Let’s be honest, emerging authors make A LOT of mistakes. Especially the first time around (and especially when they go at it alone). But out of all the mistakes I see them make, there’s one that stands out as being the most deadly.
And that’s thinking writing and life are two separate things.
Writing and life can’t be treated as two separate things, not if you plan on making a career of being an author. Because they aren’t two separate things.
That’s like trying to separate yourself from being a writer. Can you do that? Of course not! Because being a writer is who you are, at your core.
But I still see so many emerging authors trying to fit writing into their lives or trying to find time for their writing, when what they really need to be doing is creating a lifestyle around being a writer.
It’s BS to think you can keep your writing separate from your life and be successful with it. You don’t FIND time for your writing, you MAKE time for it.
BIG difference.
And you make that time by setting up your lifestyle, thoughts, beliefs and habits so that they support you doing your writing and support you being the writer and author you want to be. That’s what it really takes.
So it’s a mistake to separate the two or to treat writing like it’s just something you do. If writing if just something you do, if it’s just another hobby, that’s fine. But you’ll never be a successful pro writer.
For a pro writer, writing is a lifestyle. It’s not just something they do, it’s who they are. They can’t separate it because to do so would mean to lose a part of themselves, like losing an arm or leg.
When I think back to the very few times in my life where I set writing on a shelf and didn’t touch it, those were some of the darkest and most painful times I’ve ever had. Because I was blatantly suppressing an innate part of myself. Like if you purposely covered one of your eyes all day every day, even though there’s nothing wrong with the eye and it’s perfectly functioning.
That’s the reason I’ve always, at the very least, kept a journal of some kind. Because if I couldn’t write something, I’d die.
Being a writer is who I am.
And it’s who you are, otherwise you wouldn’t be here reading this. So it’s time to stop treating it like it’s a hobby or an interest or just something that you do.
It’s time to start treating your writing like it’s your life, like it’s a priority, like it’s that thing you were born for. (Unless you don’t feel that way. But if you don’t, this probably isn’t the community for you.)
I know I was born to be a writer and to transform people’s lives with my words. Out of all the things that ring true for me, this is the truest.
If this also rings true for you, then I urge you to step up your game and start thinking and acting like the author you dream of being. It’s the only way.
Because writing isn’t something you do, it’s something you are.
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How are you stepping up your game right now to be more like the writer and author you want to be?
