoughts onto the page to have them judged by others, yet it seems the harshest judgment comes from ourselves. My friend admitted that, like many writers, he was afraid his writing was terrible. I’ve noticed this recurrent theme from the authors we’ve interviewed, regardless of their level of experience. The difference with successful authors is that they find a way to push through self-doubt, while the rest of us continue to ask ourselves ‘who am I to think that I could write a book?’ Actually you are the perfect person to write that book. No one else sees the world as you do and no one can tell the story the same way as you.
Let’s give ourselves a break and stop taking writing so seriously. When I say this, I don’t mean stop dedicating time to writing or trying to improve, rather turn off your inner critic and forget about perfection. Not every word you write is for public consumption. As Stephen King advises ‘write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open’. Give yourself permission to write terribly. Give yourself permission to fail. With practice your writing will improve but it will never progress if you remain frozen under the pressure of perfection. Confidence grows with action. Start with short stories or daily journaling if you need to -whatever it takes to get in the habit of putting pen to paper and getting your stories out into the world. Let’s be proud about writing. It’s not some dirty secret to be hidden away. We are writing and it may turn out to be the worst thing ever written but that’s okay, it might also turn out to be the best.
Now get writing.
It’s impossible to achieve writing success without making a few (or many) mistakes in the process. Mistakes are a necessary part of improving your writing. However, many new writers will often make the same mistakes repeatedly when starting out. With that in mind, here are some common mistakes made by new (and experienced) writers. Read on to see if they apply to you!
Ask a reader why they like a story and they are likely to mention the characters. Your reader must care about your characters. If you have boring characters, it doesn’t matter how engaging your story or how eloquently written, your readers will lose interest. Characters bring your story to life. And, it’s not just your characters themselves that make the story engaging, it’s the change they undergo throughout the story. This is the character arc.
Often the key to success lies in subtracting rather than adding to your endless to-do list. Authors who achieve their goals have many qualities in common, including the things that they have given up and learnt to live without. So regardless of your definition of success, consider what habits and limiting mindsets are holding you back. Here are 7 things to let go of to reach your full potential.
One of the questions writers are asked the most is ‘where do you get your ideas from?’ Generally, this question is met with a shrug of the shoulders, a rolling of the eyes or a flippant reply. Many authors find it difficult to articulate where their ideas come from because they arrive in such a variety of ways. The truth is story ideas are all around us, we just have to be open to the possibility of them.
Many writers struggle with the middle. It’s at this point that your story is likely to wander off as you wrestle the two ends of your tale together. You may find yourself suffering from writer’s block as your characters reach a lull in the action or you’re simply unsure of what comes next. Luckily, this is a problem that has many solutions! In this article, we’ll look at what you can do to avoid a sagging middle.
So you want to write a memoir? Good. The world needs to hear your story.
As an author, I can say from personal experience, embarking on the pilgrimage of telling a heartfelt account of my own life was one of the best decisions I ever made. Whether you are doing this for yourself or if you intend to publish your story, it’s worth writing. Here are 5 helpful tips on how to make your memoir a story that works, resonates and will be personally fulfilling for you.
We all wish we had more time in the day to write. Perhaps you’ve felt despondent by the days, weeks, or even years being swallowed up by endless obligations that don’t allow you the time you need to work on your manuscript. Given that a thirty-hour day isn’t coming anytime soon, let's look at how you can make the better use of the writing time you do have.
What gives you an edge in the highly competitive world of book marketing?
Often the best advice comes from writers who’ve been in the trenches, who have tried and tested book marketing methods and found what works. To help you get more from your book marketing efforts, we talk to 15 authors, including Taylor Jenkins Reid and Hallie Ephron, about the book marketing strategies they’ve used to build a successful long-lasting writing career.
Many writers, whether complete beginners or seasoned authors, struggle with the question: “Should I use story structure to guide my writing?”
With story structure, you have a clear set of plot points and story beats to work towards—and for some writers, that is unacceptably restrictive. So the question becomes—how can you use story structure, without giving in to a formula?
Nailing your plot can be problematic. It sounds straight-forward. After all, it’s just the telling of your story. The difficulty, however, is telling that story in such a way that the reader is enticed by the characters and compelled to find out what happens. That’s where plot questions come in. These 5 questions will help you plan out your story so you avoid common writing pitfalls and begin writing with a clear outline.
Some writing days are going to more productive than others. On some days the words will flow, on others it’s like trying to cut down a tree with a herring. If you don’t make your word count for a day don’t beat yourself up. On some days you'll inevitably struggle to write anything down, the plot will seem to be falling apart and writing anything will feel like a chore. Every writer has days like these. Days when we feel like giving up. Here’s how to continue to love your writing, even on days when nothing seems to be working.
Ever felt like a fraud telling people you are a writer? You aren’t alone. Feelings of inadequacy and the fear that you will never measure up are common. Even the most successful authors, including Neil Gaiman, Jonathan Safran Foer and Maya Angelou, have talked about feeling like imposters, despite working hard to achieve success. The name for this phenomenon: imposter syndrome.
Writing a book is hard, yet even more difficult is admitting that you might be the biggest obstacle standing in your way. Whether you have allowed self-doubt to take over or you're simply failing to prioritize, it's time for some serious self-reflection and readjustment. Here are 5 common ways that authors sabotage themselves and how you can avoid them.
All authors face rejection at some point. It’s a soul-destroying, humbling experience that can lead to writers putting down their pen altogether. Yet for all the pain, rejection can be reframed as a tool for growth. I always ask authors in our interviews how they stay resilient in the face of rejection and here is the advice they shared.
If we take up a new sport or learn a language or musical instrument we don’t hesitate to tell our friends. Yet to admit to writing, not on your life! For this reason, most writing advice books begin with the sage advice to declare yourself a writer. Surely beginner music lessons don’t begin with the advice to declare yourself a musician as you pick up your instrument every day. So why does the simple act of arranging words inspire so much self-doubt and public angst?
'To be a writer is to embrace rejection as a way of life' - Dana Stabenow.
The journey of every author comes with the challenge of rejection. Throughout history, talented authors have been rejected and overlooked. Even literary geniuses such as J. R. R. Tolkien and John Steinbeck have suffered the sting of dismissal. Here’s six famous authors that once faced rejection.
Perseverance is the backbone of every successful author. The literary world is forged on tales of not giving up, from J.K. Rowling’s 12 rejection letters to Agatha Christie's five years of applying before landing a publishing deal. Every author I interviewed had something to say about perseverance. The ability to ‘keep going’ despite obstacles and set-backs is what sets successful authors apart from those that give up on their writing dreams.
It’s been an amazing year for WildMind Creative. We’ve had the opportunity to work with some exceptional authors and interview some outstanding writers. Coming into a fresh new year it’s the perfect time to look back over all the interviews we’ve done and consolidate what we’ve learnt. So without any further ado here are our key takeaways from a year of author interviews.
Creative doubt can be a crippling force, stopping you from writing or showing your work. It’s the what-if questions asked late at night – What if no one likes my book? What if people judge me on my writing? What if I’m laughed at? What if no one buys anything I write ever again?
Know this - You are not alone. Ever since humans begun to create they have been plagued by thoughts of fear and inadequacy.