The dream of becoming an author can be both exciting and scary. Excited because you know you have a message you would love to share to encourage others; but scary because you don’t know if you will be judged or even ridiculed.
So, today I want to share three struggles aspiring authors face and how they can overcome them.
1) Feelings of inadequacy: – This is the constant feeling of not being good enough. I know as women (I’m sure men do it too), we are always comparing ourselves to others especially with social media these days, it is so easy for discontentment and insecurities to kick in. The feeling of inadequacy comes in the form of even judging yourself harshly. This is because you start doubting your gifts and talents. You may hear someone else’s story and wonder if your past wasn’t as bad why bother to share or even looking at the amount of ‘likes’ another person may get while you barely get even 10. Yup! I’ve been there.
2) Shame: – This is feeling embarrassment about your story or experience. You might have experienced sexual abuse, struggled with pornography or masturbation, or had an abortion or a miscarriage and you feel ashamed because you’re not sure what others may think or say about you. It might also be that you had a ‘decent’ childhood and you have never had any “major” happenings. This may make you feel that you aren’t capable of sharing anything that will bless others.
3) Fear: – This comes in the form of being crippled by what people think of or how they would receive what you have to say. It sometimes comes disguised as laziness or procrastination or even busyness. You do not want to accept that it’s some type of fear holding you back from making the faith step to write the book, God has placed on your heart.
So how do we handle these struggles?
There is only one solution to these three struggles – REMEMBER THIS IS NOT ABOUT YOU!
This is about giving God the glory and advancing His kingdom.
Colossians 1:16 – “For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels – everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him”.
And that’s the cure to the struggle.
Taking yours eyes off of yourself and looking to Jesus the author and finisher of your faith.
The book you are writing might be about you but it’s not for you. It’s for someone who might be going through what you went through and need your encouragement to help them through their situation.
When feelings of inadequacy arise, remember you are enough in Christ. You’re not competing with anyone. We all have a contribution to make to the advancement of His Kingdom. So someone needs your gift. The world needs your gift.
When feelings of shame start to bombard you, remember that there is nothing new under the sun. I guarantee there is nothing you’ve been through, that someone cannot relate to. That is why we need each other to share one another’s burdens.
And when the fear comes, combat it with faith in who God says you are and believe His promises.
I hope this will encourage you to stop making excuses and be obedient and take the first step of faith to writing the book God has placed on your heart.
