The number one thing I've learned about myself since being published
Ask the Author Podcast Transcript
Episode 41, 18th March 2024
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Ready for the best piece of writing advice ever? Jodi Gibson, author of REINVENTING EMILY BROWN shares a tip that will transform your craft.
Intro
In the intro, Jodi Gibson expresses her gratitude for everyone who contacted her regarding her laptop and assures listeners that the problem is now solved. She also says that she appreciates all the positive feedback on the unscripted format of season two of Ask the Author.
Show Notes
- Lesson One: I’ve learned that I love being an author
- Lesson Two: I sometimes try to keep up with the Joneses
- Lesson Three: It’s okay to market like an introvert
- Lesson Four: I need to be myself
- Lesson Five: I love the actual writing
Episode Transcript
This week's question comes from a listener who contacted me through Facebook. Actually, I don't get a lot of messages through Facebook, so that was nice to receive this one. They have asked to remain anonymous, so I won't be reading out their name, but the question was quite lengthy so I'm just going to condense it into the main gist of the question that this person was asking.
So can you please tell me the number one thing you've learned about yourself as a person since being a published author?
Now, when I first received this question, I was unsure how to answer it. It actually it's probably about three weeks since I received this one in my inbox and I've spent I've spent a little bit of time thinking about how to answer this question and what it actually means to be, as to what I've learned about myself as a person not necessarily about myself as an author, but what I've learned about myself as a person since being a published author and I guess there's a lot of things I've learned.
Lesson One: I’ve learned that I love being an author
I've learned that I love being an author. I've learned that I love writing and I love sharing stories. I love it when someone reads my book and it resonates with them, when they can connect with the characters. When I read a review or get a personal message saying that they really loved my writing, I love that, and I'm not sure what that says about me as a person, that I need that validation and I need that feedback. I guess that's just human nature, isn't it? That we want to know that whatever we're doing is being appreciated, whatever that might be in the world, whether it's your job, your family, your writing we like to know that what we're doing is a value, and so I guess I've learned that I do like that validation.
Lesson Two: I sometimes try to keep up with the Joneses
I've also learned that I can be a little bit wanting to keep up with the masses or keep up with the Joneses. I have learned that I look to what others are doing to inform what I think I should be doing, but I've also learned along the way that maybe that's not what I should be doing. I need to look inside myself and see who I am as a person to then be able to be who I am as an author. Now that might be a little bit woo woo or wishy-washy, but I think what I've learned is I don't need to do a lot of the other things that other authors do, and they're not things that fulfil me, they're things I find difficult, they're things that don't really help me write another book, and I'm talking about things like author talks and library events and just event after event.
Now, don't get me wrong. I've done a few events and I've really enjoyed doing them, but it's not for me as a person, as an author, to be going huge out on, you know, doing 10, 15, 20 events or doing book tours and things like that. I don't think that's who I am as a person, it doesn't come natural to me and I guess I'm fortunate, being in the indie space, that that's not required of me as much. I can get a lot more traction on doing other things to promote my work and my books. So it's not that I don't enjoy getting out there and meeting the readers. I absolutely do. But I've learned that it's not something that I need to do excessively or it's not something I need to do as, say, what a traditionally published author needs to do.
Lesson Three: It’s okay to market like an introvert
And that to me, was a really hard lesson to learn because I thought that's what you needed to do. Like I thought that's just what authors did, and the more events you did, the more readers you met, the more you connected with people and the more books you sell. And for some people that might be the case, and particularly for people, people, people who maybe, I guess, extroverted and really need that one-on-one connection and that being in front of people and talking and putting themselves out there that's fantastic for those people, but it's not for everyone and I think there's a lot of introverts in this world and a lot of them are writers and I know what it's like to feel the pressure of having to be an extrovert in this world of social media and marketing and promotion and putting yourself out there, and it's really tough.
So I've learned that I need to just, I guess, listen to myself a little bit more and listen to what I am as a person and who I am, and decide what is going to help me be a better person and a better writer and what's not going to put me under too much pressure. Ultimately, I want to be behind my computer writing another book. That's what I want to do. I want to be helping authors, I want to be helping aspiring writers and in small groups, I love doing that. My right squad community is my absolute happy place. When I pop into our community or we have a Zoom, meetings and writing Zooms and things like that, that's my absolute happy place in that small environment. So I think, in a roundabout way, if this is making any sense, please let me know. If it's not, please let me know.
Lesson Four: I need to be myself
But I think the number one thing that I've learned about myself as a person is just to be who I am, and that doesn't always come naturally to some people and it takes a lot of figuring out. So I think what I've learned along this author journey let's use that word journey is it's taught me a lot about myself, about who I am and how I want to be as an author, and it's not it's not fitting into the, I guess, mould that a lot of authors fit into. So I guess what I'm saying is I've learned to be more authentic and to really push into my more authentic self, and I don't know if that's just since being published being a published author, I should say or whether it's the time of my life.
You know, I'm approaching 50 and I'm a woman and there's lots going on and we tend to, as women of a certain age, tend to finally not care about as much stuff and we tend to have more confidence. We lean more into who we are and we're okay with who we are. So I think it's probably a combination of all of that, as well as learning about myself as an author and who I am as a person, as an author, if that makes sense.
Lesson Five: I love the actual writing
So now, as I continue being a writer and being a mentor, I know that what I love about being an author and being a writer is the actual writing. I love having my books out there. I love hearing from readers and I want to keep doing that. I also love speaking with other authors and other writers who are working towards publication. As I said, I love my right squad community. That really fuels me and is my happy place.
So I guess I found out what's important to me. I guess that's what I'm trying to say. It's really hard to articulate and I'm not doing a very good job of it, so please forgive me, but I guess what I'm saying is I've found what really fills my cup and that's the actual writing and publishing. Getting my books out there and hearing from readers and working with other authors and they are my three things that keep me happy and keep me doing what I'm doing, and they fill me as a person, as who I am, as a person, not just as an author. So I think I'm really lucky that I've learned this about myself through writing. I think writing can be very powerful. It's something that I've done for a very, very long time.
When I think back, you know, writing as a kid and writing in a journal basically got me through my teenage years. There was lots going on and being able to write it down. Being able to write things down gets me through things, so being able to continue to do that as an adult and as an author and have that connection with readers and other writers is really fueling me. So does that make sense? Have I answered that question?
I guess it's still a work…I'm still a work in progress, aren't we all? And what I'm learning about myself is to trust myself more and go with my gut and pretty much do what I feel makes me happy as an author and as a person. I guess it's that simple.
In Summary
I don't even know if I'm going to push publish on this one, to tell you the truth, because it's, I think, my most rambling podcast ever and I don't even know if I answered the question. I don't even know if it makes sense. I'm going to have to listen back to this. So if it does get published, it means I was okay with it. It's not too bad. But if you are listening and it does make sense, if it, if I publish it and it does make sense and it does resonate with you, please let me know, because at the moment I'm like I don't know what I just said. Oh dear, okay. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much for letting me ramble in your ears about God knows what. I hope you've enjoyed it and I look forward to chatting with you again next week and having another question to answer. Hopefully that is more coherent. Until then, happy writing. That's all for this week. Thank you so much for joining me.