Are You a Pond or River Writer?
Are you a river or a pond with your writing? Do you let what you have to say flow out of you or do you keep it gathering inside of you?
A river writer lets what they have to say flow out. A pond writer keeps it to themselves.
I have a confession to make. For many years I was a pond instead of a river. I gathered all this wonderful knowledge, wisdom and insight and would not get around to writing about it.
Fears and busyness held me back. Fears and questions bombarded my mind. Will other people be critical of my writing? Will I write it right or write it perfectly enough? What if no one even bothered to read it? How can I fit writing into my busy schedule? What will I have to give up to take time to write?
I gathered my stories and thoughts into the pond. The only problem is that it wasn’t flowing out of me to anyone who could benefit from it. When it gathered in the pond, the writing stagnated. I lost the freshness of the ideas and they became stale.
In the last few years, I’ve started pouring out more. Yet I’ve still held back out of fear of not writing perfectly.
Well, I’m making a decision as of now. I’m not going to let those fears stop me anymore. I’m going to start becoming more of a river writer instead of a pond writer.
I self edit my writing carefully and believe in doing all you can to write well. However, the flip side of that is perfectionism which can keep you from getting out a good message which can help others.
If I make writing mistakes, let me know and I’ll correct them but I’m not going to let fear of mistakes hinder me.
How about you? Are you going to jump in the river with me? Are you afraid? Here’s 5 strategies to overcome those fears.
5 Tips to Overcome Your Fears of River Writing
1. Begin now. Whatever level of skill you’re at in your writing, start there. Start giving to others with your writing.
Zina, one of my students from my writing course started a blog to encourage those with handicaps. At one point, Zina expressed concern that her writing wasn’t as polished as she would like. I wrote her, “Zina, you’re having a huge impact encouraging others at the skill level you’re at so keep writing!”
Last year, Zina had 12,000 views on her blog. What if she’d let her fears stop her? So many people would have missed out.
2. Understand the principle of increase. The more you use something the more it will increase. You understand this in exercising. The more you exercise, the stronger you get. You go from strength to strength. The same is true in writing, you go from skill level to skill level. The more you write, the more you learn about how to write, the more you’ll grow as a writer.
3. Let it flow. Sit down and simply start writing. Don’t worry about whether or not you do it right. Turn off the critical side of you and let it come out. Tap into your right brain instead of your left brain and go for it. You can correct it later but for now, let it go.
4. Grow little by little. Take time to add to your writing knowledge. If you want to learn how to write or write better, take the “How to Write for Fun and Profit” writing course.
If you’ve taken the course, pull it out and review it or read another book on writing. Implement writing tips and continue to learn how to write or improve your writing.
5. Take responsibility. You have a river inside of you but it’s your responsibility to let it flow out to others. Maybe you’re busy. Most people are. That’s where the 15 minute concept came to be. Don’t wait until you have a lot of time or another season of your life. Grab that pen and take advantage of the small increments of time you have now. Let the river flow, 15 minutes at a time.
People out there need to hear what you have to say. Even if it’s an audience of one, they need what you have to give.
So, jump in the river and let it flow. Instead of a pond writer, be a river writer. Refresh others and you’ll be refreshed.
Go write now.
Share the Gift of Writing!
How about you? What fears hold you back? How do you feel when you’re in a pond instead of a river? What is your experience? Share with us in the comments below.
Image of girls by Admar at http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/
Writing Tips – 3 Wisdom Tips to Overcome the Fear of Failure
Let’s talk for a minute about fear. Do you hesitate to write and submit a story for publication or to write a book or a blog post? Maybe you want to write a report or give a presentation or speech, but you feel uncertain about it. Do you want to learn how to write but fear you won’t do it well? Do you hesitate to venture out into a new area with your writing? Or maybe you have some other fears related to your writing.
The fear of failure and rejection can be a hindrance to moving forward with learning how to write, how to write better, or accomplishing your writing goals. Yet being willing to risk is one of the keys to growing in your writing
skills and achieving your goals. For sure, if you don’t venture out, you will not be successful. How can you overcome your fear of failure?
Here’s a story that gives us some clues. Sara Blakely is a self-made billionaire from her idea for Spanx, which became a big hit with women and even celebrities. She shared that her father asked her weekly if she had failed at anything that week. If her answer was no, he was disappointed. This is a wise father. He knew that in order to succeed, his daughter needed to be willing to fail.
Sarah shared that she experienced rejection and discouragement along her journey. However, she persisted to the point where she is now extremely accomplished. Not only is she successful herself, but she started a foundation to help women in third world countries with their entrepreneurial ideas so they too can reap the benefits of their innovations.
3 Tips to Overcome the Fear of Failure
- Fear of failure loses its power over you when you realize that as long as you learn something, you never fail without gaining something.
- Fear of failure loses its power on you once you realize there is no shame in making a mistake, only an opportunity to gain experience of what works and what doesn’t.
- Fear of failure loses its power over you when you realize that all successful people fail their way to success. One writer I know posts her rejection slips as proof that she takes action. If she didn’t submit her writing for publication, she would not get rejection notices, but then she also would not have the chance to get published.
You may not succeed when you write something, but you have a chance. For sure, if you don’t write, you guarantee failure.
How about you? Can you set a weekly goal to fail at something in your writing? What would happen if you set this as a goal? We think by shrinking back we protect ourselves, but actually, we hinder ourselves from achieving a new level of growth and experience.
I challenge you to think about something new and risky you can do with your writing this week. What do you think might happen if you did this regularly? Think of all the potential you may unleash if you run toward your goals free from the fear of failure.
What do you think? Does this make sense to you? What risks are you going to take? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
How to Write: How Can You Profit From the Problems in Your Life?
Do you ever get discouraged with your writing or writing business? Do you get down? Frustrated? What do you do?
I’ve written about the fun and creative part of writing, but there is often another part that goes with the writing journey.
Today, I am in a funk. I didn’t sleep enough hours last night. I got discouraged because of some technical problems with my website and email program. I have some ergonomic problems that cause my hands to hurt and backaches etc from sitting too long at the computer in an inadequate chair. In fact, I’ve been in kind of a funk for the last week for these and various other life challenges.
Why am I writing about this? Why am I sharing my “negative” feelings? Well, because I want to help you. I want you to know that it’s okay to be down sometimes. It is part of a normal life experience. Like everyone else, for various reasons, you can end up in a pit of negative feelings. You can run into a wall of discouragement especially when you learn a new skill such as how to write, or when you write a book, learn to develop in a new area of creative writing, deal with the grammar gremlin or do the obligatory writing needed for your work.
Compost Bin
We live in a culture that doesn’t like to admit their struggles, and so people have a tendency to feel isolated and believe they are the only ones who have difficulties. This is not good or helpful for you. One time I saw a quote that said, “We learn how to suffer by watching others suffer.” How in the world are we going to learn how to deal with the negative in our lives if we don’t know how others struggle and watch how they overcome the various obstacles they encounter?
What do you do with your negative feelings and problems in life? My friends have a garbage compost for the garden. They throw out all the garbage on the compost pile and then use it to nurture growth in the garden. Then they harvest beautiful, nutritious veggies. Take your depressing life experiences and put the garbage on the compost pile. Recycle it! Use them in a positive way to support life and nurture growth.
5 Writing Tips to Turn Your Problems into Profit
First of all realize that profit is not only about money but about personal growth and helping others as well. If you keep this perspective, you can profit from whatever comes your way.
- Write about it. Journal your negative feelings while you feel them. Acknowledge rather than deny your feelings. Let yourself have them. This is wonderful therapy. If you don’t know why you feel funky or how to get through it, many times answers will come as you write. This can also be great material because as you find your way through the dark tunnel, you can help others find the light too.
- Look for the opportunity in the adversity. If you are a person of faith, pray and ask for help in solving the problems and wisdom on how to use the negative in a positive way. Anyone who asks God in faith for wisdom receives it.
- Persist despite the discouragement in moving forward toward your goals. Use the things coming against you to actually propel you forward toward a solution instead of hindering you. “The pressure you feel will drive you to find the solutions you need.” Curt Brown
- Allow the experiences to carve a compassion in your soul for fellow travelers so you can help them along their life journey. There is nothing like a struggle to break down the walls of pride that often separate us. When you can share your life experiences with others, they profit and you profit. Our shared suffering connects us.
- Use the lessons learned in some way in a positive way. Learn how to add creativity to your blog writing and write a blog post about challenges you faced and how you overcame them. Learn how to write and write a story using the complexity of your feelings for a character to make your story or novel richer. Write a how-to article or book on how to overcome some of the issues you face.
Turn Garbage into Dollars
There are numerous ways to turn your trash into treasure. People will pay you big bucks if you can offer them solutions to their problems. Now I am feeling good about feeling bad. LOL!
Well, this is what I did in the midst of my problems in life. I wrote anyway. Did you get that? Wrote anyway! I had a deadline on a blog post I needed to write so I wrote this.
Go Write Now!
What about you? How do you profit from the problems in your life? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Rubbish Bin Image Grant Cochrane/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Dollars out of Trash Image Scottchan/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Sleeping Woman at Computer Image: Ambro/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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How to Write: It Takes Courage to Write in a New Area
Maybe you are new to the writing world. Maybe you are good at business writing and you would like to learn how to write a short story or even a book. Maybe you have always written non-fiction stories but you would like to try fiction stories.
Regardless of your writing or non-writing experience, it takes courage to launch into a new area. You feel insecure and uncertain about trying something new. It’s unfamiliar and out of your comfort zone. You have two options. Read More Here…