Why Your Book Isn’t Enough (and Why That’s Good News)
Imagine your book is in the world, and it’s something of a masterpiece. It keeps getting heralded as a breakthrough in its space, a gift. Now imagine that everyone who buys your book sits down with it and starts reading. When they finish it, they start over. Then they read it again. And again. In fact, that’s all they do for years and years—read and re-read your book. They neglect their hygiene and their most important relationships to read your book. They skip meals. Would that make you happy? Is that what you want? Of course not. Which is to say your book is about more than your book. It’s about transformation—the shift you want your readers to experience after engaging with your work. It’s easy to see how this works in nonfiction, which often overtly points beyond itself. “Try this in your life,” nonfiction says. When I read Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller, I was eager to implement his guidance in my business. When I started reading Atomic Habits by James Clear, I wanted to try some of his lifehacks that very day. But I think this is true for fiction as well. When I read The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, I came away with a renewed appreciation for the fragility of life. When I read Carrie by Stephen King, I wanted to do a better job of seeing and reaching out to the marginalized of society. Don’t get me wrong. Your book is a massive part of your effort to make a difference in the world. It is likely the most potent force you can muster for making your readers’ lives better in some way. At the same time, your book is undeniably part of a larger project. What does this have to do with platform? A lot of writers think of platform as a necessary evil, a means to an end—the end being selling a book. They draw a dark line between writing on the one hand and platform-building on the other. This framework makes building an audience feel like a chore. And if building a platform takes time and involves setbacks, as it inevitably does, then the whole thing begins to feel downright Sisyphean. Why post? Why grow an email list? What’s the point of writing blog posts if the net result is just a few more followers? That’s not going to sell many books! I want to suggest a different approach: to see platform-building not as a sideline task, but as a continuation of your core work as an author—guiding readers toward transformation. A book is powerful, yes, but it’s part of something bigger. By sharing messages, stories, and posts that invite readers into the change your book brings to life most fully, you can build more authentic, engaged communities. This approach not only makes audience-building more meaningful, it also tends to result in stronger book sales—because readers can sense when an author is motivated by service and connection rather than sales or obligation. Endless ways to engage Let’s say you’re writing a memoir about a crazy bike trip you took with your lover, and one of the big messages of the book is: “Take more chances! We’ve only got so much time, so make the most of your one, precious life.” Long before the book releases and well after, you can be publishing blog posts, sharing social media updates, and sending emails that inspire people to do just that. Maybe you highlight people who live peculiarly good lives or share about simple changes that have brought fulfillment in your own life. Let’s say you’re writing a novel that drives home the message that our natural world has the power to sustain us if we take care of it. You can be creating or resharing videos that support that message—before your book releases and after. In other words, since your platform-building is service to a mission that is larger than selling books, the possibilities for sharing engaging material are endless. Some questions to consider: Gathering, not just selling At the end of the day, as book-marketing expert Tim Grahl points out, building a platform is about gathering together people who like to geek out about the same stuff—whether that’s space travel or time management or the hope of an afterlife. If you gather folks around a mutual interest that is also central to your book, you will be advancing the change you want to see in the world while also promoting your book
The Promise and Peril of AI for Writers
A few weeks ago, I typed two words into ChatGPT: “Feeling overwhelmed.” Between a busy summer season, organizing a writer’s retreat, and delivering on promises to clients, not to mention the daily work of being a husband and father to teenagers, I was not in a good place. “Feeling overwhelmed” was all I could muster. But that was enough. Here’s what the AI said back to me: “I’m really sorry you’re feeling that way, Chad. Want to talk about what’s weighing on you? Or we can just shoot the breeze for a minute if that’s better.” This response got me to open up, to begin sorting through the different tasks on my list. In about fifteen minutes ChatGPT and I had developed a schedule for my day (including time for a nap!), and I was feeling much better. At its base, AI is a gift. Much like electricity, the automobile, smartphone, WIFI—pick any major innovation. These technologies are at bottom an incredible step forward for humanity. That’s where I start. Appreciation. Gratitude. Even wonder. But there’s more to it than that, particularly for writers. Neil Postman, author of Amusing Ourselves to Death, said, “Technology giveth, and technology taketh away.” We ignore either part of this reality at our peril. Adopt or Avoid? I work with writers across the spectrum of AI adoption. Some use AI dozens of times a day; others have yet to type in a prompt. The reasons writers end up wherever they are on the spectrum are numerous and diverse. If you choose to avoid Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT or Claude.ai altogether, I think that’s an honorable and respectable choice. I may wonder a little if you’re missing out, maybe even working harder than you need to for results that may not be as good as they otherwise could be. But I will not begrudge your decision. Those who are on the other side of the spectrum, who use AI a lot—again, I respect your decision. As a writing coach, I might caution you about letting AI steal your voice, or letting the rapidity with which it produces text seduce you into being lazy. I might even wax philosophical about how the joy of creativity often involves persisting through struggle. But I do understand (and actually join you in) trying to maximize AI’s usefulness. To adopt or avoid AI is a false binary. Instead, I like to think in terms of an “appreciative critic” approach. Let me explain by way of an analogy. A Wild Intelligence LLMs are like wild horses—amazing, powerful, and unpredictable. I spent large portions of my childhood around horses, which led me quickly to two conclusions: In the same way, this new “wild intelligence” to which we now have access can be a powerful ally—or a source of real harm. So how do we harness it? How do we enjoy its benefits without getting bitten? Appreciative Critic I’ve written just over 500 words in this article, and right now I’m facing a temptation. I’m tempted to copy and paste what I’ve written into ChatGPT and ask it to draft the rest of the article for me. Fact is, it’d probably do a decent job. Not a great job, but a solidly mediocre job that was ultra easy for me to produce. I could settle for the good instead of the best. But I’m not going to do that. When I’ve finished the first draft, I may paste in the whole thing and ask for typos or suggestions, but I don’t want to cut off my own creative process. In other words, while I deeply appreciate AI, I’m also its critic. I’m doing my best to be an engaged and thoughtful user. I’ve got the reins in my hands, and I’m trying to steer this wild intelligence in a productive direction. Here’s a quick cheat sheet—a nowhere near exhaustive list of places where AI is most helpful for writers, and where it might lead you astray. Helpful Uses of AI for Writers Title or heading brainstormer Conversation partner Outliner Schedule consultantFairly proficient proofreader of non-designed textIdea generatorLight/mediocre copyeditorVery mediocre beta readerSummarizerSounding board Amusement When you need help making a sentence clearer or more succinct Mistake-prone research partner When you’re feeling emotional about something and need help expressing yourself A repurpose machine—for example, drafting social media copy from (and to promote) a blog post Risky Uses of AI for WritersWriting a first draftDevelopmental/substantive editor In lieu of a great copyeditor Replacement for your own voice An infallible research partner Ghost writer Proofreader of designed text Artist This table is intended as a practical starting point to discern the best and worst ways to use AI. Here’s a general rule of thumb to keep in mind: AI works best when you give it something to work with, rather than asking it to generate text with minimal input. Of course, we’re all figuring this out in real time. I really enjoyed a thoughtful post on Jane Friedman’s site in which Audrey Kalman describes what happened when she hired ChatGPT as her writing coach. Her experiment points up what many of us are discovering: AI can offer real support—but it can’t replace the human parts of the creative process we value most. Our relationship with AI is still unfolding. LLMs will continue to evolve, and so will the ways we use them. Cultivating an appreciative critic mindset will help us harness the promise of AI—while avoiding its perils. Do you think AI is dangerous or helpful for writers?
From Emotional Chaos to Creative Flow
Intense emotions are part of life, and they certainly come with the territory if you’re a writer. Whether it’s stress, fear, frustration, grief, sorrow, anger, or some other feeling, we all have times when strong emotions threaten to overtake us. As writers, we can struggle with knowing how to continue our work when these feelings come. They can sabotage us if we do not develop healthy ways of addressing them. In the worst cases strong emotions can lead us to act out in unhealthy ways and keep us from getting our work into the world. The purpose of this blog post is to share some tools for addressing intense emotions in ways that are healthy and will allow you to move forward with your creative work. I’d like to commend three strategies. Strategy #1: Become aware of the emotion. The first step to addressing a feeling is knowing you have one, and this is not as easy as it sounds. Often we go through life feeling all kinds of things without noticing them. My advice is at least once a day to ask yourself, “What am I feeling right now? What’s going on for me?” Guys, especially, seem to have difficulty naming their emotions, but it’s important to try. Give what you’re feeling a name. “Ah, that’s fear,” you might say. Or, “I’m sad. I’m feeling really sad right now.” The reason this is so important is because when we’re able to identify what we’re feeling, we can get some separation from it. While we have emotions, our emotions need not have us. It’s the difference between holding a glass of water and drowning in the ocean. When we can identify and name our feelings, we get a little distance from them. We get some needed perspective. When I do this, I often add the reminder that whatever I’m feeling is a completely normal part of the human experience, because it is. No matter how unique it may seem in the moment, the feeling is normal. That’s the first step, simply becoming aware of and naming your emotions. I shot a 1-minute video about this step: Strategy #2: Remind yourself that this is temporary. Mindfulness teachers tell us to imagine our emotions as clouds drifting across the sky or leaves floating down a stream. The point is that whatever you’re feeling, it’s temporary. At the very least you can be certain the intensity of what you’re feeling is temporary. Take a deep breath. It’s not permanent. One way or another, this will pass, just like all your previous emotions have passed. Strategy #3: Take action. Having differentiated ourselves from a feeling and having reminded ourselves it’s temporary, now it’s time to take action—hopefully to improve the situation that led us to this emotion (assuming the emotion is one of the unpleasant ones). Here I want to offer three steps: Start with gratitude. No matter how hard life is, we have something to be grateful for, often many things. Take some time to point out to yourself what you’re grateful for. We may not choose our feelings, but we can choose our thoughts, and grateful thoughts fertilize the seed bed of creative problem solving. Talk it out. In your journal. In a recorded voice memo. Most importantly, talk about it with a friend or two. Resist the temptation to isolate and keep it inside. Act. Decide on action plan. Sometimes I can come up with five different steps to take; sometimes I can only come up with one. My journal is my best friend here. My advice: start close in. Begin with the obvious, and see where it takes you. “From emotional chaos to creative flow: 3 strategies for writers #writerslife #amwriting @chadrallen “We may not choose our feelings, but we can choose our thoughts, and grateful thoughts fertilize the seed bed of creative problem solving.” @chadrallen Which of these strategies are you willing to try the next time you’re feeling stuck?
How a Girl’s Fear Touched Me
I’m in Chicago, about to board a train to Grand Rapids. I took a Lyft to Union Station and entered at Canal Street, an entrance that brings you onto a landing where you choose escalator or stairs to go down to where the trains are. I came through the doors with two suitcases and walked over to the escalator where a young girl stood, her back to me. She had long brown hair. I’d put her at ten years old. She stood at the edge, the steps moving under her unmoving feet. When I came up behind her, she turned around and looked up at me with tears in her eyes. Her face was red. Her lips were trembling. “Hi sweetie, can I help you?” I asked. “Want me to take your bag for you?” She nodded yes. I noticed the man who was with her had already gone down. He was waiting at the bottom, looking up at her. “OK, I’ll be right behind you, okay?” She looked up at me, a complete stranger, and asked, “Can I take the stairs?” “Of course you can take the stairs. I’ll meet you at the bottom with your bag. Hey, you’re okay,” I told her, stepping down. “You’re doing fine.” She shuffled down quickly, beating me to the bottom. Both she and her father, I presume, thanked me. And I just wanted to have a minute where I could hold her shoulders, look into her eyes, and say, “You’re okay. We all have fears, all of us, I’m terrified of snakes and bats and rats and all kind of things. You’re not less than anybody, do you get that, dear child? You’re perfect.” I would’ve hugged her if that wouldn’t have been weird. And I would’ve told her she’s strong and brave even to try that damn escalator. All I got out was, “Hey, you’re okay. You’re strong,” and we went our separate ways. I’m not sure why I’m so emotional. Is it because of mere sympathy and compassion? Because in her tearful face I see my own, so afraid of so many things? Is it because in that moment nothing, nothing else on planet earth mattered to me except a little girl who was afraid to go down an escalator? I don’t know, but I won’t soon forget her. And I wish her well, and I hope her dad is not disappointed but full of love for her. Thank you for reading this. By doing so you’re sharing in the moment with me, and I’m grateful for that.
25 Motivational Quotes for Writers
If you’re like many writers, you began this year with some goals in mind. You were determined to finish your manuscript or start your website or submit your book proposal or grow your audience. How is it going? Maybe you’ve made some progress but not as much as you wanted. Maybe you haven’t made much headway at all. If you can relate to this, I want to offer some hope. I’ve compiled twenty-five of what I think are the most inspiring quotes for writers. I hope these are helpful to you! Consider printing them out or copying one down and posting it in a place you’ll see from time to time. 25 Motivational Quotes for Writers 1. “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” —Nelson Mandela 2. “Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.” —Unknown 3. “It’s not fun to fail, but it just might be the only way to succeed.” —Jeff Goins 4. “Everything got better for me when I made peace with the fact that it might not ever get easier . . . Creative work is hard. Life is short and art is long.” —Austin Kleon 5. “Every step matters.” —Anonymous 6. “If at first you don’t succeed . . . you’re normal.” —Michael Hyatt 7. “You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results.” —James Clear [Tweet ““You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results” and 24 more quotes for writers #amwriting”] 8. “You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.” —Winston Churchill 9. “Everything gets harder if you start going on and on about how hard it is.” —Stephen Covey 10. “Your goals should be in your discomfort zone. Your next steps should be in your comfort zone.” —Gail Hyatt 11. “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” —Thomas Edison 12. “A man without a goal is like a ship with no rudder.” —Thomas Carlyle 13. “There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is this: It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write.” —Steven Pressfield 14. “What single brave decision do you need to make today?” —Michael Hyatt 15. “Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much.” —Helen Keller 16. “Good ideas come from bad ideas, but only if there are enough of them.” —Seth Godin 17. “Failure is an event, not a person.” —Zig Ziglar [Tweet ““Failure is an event, not a person” 25 motivational quotes for writers #writingcommunity”] 18. “Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win.” —Jonathan Kozol 19. “Writing can be a very dramatic pursuit, full of catastrophes and disasters and emotion and attempts that fail. My path as a writer became much more smooth when I learned, when things aren’t going well, to regard my struggles as curious, not tragic.” —Elizabeth Gilbert 20. “What is now proved was once only imagined.” —William Blake 21. “Art is the generous act of making things better by doing something that might not work.” —Seth Godin, The Practice 22. “The first draft is just math.” —AJ Harper 23. “Tend your own garden, and love what grows within.” —Anonymous 24. “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two that I’m aware of, no shortcut.”—Stephen King 25. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’” —Mary Anne Radmacher Which of these quotes do you find helpful today?
Best Books for Writers on Craft, Creativity, Marketing, and More!
Reading the right books can help you become a better, more successful writer, but where to start!? I’ve been an avid reader of books for writers a long time now, and it’s a topic I’ve written about in the past. But as I keep reading more books in this genre, I expand and refine my list of recommended books. In this blog post I’m going to spotlight my favorite books for writers in the following categories: Inspirational Books for Writers The Craft of Writing The Writing Life Creativity Book Marketing Here we go! Inspirational Books for Writers The winner in this category is easy: Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles. It’s short. It packs a punch. And I can pretty much guarantee you won’t walk away from this book without being changed for the better. I’ll mention two more inspirational books for writers. The first is Seth Godin’s book The Practice: Shipping Creative Work. Sometimes focus so much on outcomes, we need someone to stress the importance of staying on the journey. This book is that someone. And finally, several years ago I wrote a short book called Do Your Art: A Manifesto on Rejecting Apathy to Bring Your Best to the World. Creativity expert Todd Henry said this about it: “Chad’s manifesto delivers a simple but profound truth: you have unique art to offer the world, and deliberate action is the only path to making it happen. A wonderful (and welcome) kick in the pants!” The Craft of Writing In my opinion, the best book to help you improve your writing skills is William Zinsser’s On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction. It is standard issue in newsrooms throughout the country for a reason. It’s that good, and it’s also quite entertaining, which of course is part of why it’s so good. Fiction writers have much to gain from Zinsser despite what the subtitle suggests, but for a book more directly focused on fiction, see Sol Stein’s Stein on Writing: A Master Editor Shares His Craft, Techniques, and Strategies. One of the things I love most about this book is how many examples Stein includes. A book that more recently hit my radar is Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark. I’m about halfway through it, and I can tell you it’s very, very good. The chapters are short, which makes it easy to use as a daily reader if you’d like. Each chapter is about a very practical and well-illustrated tactic. Another book that will help you improve your writing is Write Better: A Lifelong Editor on Craft, Art, and Spirituality by Andrew T. LePeau. I liked it so much, I used it for a multisession master class in BookCamp. Uniquely, LePeau writes this book from a Christian worldview, which does not mean the book is only for Christians. But this approach frees the author up to include a helpful section on the spirituality of writing. And finally, I can’t sign off on a collection of books about the craft of writing without mentioning The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White. Another classic, this slim volume is a fast read, full of wisdom. The Writing Life Admittedly, the lines get blurry between books on craft and books on the writing life. You’ll find plenty of practical writing tips in the books I’m sharing today. But the emphasis in these books is on what it’s like to be and how to thrive as a writer. It’s really difficult for me to pick a single favorite in this category, so I’ll pick two: Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life and Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Lamott is laugh-out-loud funny, and she does such a great job of normalizing all the usual fears writers face. Stephen King’s book is riveting. as you’d expect. There’s one particular scene in which King describes the moment his fortune as a writer changes, and it’s spellbinding. You’ll love it. Two other books deserve to be mentioned here. One is Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, which presents a Zen approach to writing. I find her breezy, vulnerable writing so compelling. And then there’s Jeff Goins’ Real Artists Don’t Starve: Timeless Strategies for Thriving in the New Creative Age, the most recently published of this collection. Jeff’s a friend, and he told me the book was really just an excuse to share a bunch of stories he likes to tell. Well, the stories are wonderful, but it all holds together really well too. Creativity Books about creativity—how to live creatively, how to maximize one’s creative output, etc.—are among my favorite books to read. Todd Henry’s The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice changed my life. Reading this book was the first time I encountered the idea that I could live in a way that facilitated my best, most creative work. Todd, who since has become a friend, not only explicates this idea; he provides a method for living it out. Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear is a wonderfully rich read, and perhaps more narrowly focused on the work of writers. Gilbert’s a master storyteller. You find yourself swept up in her narratives as you glean lessons that powerfully enrich your creative life. I love Austin Kleon’s three little books, Steal Like an Artist, Show Your Work! and Keep Going. They’re in a smaller format than typical trade books, very fast reads, and full of all kinds of engaging art. Fun! Have you heard about Brian Grazer’s A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life? Grazer is Ron Howard’s business partner and has helped produce such films as Splash, 24, A Beautiful Mind, and Apollo 13. One reason this book is so great is because you get to live vicariously as Grazer interacts with such people as Mick Jagger, Princess Diana, and Isaac Asimov. But I love the practical suggestions in this book too, including what he calls “curiosity conversations.” Finally, a children’s book deserves mention here. Kobi Yomada’s What Do You Do with
A Mindset Shift That Helps Writers Increase Their Brilliance and Creativity
As I’ve worked with writers over the years, I’ve come to believe about 95 percent of the work of any creative is cultivating the right mindset. If we get the mental game right, everything else tends to work itself out. Obviously there are multiple facets to the mental game. I want to talk about just one of them here, and its importance cannot be overstated. I want to address the tendency we have to beat ourselves up. The Truth about You There is a part of you that is unfinished and imperfect. There is a part of you that’s probably going to eat too much dessert at some point this week. There is a part of you that’s not going to show up for your creative work the way you would’ve liked. That part exists because you’re human, and the response I’ve observed among so many writers is self-flagellation. I’m not talking about constructive self-criticism. When you journal about the day you just completed and you point out a few things that could’ve gone better and you’ll try to do better next time, that’s constructive self-criticism. And I’m a big fan of it. But often we are engaged not in constructive but destructive self-criticism. We call ourselves names. Silently or sometimes audibly, we say horrible things about ourselves. We give in to a pervasive mood of self-defeat and sorrow. And we stop creating today because of what happened yesterday. Two Subtleties of a Creativity Killer Toxic self-criticism is subtle in at least a couple of ways. The first subtlety of this interior voice of death is that we may not even know we’re doing it. This is why the first step to beating it is awareness. The next time you fall short of your ambitions, try to notice how you respond internally to yourself. Step back and simply notice. The second subtlety of destructive self-criticism is that it somehow convinces us we need it. It tells us we are weak to avoid it. This is a lie. We are not weak if we silence this voice. In fact, when we say goodbye to destructive self-criticism, we demonstrate our knowledge that it does not actually help us do our work. That’s the truth. [Tweet “A mindset shift that helps writers increase their brilliance and creativity: how & why you should say goodbye to destructive self-criticism: @chadrallen #amwriting #writingcommunity”] Try This Instead Once you’re aware of the fact that you’re beating yourself up, try this instead. Show compassion for that part of yourself. Nurture and cultivate some love for it—for the part inside that’s unfinished, imperfect, has a way to go, makes mistakes. This, after all, is what you would do for your children, your friends, your family, anyone you care about. You would show love and compassion for these unfinished, unsettled, imperfect parts of other people. So why shouldn’t you show the same for these parts within yourself? You and your art will be better for it, I promise. Postscript: How This Blog Post Came About I run a training and community hub for writers who want to get published called BookCamp. One of the features of BookCamp is a weekly coworking session on Monday mornings in which my assistant or I offer a brief word of encouragement or inspiration before we start a 50-minute countdown clock. The 3-minute video below (originally shot on December 21, hence the corny, festive background) is a recording of one of these words of encouragement, which eventually led to this blog post. Enjoy! When have you noticed the voice of destructive self-criticism?
How a Writer Faced His Fear and Landed a Book Deal
Writing a book proposal and landing a book deal is hard work, but it can be done. I recently sat down for a video call with writer, spiritual director, and speaker Brian Plachta about his journey from a small platform to a landing a book deal. We talked about: how Brian pushed through his fear why he decided to write a book proposal and pursue a traditional book deal 3 strategies he used to grow his platform how friends have helped him on the journey his top 4 pieces of advice for anyone who wants to get published and much more! Enjoy! To connect with Brian, visit www.BrianPlachta.net. Resources mentioned in this interview: To learn more about how I help writers get their books into the world, visit www.chadrallen.com/products. [Tweet “How a Writer Faced His Fear and Landed a Book Deal #amwriting #WritingCommunity #askeditor #writetip @chadrallen”] What did you hear in this interview that you found helpful for your own writing journey?
How to Experience More Joy as a Writer
If making your art is adding net misery to the world,” writes Austin Kleon in his mighty little book Keep Going, “walk away and do something else. Find something else to do with your time, something that makes you and the people around you feel more alive.” Elizabeth Gilbert says something similar in her book on creativity, Big Magic. If we as writers are not operating from a place of joy in some foundational way, something is wrong. When I say joy, I’m talking about a sense of calling and excitement as opposed to grinding it out in a state of constant exhaustion. Understand, this is not an argument for laziness. I’m not saying the work we are called to is never difficult. Of course it is. But if underneath it all we don’t have a sense of “This is a privilege, it’s an honor to do this;” if we don’t have a sense of gratitude at some base level, something is off. Joy isn’t just about us; it’s about our readers. When we’re not able to work from a foundation of joy, our work becomes less helpful to other people. I’m not saying it’s of no value, but it is likely less valuable than when it springs from a place of joy and gratitude. So, what do you do when you feel like you’ve lost the joy? What do you do when it does feel like you’re grinding it out? I have three tips for you. 1. Remember the Beginning One tactic to use when your marriage gets tough, say many marriage therapists, is to think back to the wedding and the honeymoon. Recall and reflect on how in love you were with your spouse back at the beginning. If there was a season when you and your spouse felt deeply romantic with one another, you can refer back to that as a way to fuel yourself forward. On the other hand, if that sense of bliss was never there (maybe you got married for some other reason than love), this can spell trouble for a marriage. Similarly, if you are not able to look back on your project and say that the genesis of this was joyful, consider letting it go. Like Kleon says, you probably should find something else to do. But assuming you started with positive, joyful energy, maybe it’s time to reconnect with it. Stephen King said, “If you can do it for the joy, you can do it forever.” [Tweet “How to experience more joy as a #Writer, 3 ways #amwriting @chadrallen”] 2. Manage the Tension between Joy and Hard Work We’re always on a continuum between hard work and energizing, joyful work. If you have been in exhaustion mode for a long time and the work has ceased to be fun, it’s time to go back and find the joy. It’s time to take care of yourself and get in touch with the reasons you wanted to do this in the first place. It might be sabbatical time. It might be time to scale back what you’re doing and get in touch with the roots of why you began. Remember: if you’re not operating from a place of fueled-up joy, chances are the work you are producing is not living up to its potential. 3. Send It with a Smile Finally, when you have completed something, send it with a smile. Send it with gratitude for the unfathomable opportunity you had to work on it. If I was personally coaching you, I’d say this: Don’t cling to it. Don’t keep checking whether or not people respond favorably to it. Let it go. Launch it into the world with grace and joy pursuing it. Yes, you hope it is a blessing to other people, but you also recognize, particularly as you are sending it into the world, how others respond is not the point. The point is you have done your work. This was never, ever about getting anybody’s approval. It was always about doing your best to create something. That’s what it always has been about. And that’s what it’s about right now. [Tweet ““Send it with a smile” and 2 other encouraging tips for #writers #writingcommunity @chadrallen”] Which of these methods resonates the most with you?
How to Get a Bigger Vision for Your Life and Work
I just saw General Magic, a documentary film about a company that was about fifteen years before its time. They imagined the smartphone before the technology was there to support its creation. What I left with after watching the film is the absolutely vital importance and world-changing power of vision. The people of General Magic had enormous vision. As a result, many of them went on to do extraordinary things. One invented the iPod, another founded Ebay, a third was Chief Technology Officer for the United States, just to name a few. These people were exceptional visionaries and have done incredible things as a result. I couldn’t help but think about the writers I serve and how important vision is. It really is crucial. How Vision Helps You I struggle with this in my own life and work. I tend to deal with so much self-doubt (and, frankly, not just self-doubt but doubt from others around me) that I have a hard time imagining how influential or significant a project I’m working on could be. It’s extremely difficult to give myself permission to imagine the possibilities. Yet it’s vital. If you can find your way to a compelling vision, I really believe you can change the world. You can make a significant difference in the lives of many, many, many people. The very people and kind of difference you want to make is possible if you have the vision. So, what do you do if you don’t have the vision you need? Maybe you have the desire for the vision. Maybe you have the beginnings of a vision, but you don’t really have it all. The purpose of this article is to give you three steps to help you develop the vision your creative work deserves. 1. Become aware of your vision assets and liabilities. The first step is to recognize the extent to which you’re “vision-deficient,” if you will. It’s important to be able to articulate the pieces of your vision that are in place and should stay in place. Also, and more importantly perhaps, it’s really smart to think about where the deficiencies are. Where is it that you need to say, “I have a vision issue here. I have an imagination problem”? This is the first step: awareness. 2. Give yourself the freedom to have absolute confidence in your own abilities. The second step is to give yourself the freedom to be 105 percent confident in what you are capable of doing. Then write it out. Write out what you would accomplish if nothing was holding you back. Another possibility is to record it; speak it into a voice memo. The point is to get yourself into a confidence zone and externalize your imagination in writing or recorded speech or maybe even a picture. You want somehow to document your confidence-based vision so that you have it to refer to again and again in the future. You might have to give yourself a few sessions. Schedule them a week apart to give yourself some fresh air between sessions. But do this. It’s some of the most important work a creative person can do. 3. Find a person who helps you think bigger than you’re inclined to think yourself. Find a person who can listen to you talk about what you have in mind and help you dream even bigger. Those people are rare. Let’s face it, the reason remarkable people are remarkable is because most people are afraid to dream big. It may take a while to find this person. I’ve known a few of them in my own life: Michael Hyatt, Bryan Harris, and Jonathan Milligan. These three people have fueled my imagination for what’s possible. They’re some of the most important people to my creative work. They have given me a vision upgrade, if you will. That has meant the world to me and, by extension, has had a big impact on the people I serve. When you find such a person, figure out a way to spend time with him or her. [Tweet ““If you can dream big, you can do big” >> 3 steps to a big vision from #writing coach @chadrallen”] It’s Time for Your Vision Upgrade Those are the three steps: Awareness. Give yourself the freedom to be absolutely confident. Find someone who can help you dream bigger. The reality is, if you can dream big, you can do big. You can accomplish more and have more impact. It all starts with your vision. If you can imagine it, you can get there. Where do you need to focus to improve your vision?