This is Day 13 in the Great Writers series.
Great writers are great not because of talent, but because they possess one crucial ingredient that the rest of us lack:
Perseverance.
They know how to stick things through — to push hard and achieve a goal and move on to the next project.
Mostly, though, they understand that until they publish their work, until other eyeballs are on it, it might as well be invisible.
The amateur approach
The amateur doesn't understand this. And let's be honest: There's a bit of amateur in all of us, isn't there? We struggle with this discipline of sharing our work. All because of the most potent enemy of art: fear.
We're afraid of many things: failure, success, responsibility, expectation, rejection, misunderstanding, and more. So we sabotage ourselves. Because hiding from the limelight is more comfortable than actually doing work that earns attention.
It's time to stop that. Make no mistake: An artist doesn't create for accolades. But if you're going to do work that matters, at some point it'll need to get noticed in order to have an impact.
Stretch yourself
I'm not talking about another blog post or essay saved to your laptop (although, those are good places to start). It's time to move onto the next risk.
I'm talking about a feature article or book or something better. Something that stretches you, something you've been waiting for permission to release.
The best part? You get to pick the project. Just make it count. Chances are it's whatever you're most afraid of.
The challenge
Today, we're going to publish something. Anything, really. Whatever you do, don't play it safe. Go for broke. Stop hiding and start writing for real:
- The manuscript in your dresser drawer? Send it off.
- That article you've been thinking about writing for an A-list blog? Submit it. Let go of control; you're ready.
- That eBook you've been stalling to finish? It's good enough. Put it out there.
Don't squander this opportunity. You won't have another like it. You've done great work; time to share it.
We're in this together
Let's do this as an exercise, shall we? Suspend your doubt for a day and ship something you're scared of.
It can be a little ugly this go-around. That's okay. I just want you to experience the thrill of creating something important and doing it in public.
It's one thing to take risks in anonymity and quite another to do it in a community. So let's do this together. We're all friends here.
The good news is this is no longer something you have to wait on. You can do this right now. The opportunities are innumerable. So why in the world are you still sitting there?
What did you publish? Share in the comments.