The bane of being a writer is thinking that all you are is a writer. Whether it’s being a writer of flash fiction, poetry, research etc. You could imprison yourself unconsciously.
Writing is a skill, how you write is creative but you are a person. It’s like cooking; you neither become edible because you cook nor do you become a cooking utensil.
Why then do you define yourself based on what you write? It’s okay to be a poet on marketing materials but if you cannot enjoy life without feeling like you have to pay homage to figures of speech or you cannot accept correction without waving the flag of poetic license, we already have a problem.
A few years back, I wanted to quit writing because I was charting my course as a sex therapist and barely had time for creative writing. I felt so guilty all the time and He said to me “you read more than many of these people”. The implication was that I had a wider range of things to write from than many of the people I was envious of.
About three years later, I decided to write professionally and I churned out 30,000 words in the first week of resuming. It was the words as much as the fact that I now had more depth.
The quality of your creation is heavily dependent on the quality of life you have as a human.
You cannot have a lack of mindset and think writing would automatically make you a millionaire. Just maybe you need to invest some of that time into therapy so that your limiting belief does not keep clashing with your marketing team when they’re making financial projections.
Maybe you need a vacation that requires a lot of physical movement such as dancing or hiking or even pole dancing. Whatever works for you. But your body is underserved with this sedentary lifestyle where all you do is churn out words.
Perhaps your ideas are stale because the only places you have visited over the last few years are your “favorite spots” and you wonder why you have no new ideas.
I want you to be an affluent author as you deserve to be. However, what use is affluence you never enjoy?
How to enjoy your affluence
- Invest in a hobby.
You and I have a passion for documenting how the world works, are casting a vision for how it should work or are merely enjoying ourselves.
Whatever side of the divide you are on, this is unfortunately no longer your hobby because you have expectations to meet and those expectations are money spinning expectations.
Even though you can stay true to your passion and authentic self, you will likely not experience the same level of relaxation as you did at the beginning.
Which means when you are on time bound projects, you need something else that allows you to disconnect with your characters and content so you engage life with your body and mind.
An activity that requires bodily exertion is most appropriate as it allows your body to exert itself the same way your mind has been exerting itself. Plus physical movement allows for higher stimulation of certain feel good hormones.
Do not be misinformed: a hobby is an investment as it allows you to return to your writing desk with more vigor and perhaps, fresh ideas and dissociation. This is also beneficial for objectivity.
- Get a life.
It feels powerful to sit in the driver seat and determine why other people read and believe. However if you must keep the power 100%, you must be willing to take the responsibility 100%.
Whether you are conscious or not, writing is the literary equivalent of being an Instagram influencer. Imagine the psychological pressure Influencers put themselves under when they Livestream their whole day everyday.
That’s exactly what you do as you write daily. Except this time, you are mandated to only think of one piece or book and edit it until your inner critic says it’s fine.
You will write a bestseller no doubt. However, you would have missed the opportunity to read all the bestsellers that would normally appeal to you.
You would wake up one day and realize you created perfect collections every year but have no memory of everything else that made the world in those years.
Be a fantastic author, but have memories that are solely yours that may or may not ever make it into the pages of a book.
- Build solid relationships
Think of your inner circle as people who would buy your book if it was crap and honestly tease you for writing crap. Think of them as people who will transition with you through cities, careers, life, singleness, parenting, grief etc.
You are an author to your fans but you are a person to your community. These are the people you build a life with.
These are the people who will sit by your bedside if you went into a coma and would be there long after your fans have dropped the get well soon card and returned to their homes.
Affluence is knowing that wealth cannot be one sided (financial) especially in an industry where thousands of people are rising to fame yearly and thousands more are being forgotten.
As I close out today, I want you to be passionate about your art for all the right reasons and not because you are lonely, struggling and hoping to buy some attention and affection.
Only then can you create your best art and be unperturbed by the obstacles; you have a life whether you write a bestseller or not.
—
Read – Celebrating Others – Affluent Authors Column – Liza Chuma Akunyili
