Making a commitment to something – or someone – is all about making a pledge or a promise … and then engaging yourself totally in the fulfilment of it.
As far as your writing is concerned, developing and strengthening the quality of your commitment will mean the difference between writing or not writing, and taking action or allowing resistance to hold you back.
Commitment sets the scene for all of the small choices that you make every day in relation to your writing.
It also guides you when you come to make the larger decisions regarding how to move forwards when you’re ready to take your work out to the marketplace. And it helps you to access the information and support you need to do so.
Ultimately, your degree of commitment to your writing will be a strong determining factor in your experience of ‘success’ or ‘failure’ – however you choose to define what those terms mean for you.
When a true commitment is made, it’s as if the blocks to progress fade into the background and any obstacles on the path lose their power to stop you in your tracks.
Put simply, commitment opens the way for you to harness your creative energy, express yourself on the page and find a way to reach out to readers.
So what is it about authentic commitment that makes such a difference to the results you achieve and your experience of the process?
Author James Womack puts it like this, ‘Commitment unlocks the doors of imagination, allows vision, and gives us the “right stuff” to turn our dreams into reality.’
I would add that making an authentic commitment draws all aspects of yourself into a powerful alignment of body, mind, emotions and soul. And this alignment brings the clarity required for your true voice to find its way to the page … and ultimately on towards your audience.
Commitment is like a laser beam of concentrated light which can cut through blocks – including the voice of your inner critic – and open the way for you to get into gear!
3 Tips …
So here are 3 tips for how to harness the power of your commitment and apply it successfully to your writing:
1. Review your reasons for wanting to write … and write them down! Commitment flourishes when there is a clear sense of purpose. When you know why you are writing and why it is important to you it will be much easier to commit at a level which supports you and your chosen form of creative expression.
So every few months starting right now I encourage you to pause and reflect on how you’re feeling at that moment about your writing. Feelings change as your experience unfolds so you need to review them regularly.
Explore what difference it is making – or could make – to your life to have a regular and creatively satisfying rhythm of writing. Complete this sentence in your journal or current writing file:
The difference that writing regularly and having my ideas out in the world will make/is making to me is …………………………………………………..
2. Decide to put your writing FIRST every day for the next 7 days! Many of the writers I work with need a great deal of encouragement to put their writing FIRST!
So much of the time it is a question of trying to fit writing around the other commitments of everyday life. And that is fine … but only up to a point.
There comes a moment when you have to take the plunge and choose to bring your writing up to the top of your priority list and affirm your commitment to it by doing so.
Even if you only spend a short amount of time writing before completing your other tasks, the fact that you are making it a priority will lead to more writing finding its way to the page and ultimately more creative satisfaction.
3. Find a writing friend or a support group and help each other hold fast to whatever level of commitment you have chosen …There is nothing quite like the support of others when it comes to maintaining your commitment.
This is especially true with writing and I have witnessed over and over again the dramatic progress that people make when properly supported to do so.
Commitments are often challenged by the circumstances of everyday life. When you are feeling strong in yourself, you can usually find a way to maintain your commitment once you have established it.
However, there are times when we all feel that a bit of extra support would help. So having a friend, coach of mentor to call or email, or even a group of like-minded people to encourage you when you need help to stay on track, is of unquantifiable value.
By putting some or all of these strategies in place, you can ensure that you are making the most of the power of commitment to achieve your writing and publishing aspirations.
As always, I love to hear your comments on these ideas and how they relate to your own experiences of writing and the creative process so do please share your thoughts below …
And if you’d like to read the first article in this series on the topic of Courage, click here …
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© Julia McCutchen 2010. All Rights Reserved.
If you want to use this article in your ezine or on your website I’d be happy for you to do so as long as you use the complete article, including the copyright line, and include the following paragraph in its entirety:
Julia McCutchen is the founder & creative director of the International Association of Conscious & Creative Writers (IACCW) where writers discover their authentic voice – on the page and in the world. A former managing director & publisher (Element, Random House), Julia is a successful and intuitive writer’s coach, mentor and professional publishing consultant. She has over 20 years’ experience of publishing and a track record that includes UK no 1 and international bestsellers. Julia is the author of The Writer’s Journey: From Inspiration to Publication and the creator of the How to Write the Ultimate Book Proposal Online Masterclass Course. For a FREE Special Report, Discover Your Authentic Voice – on the page and in the world, visit www.iaccw.com, and for a range of FREE articles, audios and videos for writers visit www.juliamccutchen.com.
Tags: action, authentic, author, commitment, creative energy, imagination, Publishing, readers, results
Dear Julia, I have been trying to put my writing first, with some degree of success. Its not always possible. But I find that doing this increases my degree of commitment, the fact that I am doing it regularly means that I look forward to taking up the writing again. I don’t do more than an hour or an hour and a half, but nevertheless I feel that I am advancing, slowly ! I have contacted a friend who writes and who has had a book published, and we are are going to meet up soon. I have also started rereading her book, which I find extremely well written to see if I can learn something from it. It is called Soul Song by Elizabeth Jones. I think it is a beautiful book. I have decided to visit somewhere new soon, following up on your latest message. I feel that all these ideas which you are putting out are working away in me somewhere and will bear fruit. Thank you so much. Daphne
Hi Daphne – I do understand that it isn’t always possible to put your writing first. Setting the intention is a good step in the right direction as you have already discovered and I’m so glad to hear that your commitment has increased as a result of this focus. As long as your writing is enough of a priority for you to get it done regularly to make the progress you know you are capable of, that’s fine – until the time comes to raise the bar again! Delighted to know that my suggestions are taking root and bearing fruit – keep up the great work