Why Writers Should Read You Are A Badass!

I love this book: You Are a Badass! by Jen Sincero. It's not a book geared toward writers specifically; but most writers, if not all, will gain something from this book. And that thing is...confidence! And desire! And determination! Do I have  you convinced yet?

The subtitle of this book is "How To Stop Doubting Your Greatness And Start Living An Awesome Life." I mean, how can we pass that up, right? How many of us doubt our greatness? How many of us doubt that we can finish writing that novel? How many of us doubt that anyone will like it? (I'm raising my hand. Are you?) The one thing that Jen does so well in this book is make you believe that whatever it is that you want out of your life, and in this case let's say your writing life, you can get it. It is within your grasp.

I'm sharing with you a paragraph from the introduction of the book that had me hooked from the moment I read it. I looked around the room and wondered if Jen had been spying on me because it described my life perfectly. Here it is:

"I always felt like, Come ON, this is the best I can do? Really? I'm going to make just enough to pay my rent this month? Again? And I'm going to spend another year dating a bunch of weirdoes, so I can be in all these wobbly, non-committal relationships and create even more drama? Really? And am I seriously going to question what my deeper purpose is and wallow in the misery of that quagmire for the millionth time?" 

Amen, Jen. 

I have taken several of the tips that Jen includes in her book to heart and have put them into practice. I'm not 100 percent there yet, but I have the belief that I will be behind me. That is something this book did for me. It is in my writing life, my personal life, and my professional life.

• You have to change your thinking first and then the evidence appears. (For example, with my blog--I believed I could run a successful blog that people would read. I could share my honesty and people would appreciate it. I see this evidence now because people are starting to contact me to advertise and guest post!)
• Surround yourself with people who think the way you want to think. (This includes my critique group members--so inspiring, my WOW! family, and my non-writing friends and family, too. I have no place for toxic people because they bring me down and squelch my creativity.)
• You cut yourself off from the supply of awesomeness when you are not in a state of gratitude. (You are blessed--you have the talent and ability and desire to write. You may even have people reading your work and/or offering to publish it for you. Be grateful for all these opportunities!)

So if you're feeling stuck and you're looking for a summer read, then get this book. It's available just about everywhere. She has a bit of a potty-mouth (no kidding by the title, huh?), but she's real and authentic; and she is following her own advice. Just writing this post for you makes me excited about the material again, after being finished with this book for over a month. Maybe I need to do a blog series about it on my own blog for a while because I am a badass and I don't want to forget! 

Margo L. Dill is a writer, editor, and instructor .Check out her blog here, and her two classes in the WOW! classroom here.