Writing drops comfortably into the paradox of creativity. It is born from a place deeply personal yet longs to be shared. This puts a writer into something of a quandary. You want to dive deep into the depths of your journey. Sharing the lessons and insights you know serves a purpose. Perhaps weaved into a short story, a blog post or entire book. It is the thought of sharing that can start to stifle your creative compass, choices emerge from somewhere other than your truth. When unsure which way to go, questions emerge from fear, who wants to read this? Does my voice matter? Temptation teases you into following a safer path.
How do we rise above the voice of fear to pursue our authenticity? Remember our good old friend the Lion in the Wizard of Oz. What did he represent? Courage. The lion is inside of you, let him roar.
Your story is your power. You own everything that ever happened to you the good, the bad and the hilarious. Tap into all of it and use it in a way that serves you. To connect with your audience requires you to be vulnerable, honest and have courage in your creative choices.
Becoming visible as a writer is the only way to get your voice to those who need it. People crave voices of every kind, imagine a world without them? Imagine if the authors you love to read had left their words stored on their laptops and notepads as they hadn’t found the courage to share them. Step into your power and get your story out there. Some will like it, some will ignore it, some will read it one hundred times. Hand on heart every writer faces the fear of becoming visible. The only difference between those that are read and those that are not is the choice to rise above it, in pursuit of their passion.
Develop at your own pace, the creative journey is not a race. Here are my top three tips for steps towards visibility.
1) Share your work with someone
I do not think I would have got where I am today without having my trusted readers. Find those special few you can send your work too for honest feedback, my advice is not your boyfriend. Someone you trust to give constructive criticism who has your best interests at heart. Consider working with a writing coach.
2) Set achievable goals
When I first started writing I started a blog called Uncover London. I set a goal to post one blog a month and started to send it round to who I considered my readers. It got me use to people reading my work and seeing it online.
3) Be original
No matter what you are writing, the best thing you can do is to be original. If you are showing up on the page in your own style and voice you will LOVE writing. The more you enjoy what you do the more you will have fun with it, even when writing about the hard and the scary. Do it with joy, and never give up.
Head over to IGTV to check out my interview on the power of your story here.
Have a wonderful week.
