The Writer Mindset

It's not the possession of a fancy degree, raw talent, or a special ability to grind out 5,000 words an hour that determines whether someone will make it as a writer. On the contrary, I believe those things are secondary to, what I call, the writer mindset. In this blog post, I will explain what the writer mindset consists of and how you can nurture it in yourself in order to become the best writer you can be.

What is it and why does it matter?

Writing a novel requires vast amounts of iteration. It's hardly a straightforward process. You don't wake up one day and decide you're gonna write a book and then do it without running into (more than a few) unexpected obstacles.

The first step in the process tends to be the easiest. You plan your story, you come up with a bunch of characters you're excited to write about, you plot out the climax and big twist, you spend endless hours scrolling on pinterest and making inspiration boards for each ship, and maybe even make a few playlists on Spotify. Then, it comes time to write and you realize you have no idea where the story should begin, or one of your characters feels flat and uninspired, or you find that your whole story is only about 10,000 words, and, naturally, you assume you suck and that you're just not cut out for this.

This is the point when most people quit. In a survey conducted in 2002, 81% of subjects in America reported their desire to write a book. In other words, the majority of people either want to write a book or simply believe that they could, if they chose to. Reality paints a very different picture. Out of every 1000 people who set out to write a book, only 30 actually complete it. That means 97% drop off somewhere along the way.

The obvious next question is: Why?

The most common reasons that were quoted in the survey are "lack of motivation," "procrastination," "trying to be perfect,""not finding the ideal time to write," and "writer's block." All these reasons have one thing in common, they're mental!

So what does this tell us about writing? It shows that what truly determines whether someone finished their first novel or not is their mindset. If you can develop this specific kind of mental guption, you are in a better position than 97% of those who try to write a book.

The writer mindset, thus, refers to the ability to navigate the natural obstacles of writing with the determination and flexibility, secure in the knowledge that you can and will write a great book.

What does it take?

Here are the components of the writer's mindset:

• Determination - You cannot allow distractions or obstacles to stand in your way, and the only way to make yourself fail-proof is to decide, once and for all, that you are doing this and nothing is going to stop you. With enough determination, every obstacle becomes surmountable.

• Flexibility - When obstacles do, inevitably, present themselves, you must be ready to accommodate.

  • If you suddenly have much more work and can't write at your normal time, flexibility will allow you to either shuffle things around to make time or start getting up an hour earlier to write.

  • If you break both your arms and can't move them at all, flexibility means you are ok with using a speech-to-text app to transcribe your writing so you don't have to stop altogether.

  • If you read a writing craft book and realize you chose the wrong main character for your story, flexibility means you sit down and figure out who the best main character is, and then you re-write from that perspective. You get the idea.

• Openness to Feedback - When you're writing a story and you're immersed in the world and deeply connected to the characters, it becomes very easy to miss the inconsistencies and gaps of knowledge because you are not in your readers' shoes. This is why feedback is so important, it provides you with information on other's experience of your writing. That's all it is, information.

  • If someone doesn't like one of your characters, it doesn't mean you're a bad writer, it's just information you get to file into your "useful" or "not useful" folders.

  • Make sure to ask for clarification when you don't understand a piece of feedback and be open to seeing your story from the eyes of someone else, who: a) has had different experiences than you, b) doesn't know everything you know about your world and characters, and c) hasn't spent hundreds of hours thinking about your story.

  • Again, openness to feedback means accepting and processing criticism adequately. This involves deciding whether to incorporate it or not and not attaching any pride or shame to any of it.

• Confidence - One of the universal writer experiences is that of impostor syndrome (aka feeling like you're not as good a writer as everyone else or that your story is not worthy of publication). Everyone feels like this once in a while, the important thing is that you understand what to do when the feeling comes.

  • First, examine it. Did you take any specific action that triggered this feeling? Were you scrolling through the accolade section of another author's social media? Did you read a portion of your first draft and find that it was riddled with grammatical mistakes? Did you find a plot hole?

  • Second, thank the thought for trying to protect you and let it go! These kinds of thoughts are a result of our biological instincts for survival. Your subconscious doesn't want you to be embarrassed or experience failure, so it sends you feelings that will deter you from taking actions that might lead to that. However, you know something that your subconscious doesn't - you are in control here. Your book doesn't get published until you say so (unless you are on contract, in which case you likely have already written a book and developed the writer's mindset), which means it is in your hands until you decide that it is great.

  • Third, remove or re-write your triggers. Stop scrolling through other's social media if you know it'll make you feel shitty about yourself, or re-write the practice so that it evokes positive feelings. Change your internal monologue from "I'll never achieve this kind of success," to "look at all the success that is available to writers like me!"

  • Finally, understand and accept that no book is absolutely perfect. Perfection is a myth and also highly subjective. If you love your story, there will, with 100% certainty, be people out there who will also love it.

How can you nurture it in yourself?

Developing the writer's mindset takes two things, practice and perseverance. Set a consistent writing practice, you can start with as little as 10 minutes a day. What matters is that you stick to it. Consistency will help you strengthen the will power muscle that will lead to determination. Making it a priority to complete your daily writing practice will likely involve having to change when and where you write, depending on how busy you are, holidays, vacations, etc. This will help you become more flexible without sacrificing your writing time.

Once a week, or if you are extra nervous, once a month, share little bit of your writing with a trusted friend or family member (or a bunch of strangers online) to start developing confidence and openness to feedback. Most importantly, be patient with yourself and keep reminding yourself of why you started. There will be hard days and bad days but if you stay with it, it WILL get easier and you WILL finish your novel.

Good luck, I believe in you!