Writing Tip of the Week: Silencing Negativity [Repost]

Let’s talk about negativity. Primarily, negativity when it comes to writing.  We oftentimes have a tendency to get mired in negative self-talk, especially when it comes to our own creativity.  Are we talented enough?  Will anyone want to read this?  What about the negativity swamp of social media or bad reviews? 

And these can often creep into our thoughts even before we’ve even started writing!  What a headache!

I sometimes do this when it comes to my writing.  I put a lot of unjust pressure on myself to write a pitch-perfect and flawless first draft. When you put that type of pressure on yourself, do you know what happens?  You don’t write.  You do anything else because what’s the point of writing if it’s not perfection?

Well, guess what?  I’m not perfect.  And the first draft of anything shouldn’t be expected to be perfection, either.  The best way to overcome the negative voice inside your head is to start writing and shut it up.  Keep this in mind: no one has to see that first draft.  You can present it to other eyes when you feel it’s ready.  Why do you care if it’s 100% perfect?  You’re going to fix it later, and you can’t re-write anything until you write it in the first place.

If you have the will and the desire to write and to tell stories to others than do it.  Even if you believe you aren’t skilled or talented in creative writing, practice can only improve your skills in the long run. Look at any published author’s work and know that at some point they probably were feeling exactly what you are now. And they worked through it, accomplished their goal, and kept on writing.  You can do that, too!

At the time of the writing, there are an estimated 7.7 billion people on the planet.  Even if only 1% of those people like your writing, that’s 7.7 million people.  And if you’re selling an eBook for $2.99 and get 70% of that, you would make $16 million dollars (before A LOT of taxes are taken out, of course)!  So, don’t worry about whether or not there’s an audience for what you write.  There are billions of people who crave good stories, great characters, and exciting dialogue.  Give those people a story to tell their friends about!

As for social media, we all know the pitfalls of that swampy underbelly of the world wide web.  It exists.  But just because someone doesn’t like what you wrote, that doesn’t mean that everyone does.  It’s a big world.  Think about it this way:  that one negative comment or review in the grand scope of the world’s population is equal to 0.00000000012987% of people who don’t like your writing. Seems pretty tiny when you look at it like that, doesn’t it? 

Remember that if someone doesn’t like your book, your poem, you video, etc, you are under no obligation to engage with them, and also know that a lot of people troll other people’s creative works because they get a rise out of it.  I’ve seen downvotes on YouTube videos about puppies! How is that even possible???!!

So, take a deep breath, exhale, and let the creativity flow in and the negativity flow out.  You have the idea, now make it a reality. 

You can do this.