Life is busy and writing is hard, yet we have words to write and stories inside of us. So what do we do?
Beyond learning the rules and craft of writing itself, these are several key writing beliefs that can help us succeed in our work. These mindsets can shape our attitude and approach to writing and to life, helping us achieve more than we thought possible.
5 Key Beliefs of Successful Writers
1- Believe Our Writing Time Is Possible
Sometimes we give up before we even try.
Sometimes I get caught up in busyness and stress, and it can seem like a far-off dream to ever be a successful writer. It seems impossible my projects will get finished or that they will be any good. I get overwhelmed and defeated before I start.
We can have fear of failure, fear of difficulty, even fear of success. Fear takes on many forms and speaks many lies.
But what if we believed our writing was possible? What if we approached our days with the belief that there was time and space for writing?
Busyness and fear are liars that tell us we can’t write. They tell us we just don’t have the time.
We need to believe we can make time for our writing. Because it is possible if we will try.
Do we check email twenty times a day? Daydream during lunch? Stalk people on facebook? Read for 24 hours straight or sack out in front of the TV?
We all have some tasks we can’t control, but often we have more control over our time and attention than we may think. Ten minutes each morning or half an hour at lunch adds up.
If we approach our writing as a priority and believe it can be accomplished, we’ve already won half the battle.
2- Believe In Our Own Writing Success
We all have doubts. We fear we’re not good enough, that we’ll never amount to much, that we’re just wasting our time.
If left unchecked, these doubts will hinder our writing.
After all, we need a reason to give up 30 minutes of our day in order to write. It’s a sacrifice. Are we really going to rearrange our schedules and intentionally spend time writing?
We need to believe that what we’re doing is worthwhile.
We need to believe that we can succeed.
The truth is that if we continue writing and growing, we will succeed.
If we believe this, it changes everything. When we believe our writing is worthwhile and we can succeed, it provides us with strength and motivation to persist when it would be easier to give up.
And this persistence is what will bring us forward to success.
3- Believe Our Time Is Valuable
Have you ever driven half an hour out of your way to avoid a 50 cent toll?
I probably have. I’m a bit of a cheapskate at times (okay, pretty much always). But you know what I realized? In the above scenario I’m essentially saying that my time is worth a measly $1 an hour.
I’d like to think my time is worth more than that.
Now is it wrong to make bread from scratch, replace the oil in our cars ourselves, or take the scenic route? Not at all! Depending on our values, talents, and interests, we should feel free to fix things ourselves and and drive wherever we please.
The point is that we want to think about what’s important to us.
Is it more important that we save 50 cents or that we arrive home early?
Often we make choices about our time without thinking them through. We treat our own time and work as a limitless resource, committing to projects or taking on more work responsibilities for little payoff.
In reality, our time is limited and valuable. In my current season of life with two young children, time to myself is extremely scarce. Which means I need to remember to value it, treasure it, and not to spend it on things that aren’t worthwhile.
Your time is valuable too.
We need to defend time for our own well being, and we need to defend time for our writing. When we believe our time is valuable, we will practice giving our priorities (and hopefully our writing!) the attention they deserve.
Let’s not waste our time and energy on things that don’t matter to us.
4- Believe In Our Own Worth: Committing To Self Care
Whether we’re currently writing or not, we need to be caring for ourselves.
We all have good days and bad days, but here is the truth: You are worth caring for!
You are precious and lovely, my friend. You are powerful, unique, and irreplaceable. Sure, none of us are perfect! But we are one-of-a-kind individuals that are valuable in and of ourselves.
And we need to believe we are worth caring for.
There are probably always going to be some stressful things in our lives. There are hard circumstances that we can’t avoid.
But there are also stressors that we can avoid.
We can say no to certain activities and commitments. And we can ask for help.
We want to intentionally structure our lives to increase healthy activities and decrease unhealthy ones. Ideally this will help us to increase our overall well being, both physically and emotionally.
What does this mean for our writing?
When we are feeling our best, we are better able to write and create.
If we are feeling drained, exhausted, and stressed, we aren’t at our best as writers. We can still write, and often we should. But we just may not have as much focus, enthusiasm, and inspiration to give to our projects.
By practicing self care we are increasing our overall quality of life and this will lead to a positive impact on our writing.
5- Believe All Of Our Life Can Enrich Our Writing
There is a great quote by Ray Bradbury where he says,
“We never sit anything out. We are cups, quietly and constantly being filled. The trick is knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.”
This is how we should be living! Constantly filling ourselves with everything around ourselves- scents, sights, sounds, taste, and touch- so that we can then pour it back onto our pages.
This is a key attribute of writers, even when we may not be writing at the time.
We don’t need extra time for this, we just need to be present in the time we have. Soaking in the world around us, asking questions, interacting. Living engaged with life instead of letting it pass around us.
And then when we do get ten minutes to sit down to write, we’ll be so full of ideas and pictures and stories that the words can pour out of us.
Which of these beliefs do you find to be true in your own writing life? What other writing mindsets do you have to share?
