Follow The Leader

If you’re an author, then you’re the leader. I know you may not feel that way much of the time, particularly if you want to publish traditionally. Agents and editors and publishers and marketing teams seem to be in charge of so much – loosening or tightening purse strings, deleting commas, designing covers, issuing royalty statements. You’re just one person, meanwhile, who has perhaps written just one book, and it’s easy to believe you’re nothing but a little cog in the massive publishing wheel that’s been turning since before you were born and will spin on long after you’ve written your last word.

It's a lot like life in many ways. The great sprawling human enterprise built of cities and schools and corporations and countries was largely already running before you were born. Some things emerged in your lifetime, but even those evolved from something that already existed. It’s like you were dropped into the middle of a game everyone’s been playing, and you have to learn the rules so you can start playing as soon as possible. The game, after all, is bigger than any one player. Stay humble and know your place.

Staying humble is always wise, but as an author, your true place is in the lead. When it comes the stories you’ve written, there is no one else on earth who could serve that role. They wouldn’t know how. Plenty would think they could, the same way some people believe they can fix your book. All they can really do is help you make it better; otherwise, they’re just turning your book into their book because their book is the only one they really know how to write.

It doesn’t matter how big the world is and how long it’s been spinning, you are unique upon it, and your story is the first of its kind. Yes, it’s similar to others, but not identical. It came through you, shaped by the contours of your life and mind, by your struggles and joys and passions, reflecting what you have come to value most along the way. You will despair most when you cede your leadership out of fear, as if someone else could lead your life better than you.

Check out Fearless Writing with Bill Kenower on YouTube or your favorite podcast app.

Everyone Has What It Takes: A Writer’s Guide to the End of Self-Doubt
You can find William at: williamkenower.com