This post is part of the Claim Your AUTHORity series.
The idea for your book seemed so clear. You grabbed the inspiration, made a rough outline, and dove into scribbling your ideas down.
Soon enough, your enthusiasm has burbled over into chaos. You lost the thread of logic and your writing just feels like a handful of messy incoherence.
Signs of book cluelessness
You may experience any or all of the following signs of being clueless while writing your book:
- You frequently doubt you have any clue about what you are saying.
- You’re a blank slate when it comes to knowing how to structure your material.
- You wonder if your concepts make sense to anyone but you and your cats.
- You fret that you are completely unoriginal and your book has already been done. Better than you can do it.
- You cringe at the thought of others’ judgment of your book.
- You are certain your book will prove you to be a total nincompoop.
- You dread the daunting publishing ‘adventure’.
- You’re pretty sure you don’t have any authority whatsoever.
Right, then.
Much better to go back to the laundry and the very demanding business of our lives. Isn’t it much easier to avoid all this cluelessness?
Frankly this is a choice authors make again and again along the path of writing a book: stay safe or risk the unknown repercussions of sticking your neck and ideas out there.
On the other side of cluelessness
I’ve written two books and five e-books. I’ve helped hundreds of writers find their footing on their writing paths.
Based on that experience, I believe it is worth it. I believe that if we have the impulse to write or create something, it’s our duty to follow that impulse.
For all the terrifying uncertainty inherent in the creative process, here’s what makes the it all worth it:
- You will feel wildly exuberant when you write your resonance.
- You will resonate with your truth for hours after writing it.
- You will feel more connected to your vitality and to your unique essence after writing.
- This vitality will ripple out to the rest of your life: your people, your work, strangers, even.
- You will respect yourself more after writing.
- All this adds up to your AUTHORity. Doesn’t it feel good?!
But don’t take my word for it. Stick it out at the page or keyboard and feel the results yourself. Pay attention to what you gain from the act of putting your AUTHORity to the test.
When these and other fears rise up to convince you that you do not have any authority to put your words on paper, know that wrangling them is one of the most fun, sweatiest and rewarding parts of claiming your authority.
What’s to love about the cluelessness inherent in the creative process? What has helped you cruise right past all those fears that convince you it’s better to stay away from your book? Share in a comment below.
Download a .pdf of this article.
Ummm…. I can’t even comment on your blog post because I love the picture so flipping much. As in, it’s the most hilarious picture I’ve seen in a blog in weeks.
You are awesome. 🙂
I know, E.B. This picture cracked me up, too. There was a spate of these whimsical signs on Colfax last year. My favorite was the ‘press to release ninja’. Or maybe it was the ‘press to release pirate ship’.
They were all great. I wish for more fun public art like this!
Once again you peer into my little writer heart and hit the issues squarely on the head! How do you *do* that?! (I guess that is why you are so good at your job. 🙂 ) I think you somehow peered into my brain and noted all 8 fears and objections I have. I guess they are pretty typical signs of cluelessness.
I am so grateful for the PDFs you provide of these posts. I do in fact print them and use them to try to convince myself of my AUTHORity. I need a crapload of convincing these days, lol, and this piece was particularly powerful for me to read. Those are some pretty attractive carrots at the end of the stick, I must say.
I recognize how you identify the whole enterprise as a choice to be made: to choose to risk and push through the cluelessness. At the moment, I am giving in to the cluelessness, but not so much that I chose not to read this post and print off the PDF. 🙂 This is some potent convincing about the rewards at the end of the tunnel.
I don’t know how I choose right this second about stopping emailing and reading blogs to go ahead and write, but it does make me realize the current wilderness I am in is familiar terrain to those who have passed through it and can say there are some great things beyond the trees and rocks and hills. One foot in front of the other. The step I made today was reading this post and taking it to heart. 🙂
Thank you, Cynthia. What you post here really does make a difference to me and impacts me. I hope I am not the only starfish on the beach that was just tossed back into some water with this post (and all your posts in general), but at the very least your posts keep me going and thinking about what it is that I really want from the writer inside of me.
“I don’t know how I choose right this second…”
Freudian typo? I know the how (just do it) but I meant to type “if.” And that was not being honest, for I really mean, “I DON’T choose right this second,” heh!
I’m glad that the topic is even in my wee brain at the moment, though. Baby steps. I feel like I am seven years old and on the high dive at the swimming pool, tiptoeing to the end of the board! I don’t know yet if I will run back to the ladder or choose to dive off the end, but at least I am still standing on the board, anyway. I know I can’t stand here forever, but stuff like this helps to convince me to go and dive in already!
I’m starting to shiver up here, lol. 😉
Karin,
Thank you so much for your comment! I am delighted to know that this series is helping you.
The concept of choice and choosing intentionally is such a foundational piece to both life and creating. I think it helps us to remember that we have a lot to say about how we live and how happy we let ourselves be.
Baby steps for sure. That’s the way.
Keep trusting your creative instincts and not your inner critic!