On Writing, Ideas, and Making a Difference
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Everyone wants to believe what they’re doing is interesting and worth talking about. They want to think they’re special and unique. But the truth is that’s not your call.
I see this attitude most often exhibited amongst writers and artists. They think that just because they’re creative, the world owes them respect and attention. Not true.
You don’t get to decide what “remarkable” is. Your audience does. And if nobody’s paying attention, you’ve got a problem.
This is Part 1 in a series on how to build a popular blog. In this post, I’ll share the first secret to successful blogging and a few tips I’ve learned.
I began my writing journey in search of accolades and awards, wanting recognition and fame. But instead, I found frustration and disillusionment.
For years, I seethed with envy, watching other bloggers succeed while I stood still. As jealousy turned to resentment, I began to see the world through murky-colored glasses, finding fault with everything these people did.
But eventually I had to come to grips with reality: Being jaded was doing me absolutely no good.
We all have to learn to live in the in-between moments of life. Whether you’re 17 or 71, you know what it means to have anxiety, to experience delays, to hope for things that never come. Which raises an important question:
What do we do with the waiting? Do we love or loathe it? Is it a necessary evil to get to the good stuff in life? Or is it the entire point of being alive?
I wrote my next book in an attempt to answer that question (read on to hear how I’m going to give you a ton of bonuses when you decide to preorder it and join me in the waiting).
In the nearly three years that I’ve been blogging through Time’s Top 100 English-Speaking Novels, I’ve had many a discussion about books and reading.
Photo Credit: Pensiero via Compfight cc
If I’ve learned one thing (other than the fact that 101 books is a lot of books!), it’s that readers have strong opinions. We’re extremely passionate about the books we like, the books we hate, and the reasons we choose to read, or not read. And we’ll argue with you to the death about these reasons.
Everybody wants to be famous. Everyone wants to do something epic. But maybe fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. In fact, I have good reason to believe that it’s not.
An archived post of mine recently caught some traction and went viral the other weekend. It’s causing me to rethink why I do what I do and the pointlessness of chasing an audience.
I’ve written before about how I became a full-time writer and what it takes to get paid for your passion. But if I didn’t tell you the true secret to turning pro, I wouldn’t be doing my job.
There’s an important truth that few people who’ve “made it” in their industry want to talk about. But in my experience, it’s essential to success. What is it? Mindset.
Success is first experienced in the mind before it becomes a reality. This may sound kind of metaphysical or something, but all I really mean is this: Before you start acting like a pro, you will have to think like a pro.
Wherever you look, there are voices telling you to “live a better story” or do something “epic.” They make it sound easy. But it’s not so simple, is it? The truth is the epic life requires more than just blind courage. Few people understand this better than Chris Guillebeau.
This is Chris, doing what he does: taking risks.
Chris is a friend, mentor, and patron to the work I do (he graciously endorsed my book, Wrecked). What impresses me most about Chris is his ability to stay true to his values of generosity and adventurous living while wisely providing for himself so that he can sustain those passions.
So when I had a chance to sit down with Chris and chat about these ideas, I really wanted to know one thing: How do you live a life full of adventurous experiences and creative endeavors without going broke? That’s what we discuss in this interview.
Ever seen someone succeed at something and then try it yourself — only to utterly fail? Doesn’t that make you mad?
What was so different from what you did? Why did they see success, and you didn’t? Maybe you failed to ask one important, but often overlooked, question.
Two years ago, I got serious about leaving a job I absolutely hated in pursuit of becoming a full-time writer.
For the first year, I messed around, not taking the work seriously enough. I self-published a book that completely flopped, selling five copies in the first three months — and those were to friends.
After this disaster, I thought about not ever using the Internet or social media again. I was done.
Lots of people ask me how I made the transition from full-time employee to full-time writer. Some want to know the specific steps I took while others are interested in how I continue to sustain a living as a writer (which typically isn’t known for being a lucrative profession).
The truth is I never intended to make any money doing this. I didn’t think it was possible.
At most, I thought I’d be able to publish books (if I was lucky) and collect a few meager royalties while continuing to hold down a day job for the rest of my life.
But in less than two years, I found myself at a crossroads.
In the world of social media, we are constantly in front of other people. There’s a lot of pressure to always be “on,” which breeds a pressure to perform. In response to this, a “fake it till you make it” gospel has formed.
I get the sentiment. Sometimes if we don’t “fake it” we’ll never have the confidence to create anything. But I think this message is incomplete and has some dangers to it.
If we aren’t careful, adopting this gospel can hurt writers, bloggers and even our messages.
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