OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
You can't write that.
You can't think that.
You can't imagine those things.
You don't have permission to be that person, to think like that, to write like that, to publish that.
You're a nice girl. What will people think of you?
That's my inner critic speaking, but I've also heard those words echoed from people close to me over the years. I think it's only been in the last six months that I have given myself permission to let the raw side of me loose on the page. I'm finally finding my voice.
It's scary as hell because it turns out my stories are dark and twisty, but it's also empowering and liberating to let my mind have a free rein.
But I have to keep reminding myself that I have permission to write. Or I would stay safe in the shallows.Â
A friend told me the other day that I've changed since I became a full time writer. But I think it's just that the inner me is finally making it to the surface after years of suppression and doing what I was supposed to do.
And how has this change in me come about?
I've been writing journals for 20 years but blogging here for nearly 5 years has changed me far more. Because clicking the Publish button has made me think more deeply about what I want to say.
Because these words are going into the world, and people may well read them.
Because I have met writers who have challenged me to go deeper.
Those of you who have been reading this blog for a long time have witnessed the change as I've shared the journey with all its ups and downs.
Clicking the Publish button on Amazon or the other distributors has the same effect. It makes us braver over time, because we have to keep bringing our best to the page and we get almost instant feedback from readers.
This is the beauty of self publishing, because we don't need permission anymore.
If I hadn't self published Pentecost four years ago, or clicked Publish on this blog, I would still be a miserable IT consultant, talking about writing but not doing it.
If I hadn't persisted through three novels, I would not be finding my voice in the fourth.
If I had asked permission, or if I had waited to be picked, I would still be dreaming of what might have been.
Of course, permission to write and self-publish doesn't mean you'll get it right the first time.
It doesn't guarantee Hugh Howey or Amanda Hocking type success.
But it shifts you inside, it forces you to go further creatively. It enables you to clear the way for the next step, and after all, the writer's life is a journey of discovery, not a destination.
So you have permission. You are empowered.
To write.
To publish.
To connect with readers and writers all over the globe.
I'm done with taming the crazy. I'm giving myself permission. How about you?
Please do leave a comment below if this resonates with you. This is our community, and I sincerely thank you for sharing it with me.
This post was inspired by an article on agent Rachelle Gardner's blog entitled ‘Will My Publisher Let Me Self-Publish Too?” which sparked a lot of passionate comment and offended me over the aspect of permission. Rachelle has since published a Mea Culpa article.
Top image: Stamp permission granted from Big Stock Photo
Hi Joanna, This blog post does resonate with me: When I was a little prekindergarten girl almost every day I wrote stories to give to family members as gifts and tokens of my love for them. The stories were imaginative, to say the least, if not downright weird, because I knew no bounds, no rules, and I wrote what came in my head. Then, when I entered school, I guess my teachers saw a “talent” and wanted to develop it, and they good-heartedly taught me all the rules of writing and sent me to special tutorials and seminars…and I never wrote another creative story again. In fact, I don’t like to write at all! I am an editor by trade, so that’s how I channeled my desire to be involved with words but suppressed the real voice inside because, if there are rules, I am a person who seems compelled to follow them. Now I tell writers how to follow the rules (I try to make these suggestions and am very conscious of not overriding an individual’s voice with oppressive rules). It is refreshing to hear of someone finding their voice again, even if it seems to be dark and twisty…but it’s what you want to say, and you are right in not letting the rules of society stand in the way! And, I agree, it will only continue to surface the more you write. Who said, “We write to know what we are thinking”? It’s apt.
Your post resonates like a gong going off in my head. Too often we let other people define us; what we do, what we say, how we say it. It’s scary to let yourself loose on the page. Even scarier to expose that part of you when you push that publish button. I try to be brave, but don’t always succeed. Thanks for the inspiration.
I’m really not a writer although I run a book blog but I loved seeing this post because I believe authors are at their best when they write from their core instead of writing what they “have permission” to write.
Good luck Joanna!
-Kate Tilton
Dear Joanna,
Have been writing a Memoir for the last six years and have spent more time surfing the Writing sites than actually doing the job. When I came across your site (blog) I assumed it would be the same rehashed copy of everyone else’s blogs and sites that is, until I read one that apologised for repeating what you’d already written months (or was it years) before but you’d been very busy so hoped that those that had read would forgive and those that hadn’t would enjoy. That is when I realised that you were at least honest and having already published yourself you knew what you were doing.
My problem is: have a wonderful story to relate (as do most of us) but am a total Technophobe and don’t have any idea HOW TO self publish. Have a wonderful lady in a far off land that puts what I send into some semblence of organisation but she’s a full time mum who doesn’t have a great deal of time. I do not wish to eliminate her from the equation merely wish to enquire how a pensioner with no other means of support and no IT knowledge can get to the point where she can bring her story to the public.
Yours sincerely,
The Granny.
Sometimes you write just what we need to hear. Thank you. I know that my next book won’t resonate with the readers of my first book, and that creates worries. Still worrying, but I’m also still writing.
I may still have my day job now, which is a bit miserable, but I work everyday not only toward my own writing, but with other writers on BigWorldNetwork.com. If we didn’t believe in our idea of a new kind of publishing experience, that we can help aspiring writers who don’t want to have to sit around waiting for ‘permission’ to get their stories out there, we wouldn’t be devoting so much of our time without seeing a cent for ourselves. And working with others has given me the freedom and motivation to finally publish MY work too, on my terms. I couldn’t agree more than it has to be about realizing we CAN do this and have every RIGHT to, and that with hard work toward realizing those goals, anyone can achieve the dream of being a full-time writer. Sometimes it just takes that push, like your words here today. Great blog!
Another great post here Joanna. I don’t think there’s a writer out there who hasn’t gone through “the change”. 🙂
We all start off thinking we’re going to go down one path, then discover more about what’s inside ourselves that we want to share than we’d ever dreamed possible. Even responding to another writer’s blog posts is something I’d never have dreamed of a year or so ago. Now, I do it daily. I’m gaining confidence in my voice and my ability to communicate with others.
I also hear you when you say we have to listen to our own voice that tells us how we need to write. After publishing my debut novel in November, I was surprised at how many people had opinions, including my mother, my father’s cousin, my friends, on how I should write. My mother didn’t like some of the language I used. She said she didn’t like the swearing, and thought it didn’t match the “professional” image she had of me in her mind. I reminded her that Iwrite how I think, not how I think others might like me to think. If a character swears in my book, it’s because that’s how I imagine the character and dialogue. Same goes for sex scenes. I’m not into erotica, so my scenes are pretty low key compared to most these days, but still, I get people who question why I have too little, or too much, of them. (sigh)
What I’ve learned is that I have to find my own voice and style. It can’t be my mother’s, or my friend’s, or anyone else’s. I have to have the courage to listen politely, then just go ahead and write the way I write. As writers, giving ourselves permission to follow our instincts is the greatest gift we can give ourselves, and ultimately, our readers.
Hmmm…maybe this is why I cannot seem to get words on the page. Excellent post!
You are right on! I need permission, yet I am beginning to write and research more than ever.
The book that I’ve been writing for years is finally coming together and new ideas to be added are
Filling my brain!
I also want to blog, but I’m unable, so far, to find a site to blog on. They are either too expensive or
Not what I’m looking for. I find that money keeps me from a lot of classes, etc.
But, I have permission and I shall go forward.
Thank you for the inspiration.
Donna
Hi Donna, WordPress is free for blogging and it’s what many of us use these days – lots more on that here: http://www.problogger.net/archives/2012/06/13/the-bloggers-essential-wordpress-guide/
Because blogging definitely changed my life and there are no barriers 🙂
Hi Joanna
I’ve enjoyed all you have written about writing. I had no intention to write. I hated it, as the preface to my novel shows {C:BOOKSPreface.pdf }. So far I have not even thought about publishing, except self. I’ll be happy to see my novel in print as a proper book and leave it at that. No worries about publishers or marketing.
Thank you for posting this. I think this is one of the most valuable pieces advice for writers.
Giving yourself permission allows you tap into the subconscious where all the juice is. That is when you write your best and readers will respond to that.
Trust in yourself. Love yourself and remember that no matter what, it’s all going to be okay. No one is going to shun you forever.
There is nothing to fear because when you are true to yourself, you honor your divine uniqueness. When you are true to yourself, nothing can touch you.
Thank you. That’s it exactly. It took me many years to give myself permission to write too, permission to be myself in public, permission to try something and fail. It’s absolutely essential to creativity, and after seeing Rachelle’s article yesterday I thought “I’m not ever signing up with a publisher with this attitude.” If I can’t find one, yup. Self-publishing. No more putting this writer in a cage.
The High Lama of Tengboche Gompa (the central Buddhist monastery of the Sherpa people in Nepal) once said to me, “People should do what they want to.” His statement assumed goodness in people. He would approve your essay.
Wow, Joanna!
What a wonderful post and what an outpouring of response! You’ve hit a nerve. For me, the don’t write message was financial. Teachers told me and my mother that I was a gifted writer from an early age, and when we got home, my mother always took me aside and said, “You’ll never make a living as a writer. Don’t even try.” I took her words to heart and became a math teacher for thirty years! BTW I love teaching math and don’t regret a minute. When I turned forty, I started writing creatively, first poems and then novels, and I haven’t stopped since.
To your permission manifesto, woohoo!, I’ll just add, write the way that works for you. You may be a steady writer, turning out so many words a day. You may be a binge writer like me, with fallow periods and then cloudbursts of a whole novel in two weeks. Whatever your own method, it’s fine!
Thanks again for an inspiring post, Joanna!
Carole
Giving oneself permission to be absolutely authentic is immensely scary and immeasurably rewarding no matter the medium…bravo!
I finally reached the point where I gave myself permission to write. I know in my heart I was born a writer. Blogging gave me courage and now I have 2 published books.
Thank you, Joanna. Inspiring post!
Great post!
Our friends and families are worried that we’ll embarrass ourselves (them), or that there may come a time when they need to put us in a home (circus). That makes writers like the parents of teenagers who are desperately ashamed to be seen with us in public (private, anywhere).
The timing of your post couldn’t be more perfect for me. I’ve been struggling with how to approach a Seriously Big Issue: the lack of freedom of speech where I live, especially as it regards freedom of — and from — religion. Finally published it on the blog just today — before I read this, so don’t blame yourself. Just wish me luck staying out of jail (Turkish Prison)!
“The writer’s life is a journey of discovery, not a destination.” Joanna Penn.
As a writer, I discover more about myself and the world around me everyday, with every story or monologue that I write. And every discovery touches me, changes me, makes me a bigger and better person inside. It is the journey of my life. Thank you, Joanna, for your blog, for your words, for just being you, and for giving us your wonderful encouragement.