Trusting the Process


One characteristic most writers can identify clearly with is self-doubt.  No matter how successful or how far we’ve come on the writing journey, there are days when nothing seems to flow and when “everyone else” is out performing you with productivity or sales.   It’s times like these when the best thing you can do is trust the process.

As creators, our process differs individually.  That’s what we need to embrace--our unique way of creating.  It truly doesn’t matter whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, the mental process can easily be disrupted when our mind becomes cluttered with nonsense like what your peers are accomplishing or what you feel you “should” be producing.  Perhaps your readers are on your mind...or the book reviewers...or your mom...whatever those voices are, tell them to shut up. 

To be a good writer, you need to be true to your voice.  If you’ve had some success and have a following, remember that those fans weren’t there before that first published novel but they’re there now because of it.  Why?  Because for that first book you were writing because you had a story to tell, you were being true to you, you honored your inner voice. Those reasons are still there, but perhaps they’re hidden beneath expectations or comparisons. 

It’s those expectations and comparisons that can creep in and cause self-doubt.  When you sit at the keyboard, shut out those voices.  Do what you do the way that you do it.  Period. 

For me, my process is putting on head phones, listening to my favorite songs on iTunes, lighting a candle, turning off my cell phone and shutting out the world.  If I’m still a bit blocked on my work in progress, I bring out an old manuscript and revise.  I write.  I sit. I shut out the world.  I write.  Do I think of the reviewers or the fans at this point?  No.  I immerse myself in my own world and let myself enjoy the process. 

We creators are incredibly lucky. We have characters to entertain us and worlds waiting for us to expose them.  When we’re in our bubble, none of that outside stuff matters.  It honestly doesn’t.  We are masters of our own empires--at least while we’re sitting at our desks. 

Whatever your process is, trust that it works for you.  It doesn’t matter if a fellow author is producing a book every two months and bragging about her prolific nature.  If that’s not your style--not your way--then don’t try to change.  At the end of the day, quality matters...your voice matters...your story told the way you need to tell it matters.  Trust your process and let it flow.  

By Amber Lea Easton
Amber Lea Easton is a multi-published fiction and nonfiction author. For twenty years, she's worked in the fields of journalism and advertising with a brief detour into the financial industry.

Although she holds a BA in Communications & Journalism, she is a perpetual student of life who enjoys taking classes on a wide variety of subjects when time allows.

Smart is sexy, according to Easton, which is why she writes about strong female characters who have their flaws and challenges but ultimately persevere.  She currently has two romantic suspense novels out in the world, Kiss Me Slowly and Riptide, with four more slated for publication in 2013. http://www.amberleaeaston.com

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