Are You Doing This?

True story…

William is a friend of Illumify and a subscriber to this blog... 

In 2007, he wrote a novel for his children. They loved it and urged him to shop it to traditional publishers. But after 20+ rejections, William needed to re-evaluate his pursuits. 

Should he continue or should he quit?

Read to the end and you’ll discover the rest of William’s story.

Your Greatest Obstacle

What is the greatest obstacle to your success as a writer?

It’s not the traditional publishers who place impenetrable barriers in front of you (true for William). More on that next week.

It isn’t your family who might not support you.

It isn’t even the market, who doesn’t understand your book idea because you’re ahead of your time (true for William, too).

It’s YOU. 

As a fellow author, we’re magnificent at sabotaging our writing success. Weeks ago, I told the story about a book idea I abandoned that later became a cultural phenomenon. Had I continued moving forward, I would have enjoyed the fruits of success that few authors taste. 

The opposite of self-sabotage is self-mastery, the ability to control your thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and actions. It involves understanding and managing impulses and desires in order to achieve personal growth, fulfillment, and success.

Writing involves facing yourself daily. All of your inadequacies can be plainly seen on the page. So it makes sense that writing is an area where you can either self-master or self-sabotage.

Note that self-mastery does not mean living in rigidity. Life requires you to be flexible. Self-mastery means exercising moderation, adjusting when needed, and accepting where you are while you’re working on becoming better. 

Self-sabotage is the opposite. It’s means working against your best interests.

Self-sabotage or self-mastery—which will you choose?

Welcome to the Power Writers Report, our weekly update, packed full of powerful writing tips, productivity tools, platform-building strategies, author best practices, resources, and free stuff. 

If you find this useful, forward it to a friend.

Click here to subscribe to the weekly Power Writers Report.

Click here to schedule an author strategy session with me.

Take The Easy Path

Self-sabotage usually means taking the path of least resistance. Self-mastery, on the other hand, requires discipline and grit and looks like work. 

Unfortunately, most writers opt for the path of least resistance. 

Below are 5 foolproof ways to sabotage your writing success and how to overcome them.

#1. Second-guess yourself

I see this ALL. THE. TIME. 

As a writer, you begin working on your $&!##y first draft. Then you stop, and your perfectionist tendencies take over. 

This is crap! you convince yourself. Nobody would want to read this.

That’s why they call it a $&!##y first draft!

On the other end, I see authors who just can’t let their manuscript go. They constantly tweak it because, they think, the final version needs to be perfect.

If this is you, let me remind you that the perfect manuscript has never been written. Just last weekend, I read a traditionally-published book, and I picked up on a handful of mistakes.

Mistakes can always be fixed.

William, when his book was eventually released, was widely criticized by plenty of “professional” reviewers, many of whom have never authored one novel. Nevertheless, he endured.

What’s the antidote to second-guessing? Enlist the services of a book coach who will help you improve what is needed and give you the encouragement you need.

Then keep going.

#2. Procrastinate

While writing my last book, this was my worst enemy. Writing is difficult, even painful for some (including me). The longer you delay your work, the greater the stress compounds.

The moment you launch into a new manuscript, a small cloud forms over your head that whispers, “Finish your manuscript.” The more you delay, the bigger the cloud becomes and the louder the voice yells in your ear. And with the bigger cloud comes increased stress and pressure, which can be paralyzing.

Very few people write their best with a deadline lurking over their shoulder. Creativity needs room to flourish. 

When you’re under pressure, you’re just typing words and stringing sentences together. Any basic hack can do that.

Or let’s say you’re sitting on an amazing book idea. You play around with the idea. Talk about its potential with your friends. But you delay actually doing anything about it.

I’m a firm believer in Elizabeth Gilbert’s premise that if we don’t do something with those great ideas, the ideas will just move on to someone else who will do something about it. Use it or lose it.

It’s happened to me.

Here’s the antidote: Do something. Anything. Outline your book. Begin chapter 1. Finish the manuscript.

The best way to alleviate the stress that accompanies procrastination is to actually get working.

It’s better to write for 10 minutes a day for 30 days than for 6 hours the day before your draft is due. You think you’re saving yourself the pain of working hard by procrastinating, but you’re actually working against your goal of becoming a better writer and producing great work. 

If it’s your goal to complete a book, set yourself up for success. Make a plan based on the time you have and execute it by putting in disciplined work every day.

#3. Sell yourself short

You sabotage yourself when you think I’m probably not good enough, so why even try?

Perhaps your book idea will require that you learn new skills. You’re adept as a nonfiction writer but you’ve never delved into fiction. How do you go about it without embarrassing yourself.

Or maybe your book idea will require twice as much work as anything you’ve ever worked on before. Can you do it?

Don’t. Sell. Yourself. Short.

First of all, stop defining yourself by what other people think. So what if your first draft sucks?!? Swallow your pride, enlist some outside help, and keep working on it.

Years ago, I coached a former NCAA football player on his manuscript. At that point, he’d convinced himself that he was a dumb jock. But chapter by chapter, I gave him pointers on how to improve his writing. And because he was humble, he listened to every piece of advice I gave him.

By the end of his manuscript, he needed very little help from me. After sending me his final chapter, I emailed him, “Adrian, I have no pointers to give. You did this all by yourself.” Later that day, he called me,

“Mike, I can do it!! I’m a writer. I never thought I’d be one, but I just wrote my first book!”

Don’t sell yourself short.

Jump into the deep end and if you need help, get help.

#4. Act without thinking

This one sounds easy but is actually very difficult. 

We’re all creatures of habit. You get home from work. Eat dinner while catching up on the events of the day with family members. Clean up the kitchen. 

Then what do you do?

Before you lay down on the coach and turn on Netflix, ask yourself, Am I self-sabotaging my writing career?

Netflix is great—I enjoy a good series—but remember that there’s an opportunity cost by opting for the TV instead of your manuscript.

If you’re not intentional about your free time, any and all distractions will quickly create an agenda for you that will take you far, far away from your manuscript and your writing goals.

Your evening begins in the morning when you plan your day. 

#5. Give up

This is the easiest choice. I mean, no one can keep you from writing but you. Just quit.

And you know what’s going to happen? The rest of your life you’re going to be asking, “What if?”

What if I had finished my manuscript and it became a bestseller?

What if had finished my manuscript and it changed the world?

My friend William faced the choice of whether or not to keep moving forward on his manuscript. His family and friends loved the book but he couldn’t convince a traditional publisher to pick it up.

William decided that giving up wasn’t an option. So he and two friends formed a self-publishing company. They spent $300 building a website. They maxed out their credit cards to pay for printing.

The book went on to sell 20+ million copies.

Self-mastery and the help of his friends won out. By now, you may have figured out that the author’s full name is William Paul Young and his novel is The Shack.

Self-sabotage or self-mastery—the choice is yours.

The Secret To Avoiding Self-Sabotage

You know how to avoid self-sabotage? Enlist a team of professionals who will help you finish strong. Regardless of where you're at in the process.

If you want to learn more, let's talk. You can schedule a meeting with me today by clicking here. 

Let’s bring your book to life!