Author

Bryan Hutchinson

I became a writer because I saw a ghost. I had my first paranormal experience when I was 8 years old. At first, I thought it was just me and that I had 'night terrors.' It turns out that I wasn't imagining things. I've wanted to write about that experience for over 30 years. And so, yes, it literally is the reason I became a writer. Now, I've finally done it! I've written the story. You can get a copy at most online booksellers, or click here.

Why I Write (And Maybe You Should Too)

Why I Write (And Maybe You Should Too)

written by Bryan Hutchinson

Please join me in congratulating the first place winner of our annual writing contest, Henry Gasko! For me, this is one of the best articles on writing I have ever read and I find it more than worthy of first place. For such a short post, it sure packs a wallop. Henry will inspire you to pick up that pen of yours and write something that matters, to you.

I hate writing.

I hate the fact that sometimes I do it to just impress my friends. I hate that I sometimes do it because it’s the only way an old man might, belatedly, become noticed by the world. And sometimes I do it from simple habit, to hide the fact that today I have nothing else to do and so I will write, even though I have nothing much to say.

But all the books say to do it anyway. They say that if I practice diligently enough for long enough, something consequential will magically appear. And so I do it, even though I suspect that I am merely getting faster at writing rubbish.
I hate the self-doubt that overcomes me every time I sit down and try to get some good words on the screen. Not just any words. Some good words. Hemingway killed himself when the right words would no longer come. I hate that I don’t have that kind of courage.

And, no, I can’t write about just anything and pretend it matters. Not about hard-boiled detectives with surnames that you remind you of guns or minerals, or secret agents who are practically super-heroes. And certainly not dragons or elves or vampires or zombies. I hate the fact that I can’t write about these fantasies. I just physically can’t. If I could, if I would embrace escapism and fantasy and magical realism and all the other ways of hiding from the reality of this world, and I would have a million plots available to me. None of them would reflect the world I live in but that wouldn’t matter. I could pretend that somehow — metaphorically or allegorically — they did.

But I am seventy years old, and have tried all those escapes, and I can’t do it. I can’t embrace the certain victories that always occur realms such as Mordor or Hogwarts, or the safely externalized demons of The Overlook. If there are demons in the world, they cannot be out there, they must be in here.

But, just maybe, if I write often enough and long enough, a few words might come that explain why my life is worth living, words that might answer the only question that really matters: “Why bother.”

And then I would have something that I would show my children and my grandchildren. And I could look back on my life without the creeping depression of a life unfulfilled, and I could look forward to my death knowing that I have left a valuable gift, however small, for my children.

That’s why I write.

The Challenge Is To Do Your Part As A Writer: Tell Your Story

The Challenge Is To Do Your Part As A Writer: Tell Your Story

written by Bryan Hutchinson

Today I am happy to announce our 2nd place winner of our annual writing contest, Rachel Macdonald! Please help me congratulate her. 1st place will be announced next week.

I haven’t written a single word in over a month; haven’t edited the book it took me three years to write, haven’t put a scratch in my journal or a jot in my notepad of ideas. And today I am feeling sure I have the best excuse ever creatively conceived–life. I have six children (including two college students) all living at home, my husband is working two jobs, and our house is in the midst of the remodel it has earned trying to contain eight people for fourteen years. And I mean really, how many more excuses does a person need?

On top of that, a stingy, unrelenting inner voice has been whispering that there is no time, no point, and no worth in the book I have given sleepless nights to record. And I believe it. Until a chimney sweep knocks on my door.

But he’s no chimney sweep from Mary Poppins. His arms, legs, and neck are stamped with a rainbow of life history. His bandanna covers everything on his head that isn’t the ponytail touching the center of his back, and his eyes crinkle above a dirt-blond beard. He laughs when he tells me the worn antique bench sitting at the front of my house (the one I’ve told myself I’ll paint someday) might go missing if I’m not careful. He says it’s just the kind of thing he wants to put on his truck and take home to his wife. He adds that he enjoys finding pieces like these and making them beautiful again to gift to her. His voice booms but his smile is kind. So, I think, an artistic, happily married pirate has come to clean my chimneys.

But there’s more. There is always more. While a hose inserted into the upstairs fireplace sucks away years of ashes, we stand and talk. He wants to know about the beautiful building pictured on my wall. “My husband and I were married there,” I tell him. He nods and says he’s done repair work on buildings such as that one. He then firmly declares himself a spiritual man and explains how in places like those he feels closer to heaven. It’s a major contrast to the feelings he experienced amid the noise and chaos of The Gulf War. He says he did work there too. Just a different kind.

In circumstances like war, I think, a person has two choices–to become hardened and bitter, or to become strong and hopeful. And when he pulls down his t-shirt collar to show me his tattoos, I can see which one he has chosen.

Two hearts over his heart. “Because my daughters have my heart,” he explains. One bear claw on his left shoulder blade. “And my son has my back,” he says. A cross on each forearm and a giant cross at the top of his back between his shoulder blades. “Because God has my soul,” he finishes.

“I’m not going to tattoo myself with naked women,” he adds solemnly. “I want tattoos that mean something more. That say something important.”

Just thirty minutes with this stranger and for the first time in weeks, I notice my heart is beating. My brain feels like it’s coming out of a poisoned-apple induced sleep. And all of this is telling me what I almost forgot. I have something important to say too.

It’s something I’ve known since first grade. When seven-year-old me bit my lip and jiggled my legs and gripped my book. My book. I had written and illustrated a whole story which I was about to read aloud to my fellow first-graders. The story opened with a girl who loved to have her bed made and her clothes folded, but when she came home to the room she shared with her little sister and found the whole place a disaster, again, she knew something had to change. This began a journey in which she struggled for a better world. One where she could come home to her very own room. One where the dolls and stuffed animals would stay neatly lined against her pillow.

As my story unfolded, so did the keen awareness of watching my classmates smile, or laugh, or listen solemnly and lean forward to see the pictures. It was a new feeling for me that I could not have written or crayoned at the time, but it rang true. It was that of the human experience being shared and being received. I had shared a piece of myself–my thoughts, and feelings, and a possible end to my journey and solution to a problem that mirrored my own real-life problem. And they had listened. I wanted to do it again.

I have journaled, and written stories ever since. Though I have not shared every word I have ever written, I always write with the intent to share; to add my stamp to the world’s colorful history with the hope that someone, someday, will pick up my published book or my scribbled journal entry and will feel less alone.

This is the why behind my writing. The same creatively conceived excuse I was using not write was the same excuse I had to write–Life.

And my new chimney sweep, veteran, artist friend has reminded me. True story, real story, bumps us up against each other. And it is an unexpected, messy, and glorious process to be a part of.

My chimney is now clean, so I show this man to the door and we say goodbye. Then I go to my computer and sit down to do my part.

I have stories to tell. And so do you!

I have stories to tell. And so do you!

written by Bryan Hutchinson

Today I am happy to announce our 3rd place winner of our annual writing contest, Kimberley Claire Young! Please help me congratulate her. 2nd place and 1st place will be announced over the next few days.

I am a writer.

Not a well-known or a popular or a published one, but I am a writer anyway. I’ve always written little stories, but I never dared to publish anything. I was scared to be judged or bullied for wanting to write stories. But I knew I wanted to write. Just because I could. I was scrolling through an old journal and read a story I wrote 14 years ago when I was a young girl of 13. It was about my cat and all the adventures he’d have when he jumped over the garden fence. I thought it was cute, but not very good. It was fun to see how far I’ve come since then.

I have some brain damage. I had 5 surgeries to have a brain tumor removed and had radiation therapy for a month. I still have the tumor, but it isn’t life-threatening. English isn’t my first language, but for some reason, I prefer to write in English. My life isn’t easy because of my illness, but I still have a voice. And I plan on using it to tell whatever stories that may spring up into my mind.

Recently, I went back to school. I’m studying to become a teacher’s assistant. Last year, I worked with kids from the first grade. I was so sweet to see the kids learning how to write letters. The letters became words, the words turned into sentences and the sentences became a paragraph of their very first story. I loved seeing the wonder in their eyes. Eager to know where their story would go next. I hope that when they reach my age, they’re still writing and make other people happy with their stories.

I have stories to tell. And so do you. I’m proud of how far I’ve come already. My confidence is growing steadily. I want you to know that everyone can be a writer. Just write something, anything! You don’t need to publish it right away, maybe never, but you still wrote something.

This is the beginning of your story. And mine. Let’s see how far we can take this, right?

I’m a writer. And so are you.

Why Your First Draft Is NOT Crap

Why Your First Draft Is NOT Crap

written by Bryan Hutchinson

Every book, every article, and every blog post for that matter starts off with a first draft.

Your first draft sucks! It’s utter and complete crap.

Every writer on God’s green earth has heard this line in one form or another at some point, and somehow we come to believe and even tell ourselves this, too, as if it is okay, without ever considering the true mental and emotional impact.

I refuse to join the chorus. I do not agree. (Well, I wrote the book about it!)

Read More

Stop Killing Your Creative Genius With Ridiculous Comparisons (This Is How To Become The Greatest You Can Be)

Stop Killing Your Creative Genius With Ridiculous Comparisons (This Is How To Become The Greatest You Can Be)

written by Bryan Hutchinson

Perhaps you recently went on Facebook and saw that your hero (or your nemesis) published a new article that went crazy viral, or maybe they published a new book that hit the NYT’s bestseller list (it went all the way up to #1!), and to make matters worse, they posted pictures of their wonderful new house… and it hurts.

It hurts because no matter how hard you try you can never match up, much less surpass what they’re doing.

If we’re honest, we all have those people in our lives, on our Facebook/Twitter/Insta feeds.

Here’s what we have to do about them:

Okay, no, don’t scream. It’s going to be ok. (Well, scream if you really want to!)

  1. We have to do our own thing.
  2. Live our own lives.
  3. Create our own art.
  4. And, achieve our own results.

Too many of us fail not because we’re not good enough or that we don’t have the desire or the tenacity. No, we fail because we can never measure up.

We can never measure up to perception.

A study by Gothenburg Research Institute found that people who spent more time on Facebook ended up feeling less happy and confident. Abstract: “When Facebook users compare their own lives with others’ seemingly more successful careers and happy relationships, they may feel that their own lives are less successful in comparison.”

Even if you were to reach, or surpass, your hero’s achievements you would likely soon find someone else to unfairly compare yourself to, and thus, no matter how successful and happy you could be, you choose to be unhappy and unfulfilled because of what someone else is doing (or appears to be doing).

That’s right, it’s a choice. To compare or not compare is a choice. It always has been.

Ask yourself this:

Are you living and working towards your own goals or are you working towards what someone else has chosen for themselves?

There’s something better for you.

It’s okay to measure ourselves and look at how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go, but it should be for ourselves and what we want and not for someone else and what they want.

We all get mixed up in this at some point when we forget what we want and get caught up in living up to someone else’s dream because their achievements are so bright and shiny and seem so much better.

You know your situation is bad when you find yourself silently rejoicing (even if it’s secretly) at your nemesis’ missteps. This isn’t you.

Their dream is not yours. Their work style, their creativity, and their ‘life’ are not yours. You are a separate creation, with your own dreams and desires.

It’s okay to celebrate others and honestly say to yourself, “This isn’t for me, but I am happy for you!” By doing this, you release yourself from the limits you’ve put on your own destiny.

So many of us get terribly lost or are severely delayed because we’re fixated on what others are doing (or seem to be doing) and where they have chosen to go.

Your potential is incredible, beyond what you realize, and yet, it’s easily lost when you try to measure up to someone else’s potential and end up disregarding your own.

Don’t do that. The pain and regret that follows when you realize what’s happened is not worth it. Reach for your own potential.

Do your own thing.

The NYT’s bestseller list might not currently be your goal. Maybe you prefer to write a brilliant screenplay that will never appear on any bestseller’s list. But if you take on someone else’s goal you’ll end up half-assing a so-so novel when you could’ve been passionately writing your screenplay.

Why desire your hero’s penthouse in the city when you prefer the “home” feel of the small-town life?

Why seek to find your voice when you never lost it? Because someone else is openly searching for theirs you suddenly feel yours isn’t good enough? Hogwash!

These are not The Way. You’ll end up quitting if you follow such ways.

Serious writers never quit, they follow their own path and tell their own stories in their own ways.

Now it’s time to tell yours–your way.

(For Free) Download the Book On Writing: Writer’s Doubt

(For Free) Download the Book On Writing: Writer’s Doubt

written by Bryan Hutchinson

For this week only you can easily download the bestselling book, Writer’s Doubt and several other great books on writing by Jeff Goins, K.M. Weiland, Angela Ackerman, Becca Puglisi, and other brilliant minds, for free!

FREE for This Week Only:

If you sign up for the Remarkable Writers Course Bundle, you will receive the first month free using the code 1MONTHFREE!  (This offer is only good for this week and then goes away like the morning’s mist.)

Within the BONUS sections of the course curriculum you can download the complete books, Writer’s Doubt by Bryan Hutchinson, You Are A Writer by Jeff Goins and other bestselling books (all for free)!

And that’s just the gravy.

The Remarkable Writers Course Bundle includes:

The Serious Writers Masterclass (Brand New!)

Writers Crushing Doubt (Most Popular!)

The Art of Positive Journaling (Highly recommended for those who want to cultivate the habit of writing every day!)

How to Get Attention (Students Love this! It Works. Get attention for your writing and your art.)

Obviously these courses are an enormous amount of content and an entire month for free is quite a bit of time to get your feet wet, learn the lessons you want to learn right away, AND, don’t forget, download all of the bonus content entirely for free!

In order to get in, simply CLICK HERE and use the code: 1MONTHFREE

Yes, it’s true you can sign up, download all the bestselling books and absorb as much of the lessons possible in 30 days, but I think once you realize just how much content there is and how valuable it is, you’ll stay around for a while and take the lessons in a way that truly benefits you. You’ve got nothing to lose, either way.

Once you sign up you’ll have access to all of the content in the Remarkable Writes Course Bundle, including all of the bonus books for download and absolutely zero limitations.

One Month Entirely Free!

CLICK HERE and use the code: 1MONTHFREE

What are you waiting for? It’s Christmas!

Learning is the beginning of wealth. Learning is the beginning of health. Learning is the beginning of spirituality. Searching and learning is where the miracle process all begins. ―Jim Rohn

Fear and the Writer Within You

Fear and the Writer Within You

written by Bryan Hutchinson

A long time ago, when I was still in my teens, a good friend of mine, Phil, used to tell me, “It just doesn’t matter.”

He’d say this whenever we were about to do something daring (better said, crazy) and we would either end up looking like a couple of idiots, brave as all get out, or we’d be ignored and no one would give a damn.

Right, so in order to get me to go along with whatever scheme he had come up with, he’d look me in the eyes, shrug and say, “It just doesn’t matter.” All my arguments and fears would be swept to the wayside and we’d get to creating whatever ruckus was next.

However, to be completely honest with you, at the time I didn’t understand what he was really saying. Sadly, I’ll never get the chance to ask him because he passed away.

Over the years of writing, blogging, publishing in public and failing more often than succeeding, I think I finally realize what he was saying:

Whatever we fear, or whatever shame we may suffer, we’ve got to go for it anyway. The risk is worth it and even if it doesn’t seem like it, it just doesn’t matter, let’s do it!

And boy, did we. I’ll never forget those firecrackers! (But that’s another story.)

Phil never really cared about glory or being noticed, he simply wanted to live life and do whatever we were afraid of. He was so brave. The bravest person I’ve ever known.

Such unwavering bravery is sorely missed in the world today, especially in the arts, when everyone is so worried about being criticized, of making a mistake, and looking like a failure.

So what!?

I mean, who gives a damn if you fail?

I don’t, and you shouldn’t either. I’ll tell you why.

It took me a long time to really understand what a 16-year-old understood already so young.

Life is full of risks, but it’s also very short and if you don’t live your dreams now you may die later regretting that you never took your chances.

People often think of fear as life and death, fight or flight, but there’s another fear and it’s just as dangerous. It’s the fear of looking like a failure and being shamed. Such as what might come if you do something risky and fall flat on your face.

The fear of shame is the fear most people allow to control their dreams and, if we’re being honest about this, it controls the direction their lives take and how they interact with others.

Over the years I’ve met people who work day-to-day doing the daily grind as they call it and they ask me why I bother taking the risks of writing and publishing books. They ask this as if all I’m doing is sticking my neck out and looking foolish. These are the people who sadly will likely never accomplish much outside of a 9 to 5.

On the other hand, I’ve had people ask me for advice on how to write books, how to publish them and how to market them. These folks assume that publishing is worth it and many have gone on to do just that, several, I’m happy to say, surpassing my success.

I’m sure you noticed, there’s a striking difference between those two groups.

One group is afraid of the risk of being shamed or they think they’re not talented enough to do anything on their own and fear failure, and the other group is willing to take risks and just wants to know how best to go about it.

Both groups are projecting the outcome they see on to me, success or failure.

We are all in one of those two groups. (I know there’s a lot of grey area I’m skipping here and I’m doing that on purpose.)

There’s the group of doers and the group of those afraid to do whatever their “it” is.

And believe me, everyone, every person on this Earth of ours, has their own “it.”

What’s yours? Are you pursuing it? If not, why not? What’s stopping you?

Pretend if you have to, pretend until you’re not pretending anymore.

Are you an introvert? Pretend to be an extrovert for at least a day.

Scared? Pretend to be brave for a day.

Can’t focus? Pretend, just for a day, that you have all the focus in the world, sit down, turn off all the distractions and get to it.

Whatever your fear or hangup, it just doesn’t matter. Today might be your last. 

It’s interesting how realizing today might be your last, really, truly understanding this, that our daily hang-ups suddenly vanish and we let go of fear, shame, and guilt.

Phil went after his dreams every single day that I knew him. He was one of the most joyful people I’ve ever met, and yet, he had issues outside of his control that eventually led to the end of his life at an all too early age.

The day came when it was Phil’s last, but I’ll tell you this about my friend, while he was here there were things that scared the shit out of him, there were things he was clearly afraid of, but one thing he never let stop him were his fears, certainly not of failure or of shame.

“It just doesn’t matter.” In the right context, are powerful words. Fear and shame, just do not matter, they’ve got another thing coming if they think they can stop us!

You’ve got another thing coming! Was another one of Phil’s sayings whenever someone hinted to him that he was afraid to do something. We first heard it in a Judas Priest song and it became our anthem.

Out there is a fortune waiting to be had 

If you think I’ll let it go you’re mad 

You’ve got another thing comin’  

―Judas Priest, 1982

Even today, when I get a little freaked out, a little too overwhelmed and I start worrying and letting anxiety get the better of me―because let’s face it, I’m human―I turn on that song and I feel the anxiety melt away. I see Phil’s smile in my mind’s eye as we walked down the road with his boom box blaring, “You’ve got another thing comin'”

Sometimes I have to pretend I’m a badass again, the way I was when I was with Phil.

The introvert

A lot of people don’t realize this about me, but I am in introvert. As a kid, I was terribly shy and I stayed mostly to myself. I was very lucky to befriend Phil in school.

If it hadn’t been for Phil, I would be in the first group I talked about, afraid of taking risks and being shamed, living safe day-to-day, only working the grind and hating every minute of it. Instead, I’ve written hundreds of articles, published in magazines, newspapers, and on blogs across the net. I’ve published a few books, too.

A lot of what I’ve tried hasn’t worked, and yet, I still finish and ship, like another friend I admire is keen to say.

Have I been embarrassed by some of my failures?

You bet. But I’ve never felt ashamed for trying any of it.

If I died today, would I regret taking any of those risks?

Ha! You’ve got another thing coming!

I don’t know what your “it” is, but I’ll tell you this, find a way, don’t take no for an answer, do it! Whatever it is.

Live life to the fullest, shame is just imagination gone wild and failure is just another lesson learned. (Click to Tweet This)

Your story is starting. You might not finish.

It just doesn’t matter. Write anyway.

But, since you’re writing,

give it your best,

get serious, be brave,

and never quit.

Show ’em, they got another thing comin’

Serious Writers Never Quit!

The One True Fan You Need For Your Writing To Be A Hit

The One True Fan You Need For Your Writing To Be A Hit

written by Bryan Hutchinson

That person in the audience, you know, the one who was clapping after every song.

That dude way up in the rafters who was whooping and hollering after every hit for his team.

And that lady, the one who stayed and listened until you completed your reading at the local bookstore.

Those, my friends, are the kind of fans we need.

Readers who LOVE our work, fans who send us emails saying how our words touched them, and fellow writers who give us props, that’s our tribe. They are treasures to be cherished.

But how do you get dedicated fans in the first place?

How do you get readers, listeners or viewers to notice you?

Believe it or not, a fan base starts with one fan.

Just One

You don’t need to convince a thousand people to read your work, or even a hundred―you only need one person to fall in love with your words.

You don't need to convince a thousand people to read your work, or even a hundred―you only need one person to fall in love with your words. Click To Tweet

The Catch

But, here’s the catch, not just anyone, you need that one to be the fan that is absolutely, unashamedly, enthusiastic about your work.

You need one sincere and dedicated fan.

If there’s one, there’s a hundred, if there’s a hundred, there’s a thousand.

All you need to do is focus on the one.

But who is that one person, that one mysterious fan who matters so much? I’ll tell you.

The problem today is that the internet gives us this belief (and fear), that we can reach a million people just by showing up. Anyone who has been blogging for a while can tell you that is simply not true. It’s a lie that only seems real because you don’t need anyone’s permission to post a comment, an article or even a manifesto.

Warning: This is going to get depressing first before it gets better.

A blogger is lucky to gain 100 readers in his or her first year and even luckier if they stay.

To get a million people to visit your blog you have to do something so extraordinary that it’s too overwhelming to even contemplate. And even if you do something so brilliant, all the stars, moons and planets in the night’s sky will need to align just right, and then maybe, only maybe.

Once the new blogger realizes this reality they’re most likely to surrender, give up and quit. Indeed, according to a New York Times report, as many as 95 percent of all blogs created have been abandoned.

Frankly, if they simply up and quit the artist and temporary blogger wasn’t all that serious in the first place. My advice to any aspiring writers out there, please don’t start writing and publishing online if you’re only doing it to instantly reach millions of people. You’ll drive yourself silly and it’s unlikely to work.

You can reach the masses! Yes, that’s true. But not the way most people think.

If you start a blog right now, this minute, you likely will not be able to get a single stranger to visit it today, much less read it.

Sure, you might be able to convince a family member or a close friend to read your blog, but that’s probably where it ends.

It doesn’t matter what you post about or how awesome it is.

I know, this is depressing news, but I’m a positive writer so I promise you it gets better.

One Person. That’s What You Need.

The right person.

If you focus your writing, publishing and marketing efforts on that one ideal fan, you have a chance. A real chance to reach people who will care about your writing.

Define for yourself who your ideal fan is and what they want to read, view or listen to. Once you have that person in your mind, create only for him or her. Often, the best person to start creating for is yourself.

Once you start creating this magnificent art for your ideal fan, start visiting the places he or she would hang out online and find places where it’s acceptable for you to share and post your links. Attract one reader at a time. Those who love it will share it.

This takes time and that’s is why 95% of blogs are abandoned. Worse, you go on Facebook and you see established bloggers sharing their articles and have 12k likes, but you can’t even rub together two fans.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that many of the blogs you see going viral have already been online for a long time and for years they couldn’t attract true fans either. Sooner or later you find the sweet spot and it all changes, but no one can tell you what that sweet spot is and then when you find it everyone will act as if they knew it all along. Sure they did.

Darn those liars!

Not really, what people often miss is that creating for someone else hardly ever works outside of a 9 to 5. Writing what you love for yourself first often is where the answer is and it will seem like we knew this all along because deep inside maybe we did, but we didn’t have trust in ourselves.

Your Assignment:

This is what I want you to do, I want you to write something NEW you would show up for, something you would love to read as a reader and a fan. Something you would share if you weren’t the author.

Create something so compelling for you that you must read it over and over again because you can’t get enough of it.

Be your one true fan first, before anyone else.

Once you convince yourself, and you become the ultimate fan of your own art, the rest will follow.

Lead us by writing something you love for you, no one else. If it’s good enough for you it will be good enough for others.

When you’ve written and published such a post, do me a favor and post a link to it in the comments. Here’s the thing, don’t rush, no, don’t do that. I know you can create something quickly, but that’s not what I want, I want something you LOVE. Don’t share until you’ve written THAT article.

That’s what it takes today. All the bullshit about SEO, interlinking, Social Media and all that jazz doesn’t matter a hoot if the art doesn’t have that intangible something. Bland, SEO perfect articles don’t get shared, no one other than Google cares about them.

Don’t get blinded by algorithms. The artist, YOU, matter more than any system!

Write something that if a critic were to shred it you’d cry, but not quit. No, never quit.

Because remember, Serious Writers Never Quit!

Anyone could be lazy about this and post an old link of theirs, but wouldn’t it be amazing if you took the above advice and created something new with this specific goal in mind?

Here’s a warning, though:

If this works, things could change. Are you ready for that?

3 Courageous Authors To Inspire You (One Was Committed To An Insane Asylum)

3 Courageous Authors To Inspire You (One Was Committed To An Insane Asylum)

written by Bryan Hutchinson

Role models have a unique ability to guide and inspire us.

As authors, it’s one thing to theoretically understand what we need to do. It’s another entirely to see a writer we admire shining brightly, lighting the path for us to walk.

Special Note: This is a guest post by Chandler Bolt, he is the host of the Self Publishing School podcast & the author of 6 bestselling books including his most recent book titled “Published.” He’s also the founder & CEO of Self-Publishing School, the #1 online resource for writing your first book. 

If you’re feeling fearful, or doubtful, or like you’re not enough, you’re far from alone.

Any writer woe you’re facing has been overcome before.

When you find someone who has overcome similar challenges to those you face, you give yourself the belief that you can do the same.

Here are some examples to help you move forward.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Have you ever doubted your academic ability? Does some part of you fear that your educational history disqualifies you from writing?

Considering the prominence F. Scott Fitzgerald’s work would go on to have in the classroom, his background is a little ironic.

Fitzgerald was a notoriously poor speller, and with hindsight, many believe he had A.D.D. Traditional academic success was not something Fitzgerald was able to attain.

In spite of that background, he became one of the most studied and loved authors in American history.

How can we draw inspiration from F. Scott Fitzgerald when facing our own fears as writers?

  • Love is more important than technical ability. For many of us, having our writing criticized, and being expelled academically, might cause us to give up. Not Fitzgerald. He persisted regardless, spending his time and energy on crafting the stories he loved. The difference? These days, we’re blessed with a lot of tools to help us overcome our technical limitations.
  • Our background doesn’t define us. Often, we’re under intense pressure from a young age to have a predefined life path in mind and an academic background that seems ideally suited to it. If there’s something in your academic past that makes people scoff at your odds of becoming a writer, don’t let it stop you.

The next time you find yourself letting a typo or spelling error knock your confidence, stop. 

Remember Fitzgerald.

Our academic ability and technical skill don’t determine if we succeed as book writers.

Only we do.  

Paulo Coelho

As writers, we know how it feels to be doubted. To be treated with a little scorn if we open up about our ideal future or express our creative side a little too strongly. 

Paulo Coelho experienced things more severely – he was committed to an insane asylum multiple times by his own family.

After attending law school, and ignoring writing for years, Coelho returned to his calling at the age of 39. 

Tens of millions of copies sold later, and countless lives touched, we can conclude that things worked out for Paulo Coelho.

But how can we apply ideas from his journey to our own writing goals?

  • We can let down our loved ones. While some of us are fortunate enough to have parents that want us to chase our dreams, many do not. While Coelho’s story is an extreme case, it’s possible that even the most painful disapproval can result in superb success. 
  • We can switch paths throughout our life. One trap a lot of writers fall into is feeling like it’s ‘too late to start’. Just peruse some writing quotes from famous authors and you’ll quickly discover that it’s never too late. Coelho’s commitment to eventually following his heart’s desire shows us we can become successful writers even after a long period of doing something else.

One of the hardest things to do in life is to admit we’re on a different road to success than people we love and respect wish for us. Or to drop a prestigious and seemingly stable career such as law to pursue something creative.

If you ever happen to find yourself in either of those scenarios, recall Paulo Coelho. Both his fiction and life story can provide you with the courage to carry on. 

Agatha Christie

Did you know Agatha Christie didn’t always seem destined for writing stardom?

Christie was known for struggling with spelling and writing in general. Even among her family group, she was not believed to be particularly intellectual.

The fact that Christie went on to sell over 2 billion copies is remarkable.

So what lessons can we take from Christie’s background and apply to our own writing lives?

  • We blossom at different times. Sometimes, we can sadly let our perceived role within the family group determine the path we later take. Christie didn’t. If being seen as less able among her own family didn’t hold her back, please don’t let it hold you back either. You can achieve your potential later in life, regardless of how your childhood seemed to set you up.
  • We use the tools we have. Christie achieved a lot of her best work by dictating it. Think about the advances in technology we have enjoyed since Christie’s era. If you are struggling to get your words down, try recording them. Hearing our writing out loud also improves it on the page. 

Try and use Christie’s story as proof that our perceived identity within our family growing up doesn’t define who we later turn out to be. Also, using technological tools doesn’t make us any less of a writer. 

We all need to do the best we can with what we have, just like Christie did.

Which Author Has Inspired You The Most?

So which author has inspired you the most throughout your writing life?

Are there any other authors you like to lean upon mentally when times get tough?

Please feel free to share some examples and takeaways from your personal favorites in the comments.

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