Last week I wrote about reshaping a story into something completely new (Friday Focus: Reshaping Your Story). The fact that I was so focused on writing my story as a picture book that I couldn’t conceive of it as anything else was keeping me from making real progress (at least I hope so. I guess we’ll see when I rewrite it as a chapter book!)
It got me thinking of myself as a writer and the writing habits (or lack thereof) that keep me from reaching my goals. I’ve been working at having a more positive, affirming attitude in my life and I wondered how that would look in my writing life.
What Kind of Writer Do I Want to Be?
Rather than identifying all the things I don’t like or want to change about my writing life, I decided to turn those on their heads and create statements that empower me as a writer. Here are some examples:
Negative statement: “I don’t have time to write.”
Positive statement: “I am in control of my time. I can write at ten o’clock today.”
Negative statement: “I’m not talented enough to write a fantasy trilogy.”
Positive statement: “I can write any book that I’m passionate about.”
Negative statement: “I’m stuck in my story so I must be a failure.”
Positive statement: “I’m clearing my mind so I can allow my creativity to flow more freely.”
Then I got rid of the negative statements altogether so I could just hear the positive:
- I am in control of my time. I can write at ten o’clock today.
- I can write any book that I’m passionate about.
- I’m clearing my mind so I can allow my creativity to flow more freely.
I plan to go on with this exercise, identifying other negative statements I make (some that are so ingrained I didn’t even realize they were there!).
Let me know if this helps you in your journey as a writer or if you have other tips to share to create a more positive outlook on our lives as writers, share those!
For something similar, see Friday Focus: Finding Your Writing Purpose.
