I missed you! ❤️
Writing is hard & why creatives go insane
Hi! I missed you! Life update: I’ve been laying low in Mexico for the last couple of months intently focused on writing my book, The Bad Bitch Business Bible, reflecting on all the hard-earned lessons I’ve learned as an unapologetic woman in business.
I am living the writer’s dream writing from beautiful beaches and drinking fresh-squeezed juices from quaint little cafes. But no matter how peaceful the environment is outside of me, I’ve discovered a hard truth that I can’t escape no matter where I go…
Writing a book is HARD.
Like really hard. Much harder than I ever expected it to be.
There’s a reason why over 80% of American people WANT to write a book, but only 3% of people actually finish writing a book.
It’s because writing a book is a painstaking process of trying to translate this grand vision of what we see in our heads, then being disappointed when the words actually come out a lot worse on paper the way we envisioned it.
I finally understand why so many creatives and artists literally drove themselves insane creating their work because even in the relatively short amount of time I’ve spent as a new author attempting to write my book, I have cycled through every imaginable self-critical, self-doubting, self-sabotaging thought again and again and again.
The other day someone asked me “What do you do?” And being in a foreign country where no one gives a damn about my LinkedIn profile, job title, or professional accomplishments, I had an opportunity to really embrace my new identity as a writer, but I couldn’t even manage to utter the simple words, “I am a writer” because I still didn’t think I was a good enough writer yet.
Here’s the thing, becoming a published author and a professional writer is one of those things that I’ve dreamed about for so long but I’ve been afraid to embrace the label because well... ‘What if my writing actually sucks? What if this book is a total failure? What if no one buys it and people think I’m a joke, and then my reputation is ruined, and everyone finds out that I’m a total fraud and was never really good at anything in the first place?!’
Oh, hey there, imposter syndrome, it’s you again.
It’s crazy, No matter how much I accomplish, how much I learn, or how much I earn, these moments of self-doubt always find a way to pop up at the most inconvenient times. And they’ve been popping up an awful lot during the book-writing process. Pretty much every morning when I wake up and, start again with another blank page staring at me, taunting me… and all I can think is:
‘Will I manage to write anything good today?’
What I’ve discovered in these daily moments of self-doubt is that the only way to overcome imposter syndrome, is to do it, — in this case to write — regardless of the voice in my head that tells me I’m not good enough yet.
On days when I am writing on a deadline and those self-sabotaging thoughts begin to arise again, I simply tell them to “Get outta my way because I have a book to write damnit, and I don’t have time to question whether or not the book will be good enough, it just needs to get done, and I’ve decided that DONE is better than perfect. (And as a recovering perfectionist, that’s saying a lot.)
Now every morning I get up and no matter what, I write.
I keep writing even if the words that come out on the page are total crap. I keep writing even when I want to distract myself with social media, email, texts, or slack messages. I keep writing, regardless of the outcome, because, at the end of the day, that’s what makes me a writer.
Showing up consistently and doing the work, that’s what has given me the confidence to finally say without hesitation, “I am a writer.”
So if you have a project inside of you that you’ve been wanting to launch — Whether you’ve been dreaming of a book, a blog, a brand, a video, a podcast, a startup, a side hustle — Just get started. It doesn’t matter if you think you’re not good enough yet. Your work doesn’t care about your imposter syndrome, it just wants to get done. Don’t worry about what other people think, because you owe it to yourself to release your gifts into the world. Show up consistently, have faith, and I promise you, it’ll all work out. I’m rooting for you.
Sending hugs from my little writing hut in Mexico.
P.S. If you’d like to support my writing, it would mean the world to me. You can now become an EARLY SUPPORTER & get 50% off forever!
For just $5/month (the price of a coffee), you’ll get BTS content, a monthly AMA with me, bonus discussion threads, and my undying gratitude. ❤️❤️❤️ I couldn’t do it without you!
Wow I needed to read this…