Do you love to write, but hesitate to call yourself a writer? When asked what you do “in your spare time,” do you mutter vaguely, “I sort of…ah…write…sometimes” hoping that the inquirers aren’t listening and really wanted to talk about what they do anyway?
After all, we cannot call ourselves “a writer” unless we’ve published something grand which became a “run-a-way best seller” and now Hollywood is calling us for screen play rights, correct?
Well, Jeff Goins disagrees and this book is great encouragement for the fainthearted writer. The title alone made me feel that I needed to sit up straight and stop muttering about writing.
Although the author liked to write as he was growing up “Mostly poetry – and bad, teenage drama poetry at that,” he was never encouraged by teachers to write. In fact he was often “plagued by the red pen of criticism,” which drives many a budding writer to simply quit and focus on their day job.
However, Goins’ passion to write despite criticism can be great encouragement to others with the same history. As he states:
Those red marks spoke to me loud and clear: I was not a writer. I would cry and brush it off and just accept the fact that I wasn’t a writer, until the day I realized I was one.
His book encourages writers, no matter where you are on your writing journey to “stop writing for accolades, and start writing for passion.” In this internet world of followers, subscribers, facebook “likes” (of which the author has now accumulated a fair share) it’s easy to succumb and stress over stats rather than remembering your love for words.
If you have a message that GOD has whispered to your heart, if your ideas and words beg to be written, then…write. Focus on the one person or people you write for (for the author, he states that person is himself) and…write. “Stop chasing results” (the stats, followers, etc.) and do as the author advises “go back to the basics: writing for the love of it.” That’s just one of many nuggets in this book which will help you regain focus and remember why you write.
Using the Blogger’s Choice Book Review rating system, I give You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One)
5 STARS ***** Terrific book and would highly recommend buying a copy!
All for GOD, Author of The Bible and The Book of Life.
Connie Mace
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This book review first appeared on Raise Your Eyes: Blogger’s Choice Book Reviews (BCBR). Used by kind permission.
Northwest Christian Writers Association 
This is SO true! I wrote my entire life but never dared call myself a WRITER until I was 40. Recently diagnosed with cancer at that time, I had serious life questions about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life and what mark I wanted to leave. I decided other than my Savior, hubby and kids, my greatest passion was writing. At that point, I began calling myself a WRITER. “Hi, I’m Mindy, and I’m a WRITER!”
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Great synopsis and sounds like a fascinating book. Too often we look for the approval of society when we forget that one–and THE One, are what matters. I’ll order the books. Thanks, Connie!
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Mindy, we all are blessed because you decided to follow your passion!
Dennis, A continual discipline, this pulling ourselves up straight to remember where our inspiration comes from and who we want to glorify. Although Goins is very upfront that he writes for himself, the lessons in his book can apply to any writer.
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