Warning: Personal, sentimental post!
In the last few weeks, I have been considering writing fiction. Shock horror!
For a non-fiction author, this feels like an almighty shift within me. I wanted to share this change with you, because I think many writers feel the same way.
I didn't write a book for many years because I was afraid. Fear of rejection. Fear of failure. The usual reasons. I didn't think I wrote well enough. Why would anyone want to read what I wrote anyway…. You know what I mean!
I wrote my first book because it became a burning need to change my own life. I self-published to get the message out there regardless of what any establishment thought. I wrote the next 2 books and started this blog because I wanted to share how amazing the world is for authors now, and communicate how other people can achieve their book-dreams also.
It has been 14 months since I self-published my first book, and I am about to get the 2nd and 3rd onto Amazon.com. Wow! I couldn't write for over 20 years because I was afraid of failing. Now I am writing every day, and desperate to find more time to write other things!
OK, so I am not a best-selling author (yet!). But my books help people, I am useful and that is my own success. I get emails from people who like what I write, comments on the blog and positive tweets. This is much more feedback that I ever got from my own silent diaries, full of unrequited writing.
Self-publishing has liberated me from fear because it enables me to reach people on my own terms. I know that on the internet people will find me who want to read what I write.
I want to write more. I want to try all kinds of writing. I am already spinning ideas in my head and I have NaNoWriMo (November) in my head as a time set aside to write this fiction piece. I don't feel silly saying this anymore, because I have learned the fun and play there is in writing.
I am also inspired by the podcasters I am meeting online and listening to: JC Hutchins, Seth Harwood, Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris. I am loving their stories and their success with reaching out across the world. They challenge me to write and to express as well.
I truly believe that the experience of self-publishing has banished my fear of writing. It has not made me a millionaire in money, but I am all the richer for the experience. By releasing the fear and enabling my first book, it paved the way for the next 2, and who knows how many more. I am 34 right now. Prolific writers get through at least 1 per year, so that makes a good 60 more before I pop off!
To those readers thinking about writing a book – do it now. Self-publish it and get over your fear. Your next book will be the better for you getting the first out of the way.
To self-published readers – what has self-publishing done for you?
Image Credit: Flikr Creative Commons ArchanaR Freedom
