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Inspired? Would you like to see your name on this website and your book up on those bookshop shelves? This is where we bring you a round up of writing tips, ideas and hints.
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| by Dianne Bown-Wilson of www.thebigquestion.co.uk Most successful writers aren’t born, they’re made - self-made, at that. For most of us, what hampers our success isn’t our inability to craft interesting, inspiring and informative prose, it’s our failure to understand what really lies at the heart of being ‘a writer’. As a published author and personal and professional development coach working with ‘aspiring’ and/or ‘struggling’ writers, I’ve spent quite some time considering what differentiates ‘wishful’ from ‘wonderful’ writers. Although there appears to be hundreds of factors, in fact it probably boils down to this: Self-belief Unity of purpose Courage Confidence Enthusiasm Speed Satisfaction Self-belief This is undoubtedly the number one key to success. If you don’t believe you are a wonderful writer, why should anyone else? To be a successful writer you don’t just have to believe you can be, you have to adopt a mindset that believes you are already. This may sound impossible, but it works. Most of us, when aiming for our goals, think in future terms: “When I’m a writer I’ll be happy, confident, fulfilled, etc.” What the successful writer does is start believing and acting like they are successful right from the start. They act happy, confident, fulfilled – and guess what? They attract everything else they need to make them ‘successful’. Unity of purpose Being successful means visualising and focusing on the specific goal you want to achieve and making sure everything you do supports the achievement of your goal. Your goal must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound) and must focus on exactly what ‘success’ means to you. If success means writing your life story by Christmas, then go for it. But don’t then feel cheated that it lies unread in a drawer. Getting people to read it was never part of your goal. Courage A successful writer is a courageous writer – one who has pushed against the boundaries, knocked on doors, persevered and refused to take ‘no’ for an answer. There are two big secrets to unlocking the courage that lies within you: 1. Clarity of vision about exactly what you want to achieve. The more you can actually feel what it would be like to realise your vision, the more likely you are to be motivated to make it happen. 2. Recognising, challenging and overcoming your self-limiting beliefs. This means asking yourself the question “why not?” every time you automatically tell yourself “I can’t do that”. Often the reason you have this belief lies in some incident that happened years ago. Everything else about you has probably moved on – except that old, crippling, belief. Having courage doesn’t mean that every door will automatically open for you, but some will open far more easily than you anticipated and probably, very few will be slammed in your face. Confidence Confidence also comes from two things: 1. Exercising courage. The more you push yourself beyond what you believe is your ‘natural’ comfort zone whether in your writing, or in respect of submitting or marketing your work, the more those boundaries stretch and your confidence grows. Most ‘confident’ people admit that their confidence came simply from making themselves do something, then having done it, knowing that they could not only do it again, but could go on and do even more. 2. Not judging yourself in relation to other people. It’s a truism that whoever you are in life and whatever you aspire to, there will always be someone who does it better, faster, more easily and receives greater recognition and reward than you. So all you do by constantly comparing yourself to them is to beat yourself up. Everyone is unique and your value as a writer lies in your writing style, your experiences and your approach. By all means look for inspiring role models amongst successful writers but don’t set yourself up to fail by comparing chalk with cheese. Enthusiasm As the saying goes, “there’s nothing so infectious as enthusiasm, except the lack of it”. Enthusiasm – about yourself, your work, your potential, your prospective editor’s or publisher’s business, in fact the world around you, will get you everywhere. People who are passionate about what they do attract other people to them as well as convincing others that what they do has value. You don’t have to agree with an enthusiastic person, but it’s difficult to remain indifferent in the face of their self-belief. Speed Many people miss out simply because they waste too much time pondering, procrastinating and worrying about the ‘what ifs’. Successful writers set themselves a goal, work out a plan and then go for it. You’re far better achieving what you set out to do and moving on to the next project than endlessly dwelling, in ever-decreasing circles, on the same old thing. Learning and progress are generated through feedback and new experiences; don’t cut corners and do a slapdash job, but ‘good enough’ really is good enough, most of the time. Satisfaction This is closely aligned to the concept of ‘vision’. To be successful you need to know what would satisfy you in respect of what you want to achieve and then set your sights beyond it. If you would be satisfied with selling one article or short story, then aim for two or three. If you would be satisfied with earning £500 per month; aim for £1,000. By aiming high you’re less likely to fall short of achieving your original goal, and more likely to double the amount of satisfaction. Then ‘satisfaction’ will no longer mean ‘content’ but ‘over the moon’! Dianne Bown-Wilson is a qualified personal and corporate development coach, trainer and strategic advisor. She is co-author of "Marketing, Management, Motivation - Successful Business Development for Professional Services Firms" and author of “A Coaching Journey – true life stories of coach training”. She has also written numerous articles for professional and business journals and websites and has had some (but not nearly enough!) success as a short story writer. For more information on how to turn your writing dreams into reality, contact her on 01865 841541 or email:dianne@thebigquestion.co.uk Back to more articles |
| Posted: 20/04/2005 13:14:22 Last Updated: 21/04/2005 13:36:12 |
Chick Lit > Writing Tips :: The Secrets of Success