Writing Coach Podcast 164: Putting yourself out there

WCP164 Putting yourself out there

When we put ourselves out there, we take a risk. We risk not getting validation, assignments, contracts, money, Likes, comments, safety, etc. We risk approval internally and externally.  The idea of putting yourself out there probably pushes buttons that you had even before you became a professional, published writer.

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When we put ourselves out there, we take a risk. We risk not getting validation, assignments, contracts, money, Likes, comments, safety, etc. We risk approval internally and externally. 

The idea of putting yourself out there probably pushes buttons that you had even before you became a professional, published writer.

You may have prior experience with it not being safe to say what you want to say. There may have been consequences for you, or someone in your family, or with one of your personal identities, to make themselves seen and heard. 

It could be someone in your immediate family or generations back. It could be someone with your same gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, religion, age, etc.

Part of you knows that what you have to say matters. And you’ve also received the message from individuals and/or society that you should be quiet. Or polite. That you shouldn’t brag or call attention to yourself. 

Your journalistic training, tradition, or preference may be to not be included in the story itself, and you think that promoting your work somehow violates this ethos.

Putting ourselves out there is essential. You can’t make a living as a writer without doing it. 

Today’s episode looks at how the resistance to the commonality amongst very different forms of putting yourself out there, be it a tweet, a pitch, negotiations, promotions, etc., and how to manage it better.

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