# You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One) ## Metadata - Author: [[Jeff Goins]] - Full Title: You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One) - Category: #source/books ## Highlights #### SIX: YOU NEED A PLATFORM #### FOUR: IT GETS TOUGH #### THREE: THE MYTH OF GOOD #### TWO: WRITERS WRITE ### INTRODUCTION #### ONE: CLAIMING THE TITLE - Just writing for the sake of writing. - Good writers take criticism on the chin and say “thank you” to helpful feedback; they listen to both the external and internal voices that drive them. - It is a rare occasion to hear from a writer who asks for feedback and means it. - Good writers practice. They take time to write, crafting and editing a piece until it’s just right. They spend hours and days just revising. - his is dangerous territory, when your creativity hijacks your productivity. Do you know what’s really at work here, when we thrash around with countless projects, never finishing any of them?  FEAR. Fear of finishing. Fear of picking one thing and finishing it. We think, What if it’s the wrong thing? What if I mess it up? Your fear will lead you to false answers. Fear will tell you the world will end. You’ll be embarrassed. You’ll waste time. You’ll never get another chance. But all those things are lies. What really happens is you learn. You grow ##### FALLING BACK IN LOVE WITH WRITING - Good writers push through because they believe in what they’re doing. They understand this is more than a profession or hobby. It’s a calling, a vocation. - Write it. And finish it. - Whether you’re starting to tackle writing for the first time or you’re a lifelong veteran, relax. There is better work you’ve yet to create. ##### PRACTICE MAKES HABITS - Start writing. If you don’t, all you’re doing is waiting. #### FIVE: THREE TOOLS EVERY WRITER NEEDS - People’s definitions of “good” vary. What one person loves, another hates. So stop obsessing over being a good writer. It doesn’t matter. ##### STARTING FREE - You are a writer. You just need to write. - No guide or set of tools can prepare you for the rejection you will face, the criticism you will endure, or the pain you will experience. Because you will. You will get rejected. If you’re writing something that matters, people will disagree with you. They may even attack you and call you names. - Soreness is the result of untrained muscle. If you practice every day, you don’t get fatigued. All muscles are built this way, even creative ones. If you do anything long enough, it becomes habitual. - Lamott’s thesis is this: All first drafts suck, so get it over already. - You’d better be writing because you can’t not write. You’d better love it. (Otherwise, quit now.) ##### DE-CLUTTER - “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” —ERNEST HEMINGWAY - YOU ALREADY KNOW WHO YOU ARE - Most successful writers go through a tedious process of drafting and shaping their content to get something worth sharing. How do they do this? They write every day. They write a thousand terrible words to find a hundred words worth using. - You have to choose your priorities, or they will choose you. ##### TURNING PRO - Write more, so you can edit more. Starting with raw thoughts then slicing down your fluff to the core essentials is how you get to genius. ##### GOOD WRITING IS IN THE EDITING - you don’t have to want to be a writer. You are a writer. You just need to write. - “Talent alone cannot make a writer. There must be a man behind the book.” —RALPH WALDO EMERSON - Embracing your identity as a writer is mostly a mind game. It’s about tricking yourself into becoming who you are. If you do this long enough, you begin to believe it. And pretty soon, you start acting like it too. - Writing is about space. It’s about what’s not said. About showing rather than telling. About making every word count. - I found my dream not by searching for it, but by submitting to what I had always hoped was true: I was, in fact, a writer. All I had to do was write. - Believe you already are what you want to be. And then start acting like it. - This is the world we live in today: a noisy, cluttered place in which the loudest voices get the most attention. And they are usually the ones least worthy of that attention. - Multitasking is a myth. You can either create or react. But you can’t do both. Choose wisely. - good writing is rewriting - If you can say it in fewer words (without sacrificing clarity), do it. - Remember: Every. Word. Counts. Act like it. - If you’re filling the pages with unnecessary words, you are wasting the reader’s time. - When do you become a writer? “When you say you are,” he said. - To create your best work, you’ll have to make room for it. You’ll have to cut out the excess noise and focus on what really matters: the writing. ##### THE SECRET TO SUCCESSFUL WRITING - once you’ve finished your piece, try cutting it in half. - It’s time to stop waiting to be asked and start creating. - I chose to write for one—and only one—person: myself. - This is the secret to satisfaction in anything: doing what gives you life and not trying to live up to others’ expectations. - Do a document search for all uses of “that” and “very”—kill as many of them as possible. These words are rarely needed. Reread the piece. Cut as many adverbs as possible. These are words that typically end in -ly (like “typically”). This is especially important when writing dialogue, he said intently. Look for complex sentences using lots of “ands” and “buts”—try simplifying some of them. Reread them and see if the meaning is more clear. Destroy weak phrases like “I think” or “in my opinion” that corrupt your argument. Say what needs to be said, or don’t say it at all. When you do use such a phrase, make it count. - There’s a foolish way to pursue a writing career (waiting to be picked) and a smart way (building a platform worth noticing). Do yourself a favor and choose the latter. Create a brand that resonates. Make meaningful connections that help you succeed. - I’m no longer pounding on publishers’ doors, pleading to be picked. Instead, I’ve learned to pick myself. ##### LET'S DO THIS - Before others will believe what is true about you, you’ll have to believe it yourself. - “If you’re ‘one in a million,’ and the world is full of seven billion people, that means there are seven thousand people just like you.” - I chased numbers not people. I thought like a pollster not a conversationalist. Not surprisingly, I failed. - Grab a pen and paper. Not your phone or iPad or computer. Make this a tactile experience. Ready?  Now write the following words:  I am a writer. Good. Now do it tomorrow and the next day. Continue this practice for the rest of your life until you believe it. - Write. Clarify your worldview. Get comfortable with your voice. Build a habit of writing that works for you. - We need you to poke and prod, not merely pander. - Steve Jobs once said, “Real artists ship.” - Passion is contagious. If you treat people like human beings and write from a place that is deep and true, you will find your audience. - Every successful communicator has three important tools, in some form or another: A platform to share your writing. A brand to build trust with readers. Channels of connection to distribute your art. ### PART 2: GETTING READ ### PART 1: WRITING - the greatest failure is to never risk at all.