One of the biggest things that stops women from writing their book is confidence.
After I published my first book, Guide to Journaling, so many women slid into my DMs on Instagram to congratulate me, and then, they'd say, "I want to write a book, but I don't know if I can!"
Writing is one of those things in life that we think certain people are made for and certain people aren't. In school, we're labeled a "good" or "bad" writer, and that can boost or leech our confidence.
But here's the thing: you don't need to be a "good writer" today in order to write a book. With enough time and effort and dedication, you can become the best writer you can be.
Because as my friend and mentor, Kacia Ghetmiri, says: "if the dream is in you, it's for you." Even if it doesn't feel like it right now, you have the ability to figure it out. In other words, your brain and your heard wouldn't have the idea or the call if you weren't capable of figuring out how to bring the dream into fruition.
So, how can we start the process of becoming the best writer we can be?
Practice
We can't become confident or good at something that we don't do. So, the way to gain confidence AND skill as a writer is to put in the time and write. That's literally the only way to get good at it. So, make time in your schedule to practice your craft.
If you're interested, I invite you to try the exercises below:
Define Success
There is no one size fits all for what makes a successful writer. If we're not clear on what our individual criteria are for writing success, then we're always going to lack confidence in our ability as a writer. So, make sure to take some time and define what success looks like for you as a writer in this season of life, and be sure to not compare yourself to other writers.
If you're interested, here are some ways you can define success:
Track Wins
When we make time to celebrate the things that are going well with our writing, it builds our confidence. For example, let's say that you set a goal to write three times this week and you wrote three times, celebrate that! Or, let's say, during your writing session, you struggled to meet your word count goal, but you wrote a sentence you were really proud of, celebrate that! The point is that when we focus on all the things that are going well, we boost our confidence and that momentum keeps us going.
At the end of the day, remember this: your voice matters! So, Keep showing up. Confidence is built through doing.
You might not be a confident writer on day one, but you sure as hell will be the more you show up and try and track your wins.
You've got this!
XOXO
Meggy