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What Do You Offer That is Unique? · The Daily Writer

• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Hey my friend, welcome to today's episode of the Daily Writer Podcast.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: So glad to have you with me, as always.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, before I get into the content of today's episode, I want to take a second to tell you about my brand new book, 18 Words to Live By, A Father's Wisdom on What Matters Most.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: It came out last week, and I am so thrilled to be able to share this book with you after many months of hard work on it.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: 18 Words to Live By is a short, fast read covering 18 values to guide your life.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: This is a very different kind of book in that I didn't really do any advanced promotion or build a launch team for this.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason is that it was a gift for my son Ben's birthday, which was April 11th.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I wanted it to be a surprise for him.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: So the book is kind of like a compass.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's a collection of essential values to carry with you on life's journey.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: And these are values that help you to become a person of character.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: So in the book, I talk about values like empathy, responsibility, integrity, freedom, forgiveness, and many more.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I have to tell you, this is my favorite thing that I've ever written.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: I really tried to pour my heart and soul into this book, and I share some very personal stories that I hope will be inspiring to anybody who's looking for a short, simple book that's kind of like a little handbook for life.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Each of the 18 short chapters is written like a letter, and you can read each of those in just three or four minutes.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: They're super short, and I designed the book intentionally that way.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: Or it can be something that you pick up and you read a few of those in one setting, you set the book down, you come back to it later.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's one of those kind of books you can kind of take with you wherever you go, and you can read a little bit at a time.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: You can get the book via a link in the show notes or by going to KentSanders.net slash 18 words.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's one eight words.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: I currently have a paperback and ebook with the hardback and audiobook versions coming out here in the next couple of months.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: The print edition, and maybe I'll do a podcast episode about this, all about the the hardback edition.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: This is actually a custom print job that I'm I've been working with a printer here in St.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Louis on.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: There's a whole story behind the hardback version.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: It was a very complicated deal, but I'm absolutely thrilled with the way that it's turning out.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: And anyway, there's a whole story behind uh why I did a custom print job with that.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll share that sometime when the book comes out.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, the book is great.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: I absolutely love it, and I hope that you will check it out.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: And by the way, you know, since this is the month of April, high school and college graduations are coming up very soon.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have somebody in your life who's going to be a graduate, this makes an absolutely perfect little gift for them.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure and check it out.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: There will be a link in the show notes.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get to today's episode, which is titled, What Do You Offer That Is Unique?
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And this is actually part four of our mini-series on dealing with jealousy as a writer.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: As writers, sometimes we see another person's success and we believe that we should have it as well.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: But when you stop and think about it, the logic doesn't really add up.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason is that creativity is like a thumbprint.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody has creative gifts, whether they realize it or not, and everybody has something unique to offer to the world.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: I look at creativity as the thumbprint of your soul.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: And you may not believe that you're unique, but you are.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: You are a one-of-a-kind combination of personality, experiences, gifts, and passions that has never existed before and will never exist again.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: So if you don't believe that you're a unique creation and you don't use your writing gift as the limitless potential that it truly is, I think you're selling yourself short.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Well, where do we get tripped up in this process?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it happens whenever we see other people writing about topics that are similar to ours.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: And it's really easy to think, well, that person's writing about the same kinds of things that I'm writing about.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And he or she is way more successful.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: So that somehow invalidates my writing or my creativity or my or my writing gifts.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Well, this is actually good news whenever other people are writing about your topics because it proves that there's an audience for your writing.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: And you should never worry about creative competition.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Two people can take the same topic or even the same basic story, and they can write two completely different things about it.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Look at this in terms of music.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: How many songs about lost love have you heard over the years?
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Probably thousands.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: They all focus on the same subject of loving somebody, then losing that person, and they use the same 12 notes on the musical scale.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: The vast majority of those songs are in four-four time, and they use a variation of a rhythm section, which is bass, drums, guitar, and keyboard.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Some of those songs are going to throw in horns and strings.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: So there's really kind of a small number of elements that each of those songs use, yet we never complain about the similarities between those songs.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Because there's an infinite number of variations on the same theme using the same basic creative tools, which are just a few instruments.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: And the same is true with writing.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: There is an infinite number of variations on the same themes and topics.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: So don't worry about somebody else's strengths and success.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: They're traveling on their own writing journey.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: So don't spend your life trying to sing somebody else's tune.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Trying to copy another person's success makes about as much sense as wishing you had their thumbprint.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, focus on your own unique journey and how you can bring more of your writing and your own story into the world.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: Here's today's question What is a unique perspective that you and only you can bring into your writing?
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening to today's episode.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: For more, you can visit us at dailywriterlife.com.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, and I'll see you tomorrow.