Writing Mindset: Going All In
Writing Mindset: Going All In
What’s Stopping You?
What’s Stopping You?
What would you do if you weren’t afraid? ~ Sheryl Sandberg
First and foremost, I’m a writer. It’s my passion. I love writing articles about it here on Medium, and I love immersing myself in the fictional worlds I create.
I’ve been writing for years. But I’ve never gone all in with it.
I make my living as writer, but most of my income comes from writing-related activities such as teaching, coaching, editing and reading manuscripts.
I have one published novel, and my agent has two completed manuscripts of mine that she is submitting. After a dozen years of blogging about writing on my own blog, I’m now doing that mostly on Medium. I teach writing in the south of France every year (the best gig ever) and also locally and online.
But still. Most of that is not income-producing writing.
I rely on coaching and editing clients and teaching gigs for that. I love working with students and clients. I learn so much from them. But I would rather be writing. There are ways I could change this. But I haven’t.
And I know why this is. I’ve never gone all in.
Nothing is impossible — the word itself says, “I’m possible!” ~ Audrey Hepburn
I’ve been pondering this lately as I try new things in my career. I’m taking a self-publishing class from my friend Angie and am newly inspired to stand up for myself and my work. I’m pondering self-publishing those novels my agent has, and experimenting with writing short romance stories for Amazon. I’m working on building a following on Medium.
Activities, you will note, that are actual writing, not writing-related.
And I’m feeling energized and excited by these ideas. So why haven’t I gotten to this point sooner? I’ve been pondering this, not only to prevent flaming out in the future, but also to be able to counsel others. And I have come up with a few reasons why.
If some of these reasons resonate with you, remember that forewarned is forearmed. Once you identify what you’re doing, it is much easier to change the pattern.
So here we go:
Lack of Confidence
When my blog was in its heyday, I got high rankings on Alexa. But never quite high enough to earn a decent amount from advertising or attract heaps of students to online classes. Why?
Lack of confidence. So I didn’t go all in.
I seriously pondered self-publishing back in the gold rush years when it first became a viable option. I even posted a short story on Amazon. But I never quite managed to go any further with it. Why?
Lack of confidence. So I didn’t go all in.
I could easily pull back from Medium when I get discouraged with low page view on posts I think are going to be popular. But this time I’m not going to let a lack of confidence stop me.
Believing the Naysayers
Everyone knows you can’t make a living writing. But don’t tell Shaunta Grimes that. She makes thousands of dollars a month — a full-time living — from writing Medium articles.
And don’t tell @250ktoimillion that. She makes $8K a month writing romance novels as a side hustle.
But every damn time I read an article quoting an author — usually a high-minded literary type — who says, but of course you shouldn’t expect your writing to support you, my brain starts screaming.
“Who do you think you are? Of course you can’t make a living writing!”
And the hell part is that I believe it. Maybe you have this problem, too?
Bad Habits
Early mornings are my designated writing time. (Because, yes, you guessed it, the rest of the day I’m working on my “real” job, the one that actually pays me — coaching and teaching.)
But sometimes instead of going right to the next scene I’m working on, I wander. I check my inboxes. I read the latest news. I look at knitting patterns or clothes. Anything but writing.
In other words, I procrastinate.
Why? Because of a combination of the previous two mindsets — lack of confidence and believing the naysayers.
Time
Time is one of the writer’s enemies. Or so most of them would have you believe. None of us have enough time. We are all deeply committed to what I call the cult of busy. I daresay a lot of us devote time to proving how little of it we have — thus fulfilling our own prophecy.
For me, it is not so much about the time as the focus. I can often carve out an hour or two during the day to write, but by the middle of the afternoon my brain is so full of other things I have difficulty settling into the work. This is when meditation can be an enormous help. (Though, much as I love it, I will admit I’ve been a meditation slacker lately.)
Energy
Honestly? Sometimes we think we don’t have enough time, but what we really lack is energy. The first time I heard somebody make this distinction my mind was blown. It’s so obvious, but it’s also easy to mis-identify.
At the end of the day, I’m brain dead and have no more mental energy for writing. So I pour a glass of wine and enjoy my family instead. I could easily make time to write in the evenings — but I have no energy to do so. You may feel the same way when you first rise in the morning.
Go All In
You can avoid the trap of not going all in with awareness. Ponder which of these reasons apply to you. Then observe how you use them to hold yourself back. Be kind to yourself, as you’re changing lifelong habits.
But I know you can do it. And that I can, too.
