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You're Not the Same Writer Anymore · The Daily Writer

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Hey my friend, thanks for joining me for today's episode.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Email subscriber Lori Melton sent in a question.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: She says, After you finish a big book project, how do you resume your life as a writer?
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: And where do you put your focus?
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's articles for your email list, writing the next book, doing more marketing, or focusing on some of the new skills and strategies you've picked up during your book writing.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: In some ways, I'm the same writer that I was before the book, but in others, I'm not the same writer anymore.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm in a different place.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Lori, first of all, thanks so much for your question.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I've got three thoughts for you here today.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, the fact that you're a different writer after a big book launch, I would say, is a great thing.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: I would actually be really concerned if you said that you were the exact same person as you were before your book came out.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Because the reality is that once you've climbed a bigger mountain and you've seen a brand new view, I'd expect that you would be a different person.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: And that means now you're rethinking all the things that you were doing before, and that's a very healthy instinct.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Second, I would suggest taking a little bit of time to rethink what you actually want from your writing.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: What do you want writing to do for your life?
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want more income?
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want a more influential author platform?
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want more creative fulfillment or more freedom in your life?
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want more opportunities from it?
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we talk a lot about how we want our books and our writing to serve readers, which is great.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's what they should do.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: But after all, writing is a business, and that business should serve your goals as well.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Your books, products, and services should all be out there working really hard on your behalf.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: And third, I would say it's pretty normal to feel a sense of letdown after you reach a big goal.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: If you're wired to be an achiever, as soon as you reach one goal, you look around and you go, okay, that was great, but what's next?
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: But that sense of letdown, if you feel it, is just your creative spirit telling you how you've grown in the process of reaching that goal.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: You're no longer satisfied with doing the same thing over and over again, and you're ready for the next big challenge.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Let me share a quick story.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: A few years ago, I had my first ghostwriting project with a major publisher come out.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: I had worked really hard on the book, the publisher was happy, the client was happy, the agent was happy, everybody was happy, and the book was really, really good, if I do say so myself.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: And for months, once the book had gone through copy editing and it was now in the production process, in the months between, I turned the book in and the book was going to be released.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: In those months, I had been anticipating almost on a daily basis the moment when I could walk into my local Barnes and Noble store and get my hands on a print copy of the book.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: And it was very nicely done, hardcover with a dust jacket.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: So it was kind of, you know, all the things that you dream of sometimes as a writer.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I had called ahead to Barnes and Noble, and this was a couple of days before release.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Hey, I know the book is not officially released yet, but is it possible for me to go ahead and come in?
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Because uh I know that you guys have the book in stock.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Is it possible for me to come in and go ahead and buy a copy of the book?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: And they said yes.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: So they went in the back, into the stock room, got a copy, uh, got a copy of the book, took it up to the area by the cash registers where they store books for customers.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: I went in, had them pull the book off of that area, and I remember the cashier putting the book on the counter in front of me, and I got to hold it in my hands for the first time.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the moment that so many writers wait their whole lives for.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: The moment when they go to a bookstore and they can see their hard work in print.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what I found so interesting is that in the 60 seconds between the time it took me to pay for the book and walk out to my truck, in those 60 seconds, I felt a little bit let down.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember getting into my truck that day and I set the book on the passenger seat right next to me.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I felt this weird sense of just feeling a little bit sad and a little bit let down.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't understand why in the moment.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: It was such a bizarre feeling.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I had worked for such a long time and built up my ghostwriting business to have this really cool opportunity.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yet in that moment, I felt a little bit sad.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: And later on, I realized what had happened.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: I felt a little bit let down in that moment because that goal had been realized.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: My goal of having a book with a traditional publisher, certainly not my only goal, but it was something that I wanted to happen.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: And suddenly that goal was not all that interesting to me anymore because I had achieved it.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Now, keep in mind it didn't have anything to do with this particular book.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I love that book.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's a fantastic book.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: The details of the book actually don't matter because the same thing would have happened with me no matter what the book was.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: I have a great relationship with the publisher and with the author of the book and so forth.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: So the particular book didn't make any difference, but in my mind, I felt a little bit let down because I was already in my mind on to the next thing.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now, reaching a big goal is wonderful, of course, but in the process of reaching that goal, it changes you as a person.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's the whole point of reaching towards big goals.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: The point is not necessarily the achievement itself, but the point is the person that you become while achieving it.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Because the struggle, the effort, the blood, the sweat, the tears, all those things change you as a person in the process of going for bigger and bigger goals.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: And in the process of building new skills and stretching yourself, you figured out what kinds of things in the writing life matter to you and what kinds of things don't matter to you.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's sometimes why we feel a little bit off after we reach a big milestone.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, the old goal is smaller because you've grown taller.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: And in those moments, when you feel that way, make sure and ask yourself in the process of reaching this goal, what kind of person have I become?
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: And what kind of writer do I want to become next?
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's the real point of the journey.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Lori, thanks so much for your question and keep on writing.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: And hey, friends, that's it for today.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you next time.