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Write for the Ninety-Nine, Not the One · The Daily Writer

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Daily Writer Podcast, where we bring you tips and inspiration each day to help you build habits for writing success.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: For more resources, including your free Daily Writer Starter Kit, visit DailyWriterLife.com.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: We writers often talk about the reasons that we like to write, but what are some of the reasons why we don't write?
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: What keeps us from writing?
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, several things probably come to mind: things like procrastination, not having enough time, and not feeling creative, just to name a few.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: But at the end of the day, one main thing keeps us from writing.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: The novelist Erica Jong hit the nail on the head when she said this.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: I went for years not finishing anything, because of course, when you finish something, you can be judged.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's take a moment here for some honesty.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Is there somebody in your life that you're afraid of disappointing with your writing?
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's a parent or a sibling.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's a teacher.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's a friend of yours who has a popular blog or who's published some books.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Now imagine that you put your writing out there and they don't like it.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they express some disappointment or even they leave a bad review of your book on Amazon.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Then they just move on with their life and they promptly forget about it.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: But that's basically the extent of it.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, what I'm saying is at its worst, being judged by somebody just means that your writing wasn't really for them.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yet in our minds, we're terrified of disappointing somebody.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: We think that it's going to be the worst thing that ever happened in the history of humanity.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: And we let this fear of being judged by one person keep us from creating writing that 99 other people are going to absolutely love.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: So my challenge to you is to finish your writing, do the work, because chances are pretty high that the 99 are going to really enjoy it.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: And the one person who might not like it, well, that means it just wasn't for them.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Here's today's challenge.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Think about that one person that you're most afraid of disappointing.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: What is the worst thing that can happen if they don't like your writing?
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's a good question to ask yourself.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, before I close this episode, a big thanks to today's sponsor, Thumbprint Creative.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: You've heard it said, don't judge a book by its cover, but in the book world, this is absolutely not true.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: People do judge the quality of the book by its cover.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, the cover design is the first thing that people notice about a book, typically.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: That's why my graphic designer of choice is Christy Griffith, owner of Thumbprint Creative.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: I have worked with Christy for years, and she's designed covers and interior layouts for my own books, my ghostwriting client books, as well as a lot of books for friends and colleagues that I've sent her way.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Christy works closely with you to design a layout that perfectly captures the theme and genre of your book.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: She's great.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Her prices are very reasonable.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: I think you're really going to enjoy working with her.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: You can go to go thumbprint.com to learn more, or if you'd like a personal intro to Christy, shoot me an email at Kent at DailyWriterLife.com and I would be happy to do so.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: As always, my friend, thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.