Should auld writing habits and beliefs be forgot?

It's the end of the year and the end of a decade.

Which means it's a perfect time to review what's working for you and what's not working for you when it comes to your writing!

I'm not going to focus on technical things - you can google that til the cows come home - but thought I would focus on internal things we do to ourselves as writers.

Stop thinking you are the only one who hasn't figured out this writing thing.

You are not. Heck, my third book is coming out in March and I'm currently revising two more and still I don't have a clue. Every book wants to be written differently. You are different at the beginning of each book.

And that's okay. 

via GIPHY

If you don't start every writing project with unbridled enthusiasm mixed with unmitigated fear, you are the one writer who's got it all figured out. 

But somehow, I suspect you don't. And that's okay.

Stop comparing yourself to wildly popular authors and thinking you're coming up short.

We all do it. But it isn't helpful.

How do you become a wildly successful author? 

1. get published (cause I don't know about you, but everyone who was published when I was not seemed wildly popular!)

2. get lucky. Oh timing!

3. write a glorious, wonderful, book that somehow catches the attention of the zeitgeist.

It's that easy.

So let that go and focus on YOUR book, YOUR work. Maybe you will win awards. Maybe you will make the bestsellers list. But in the end, focusing on writing the best book you can that kids are going to love, is the goal here. Everything else will make you crazy.

via GIPHY

Stop judging the time it's taking you to get published.

I know from experience that it is hard to wait for your big chance. 

And I know that me telling you if you just work your guts out it will eventually happen won't make you feel better.

But do one thing for me, okay? Don't judge yourself because it's taking you longer than you thought.

YOU are doing something that most of the world's population can't even imagine: you're writing a book. You're trying to get published. 

Be kind to yourself. Start another project. And try, try, try again.

You will get there.

via GIPHY

Start Writing for Yourself.

In the end, it's only you and the blank page in this together. 

So write what you love, what you'd want to read. 

Write with joy and abandon and no self-criticism (till you start revising).

Because in the end, unless you enjoy yourself, what is the point of writing anyhow? There are parts of every job that can be a slog, but that should be your exception, not your rule. 

You've got something to say, and I think the world is waiting for you to say it.

via GIPHY

So this next decade, try being kinder on yourself and others, and focus on you and your writing. 

Let those auld habits and beliefs go, and sally forth into a new decade with a mix of chutzpah and peace.




via GIPHY

I wish you a happy new year and hope that all your writing dreams come true!

via GIPHY