Writers – how do you know when you’re a happy writer – when
your book is published? When you deposit that fat royalties check?
If you’re waiting for external validation to make you a
happy writer, you might pass a lot of your time waiting. And that can make for
a lot of unhappy moments as you revise your articles, dig deep for your angle,
and add another rejection letter to the pile.
You’ll enjoy writing more if you’re finding joy along the
way to those peak moments. Relish the satisfaction you glean from the
challenging work of writing. Find happiness in the process, not in external
validation.
Because honestly, writing isn’t always a joyful experience.
The writing life is full of challenges and frustrations, doubts and fears. It
can feel more like the scary forest in the Wizard of Oz than a field of
blooming flowers and scampering puppies.
More honestly, in the fourteen years I’ve been coaching
writers, I’ve avoided focusing on how difficult it is. I committed to being a
positive voice, to encouraging people to go for it.
But for my own writing life, I found I needed to acknowledge
the difficulty of the writing path. Doing so doesn’t make it harder, or more
negative. Admitting that it’s hard strengthens me.
When coaching my clients through their writing challenges, I
constantly weave their values into the process. Awareness of our values invites
an engaged happiness that allows us to enjoy meaning and purpose in our writing
rather than waiting for external validation bring joy.
Fortunately, writers have the skills required to savor
happiness – attention to detail, sensitivity to nuance and meaning, and the
ability to articulate complex states of being.
Happiness is…
I invite you to take a few minutes today to dip into your
happiness well. How does your writing bring you satisfaction? Here’s how
writing please me:
Happiness isn’t getting everything I want. Happiness is the
vitality I experience when I reach for my goals. Values honored: zestiness and
challenge.
Happiness isn’t being free of my day job so I can write all
the time. Happiness is the ability to shift between work and my creative
writing – on a regular basis.
Value honored: variety.
Happiness isn’t about being perfect or an amazingly talented
writer. Happiness is learning and being engaged in a challenge – finding the
right word, wrestling with a subtle transition between paragraphs, settling on
the right angle for the subject matter. Values honored: challenge, alchemy, and
connection.
Happiness isn’t having everything all figured out. Happiness
is learning, stretching, feeling those aha! Moments. Values honored: discovery
and exploration.
Happiness is finding meaning through a creative medium.
Writing, photography, calligraphy, filmmaking help me connect with and express
my vitality. Value honored: meaning.
Of course, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that outcomes and
external validation have a place in the happy dance. Happiness is also:
- publishing my writing on blogs and in magazines
- receiving comments from readers sharing how my writing
impacted them - being StumbledUpon, reprinted (with attribution!)
- winning awards and receiving grants
- receiving money for my writing.
I know I’m happy when I let myself feel satisfied with my
efforts. When I know I’m doing my best, when I recognize that I am expressing
my values on a daily basis, and that my words help others.
How do you know when you’re happy with your creative work?
What values are you honoring with your creativity?
It is important for me to make this distinction about
happiness. Naming my writing course Make Writing a Happy Habit forced me to
clarify what writing happiness means. If you’d rather be a happy writer than a
grumpy one, you’ll want to join us.
Make Writing a Happy Habit is both an online class you can take with me or an e-course that you can follow
on your own. Join me and other happy writers beginning September 13th and watch
your happiness flourish.
Remember, Impulses subscribers can take an extra $30 off the
registration for Make Writing a Happy Habit. Not a subscriber! Oh no! Go here to subscribe to Impulses and get the goods every other week. (We’re talking deals!)
I took this course in the spring and really enjoyed the combination of podcasts, written lessons, and community.
I think two of the most important lessons I learned were 1) that I didn’t have to write full-time or get paid for my writing to think happily of myself as a writer, and 2) to remember my own values and all the ways that writing happily honors them.
Oh, and then there was that whole F-U-N thing!! 🙂
Karen,
It’s great to hear how MWHH impacted you! I love that you see your values reflected in your writing life.
And that it was fun!
Thanks for sharing your experience!