In the simplest terms, your voice is how you talk. It is how you express yourself. It’s your style.

On the smallest scale, it even comes down to how you construct sentences and paragraphs and book chapters. On a larger scale, your voice concerns the themes and topics you write about.

Just like your physical voice, your writing voice takes time to develop. It can also change over time. Think of how different your voice as an adult sounds compared to what you sounded like as a three-year-old or even a thirteen-year-old.

If you don’t feel like you’ve found your voice yet, keep working at it. As the author Henry Miller said, “You have to write many words before you find your voice as a writer.”

The most important thing is not what your voice is, but that you use it. Don’t compare yourself to others. Be bold. Be brave.

There’s only one you. We need to hear your voice.

Today’s Challenge: Find one simple way to share your authentic voice with the world today, through a blog, social media, or even through a text or phone call. Don’t be afraid to be yourself.

The post We Need to Hear Your Voice appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

Writers don’t think about what we do in terms of power. We use words like creativity, craft, platform, audience, and entrepreneurship.

But power? It’s a concept that seems a little old-fashioned, if not outright outdated these days.

Power is just influence. When you have power as a writer, you can change people’s minds. You can tell a story that has an impact. You can write books, sermons, articles, or other content and know that it can influence other people.

If power as a writer is a good thing, how do you get it? There are many ways, such as having the right connections or even just getting lucky. But those are external situations that you can’t predict or control.

There is only one surefire way to become powerful as a writer. Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale, said it best: “A word after a word after a word is power.” (By the way, this was the title of a 2019 documentary where she discusses her life and work.)

The meaning of the phrase is pretty obvious: when you put down one word after another, eventually you wind up with something you can share. And when you accumulate those words, and they become books, screenplays, speeches, or other types of shareable content, they can have more power than you can possibly imagine.

Your words have power. So, get out there today and put down not just one word, but a word after a word after a word.

Today’s Challenge: Whenever you write today, remember: words are powerful, and you can use this power for good in the world.

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Those are all fantastic goals that will increase your impact and income!

But today, let’s turn the focus elsewhere. It’s great to think about your own success—in fact, it’s vital! However, I want you to think about how you can also serve and mentor other writers.

It doesn’t matter where you are on your writing journey. You might be a full-time writer with twenty books published. Or you might be relatively new to the writing world and are just trying to gain some confidence.

Whatever level of experience you have with writing, there is always someone who needs to learn what you know. They need someone to help them, believe in them, and show them the way.

So, take a look around at your social media friends or your personal network. Who is one person you can help? Maybe they need someone to give them feedback about their writing. Maybe they need help setting up their blog. Maybe they need an introduction to people you know who could help them in some other way.

Whatever the case, be intentional about reaching out to others and finding ways to help them. It doesn’t need to take a lot of time. Somebody in your network needs your wisdom, knowledge, and connections.

Today’s Challenge: Take three minutes to brainstorm a few people whom you can help. Then, get in touch with one to ask how you can help them.

The post New Year’s Goal: Mentor Another Writer in 2023 appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

Here, during the last week of the year, expand your horizons and think not just about this week, this month, or this year. Go beyond even the next five or ten years. Think a hundred years into the future.

How will people one hundred years from now be able to interact with your writing? No one can predict what the technology of the future will be like. That’s why I believe it’s important to create something physical that can be passed down to future generations.

One of my most treasured possessions is a tattered notebook that my grandmother Louise used to write her poetry. She died when I was three years old, but when I look through the notebook at her poems—many of which are quite good—it’s almost like she’s there with me.

That’s something you can’t get on a computer screen.

In terms of writing, I think every author should create a print book. Not only is it more prestigious than an ebook, it’s something you can pass down to your kids and grandkids, and all future generations.

As writers, we have a responsibility to think not just about the impact we leave in the world today, but how we will impact those in the future as well.

Question: How do you imagine your writing might impact someone a hundred years into the future?

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If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll recall the basic plot. The main character, George Bailey, feels like a failure because he’s spent his life working at his father’s Building & Loan, and never getting to achieve his dreams of traveling the world and being involved in what he perceives as a more successful career.

One day, it all comes crashing down when his Uncle Henry misplaces $8,000, which sends the business’s finances into a downward spiral. The only way George sees out of the mess is to take his own life by jumping into the river. Clarence the Angel saves George and gives him the priceless gift of seeing what the world would be like without him. As a result, George comes to realize what a difference he’s truly made in countless people’s lives.

The final scene shows the townspeople coming to George’s rescue, donating more than enough to make up the $8,000 loss. On the pile of money, George finds a copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, miraculously placed there by Clarence. The inscription reads, “Dear George, Remember no man is a failure who has friends.”

What a powerful reminder during this season when so many people struggle with depression and sadness. Although Christmas is a time of joy and giving, the honest truth is that many people listening to this episode are struggling just to make it through this season.

Maybe this year, your expectations have been dashed or you’ve experienced failure of some kind. Maybe you’re struggling to get out of bed each morning, wondering why you should continue putting in the effort. Maybe you, like George Bailey, mistakenly think the world would be a better place without you.

I’m here to tell you that you can’t begin to imagine all the good you’ve done in the world.

Book sales, business, client contracts, social media metrics, podcast downloads, and income can all go up and down. But if you have friends, you’re indeed a rich man or woman. Don’t ever believe for one second that you’re a failure. We need your gifts, your talent, and your writing in the world.

So, if you’re going through a hard time, keep your chin up. Keep pressing on. Even on your worst day, remember that your friend Kent Sanders is here on the Daily Writer Podcast, cheering for your success and rooting you on!

Question: If you had the same chance George Bailey did, to see what the world would be like without you, would you take it?

The post No One is a Failure Who Has Friends appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

No matter what type of books you write, your work always belongs in the history category. Not necessarily because you’re writing literal history, but because you’re making history.

What does this mean? It means that you have immense power to determine how people think, feel, and act. If you write fiction, your stories can move people to fear, anger, tears, or joy. Those emotions can change how they feel about themselves, their family and friends, and their place in the world. Those feelings can lead to action.

If you write nonfiction, your words and content can educate, inform, inspire, and motivate people. The whole purpose of nonfiction is to help people make some kind of change in their lives. Maybe that change is learning more about the past, learning how to cook, breaking an addiction, or healing their marriage.

You’re making history with your words because you’re changing people. Quite literally, whenever you write and someone reads those words, it changes them and can move them to action.

When we writers describe what we do, we often put the modifier “just” in front of our title, as in “I’m just a writer.”

Winston Churchill said, “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.” We can take that a step further. You’re never just a writer. You’re the most powerful type of person: one who may not necessarily be writing about history, but you’re definitely making it.

Question: As a writer, how do you feel you’re making history? Why or why not?

The post You’re Never “Just” a Writer appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

The area I knew the least about was architecture. I had always been fascinated by it, but never studied it in-depth. Over the years, as I have learned more about architecture, it has become one of my favorite subjects.

I’m especially drawn to Gothic cathedrals. These medieval works of art represent one of the pinnacles of human ingenuity and creativity. The designers, laborers, and craftsmen worked for decades, in some cases centuries, to complete these massive projects.

My personal favorite is Chartres Cathedral in France. Built from 1194-1260, it’s one of the oldest Gothic cathedrals. Chartres is famous for several iconic features, including its beautiful stained-glass windows, a medieval labyrinth, and a purported relic of the Virgin Mary’s tunic.

Consider the mindset of the artists and craftsmen who built Gothic cathedrals. They worked to build something they knew would outlive them—not only by decades, but by centuries.

That’s a stark contrast to today’s creative world, where we don’t normally think in centuries or decades, or even years. We think in weeks and days, hours and moments.

Today, most of our creative work is designed for quick consumption. We share social media posts that we hope people “like” in the 30 minutes after the upload. We write blog posts that we hope go viral in the days after they are published. We hope our book gets traction in the weeks and months after it’s released. We hope our podcast or video gets downloaded thousands (or millions!) of times.

I’m not saying those things are bad. I engage in all of those mediums, and more. But is there a way to balance the need for relevance and timeliness with a more long-term perspective on our creative work?

The real question is: Will your creative work outlive you? We don’t create just for today. We create for decades from today. So let us create, work, and write with excellence. And with a view to impact not just people today… but many years from now, just as we enjoy the Gothic cathedrals today, many hundreds of years after they were built.

Question: How do you think your writing might impact people decades into the future?

The post Your Work Will Outlive You appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

Most writers feel this way about their work, too. You probably feel some type of nudge or pull toward your creative work. Regardless of whether you believe this comes from God or another source, the important thing is that we obey this calling and don’t try to run from it.

When we run, we are unhappy. When we do the work to fulfill our calling, we have a deep sense of joy and we also serve others with our gifts.

This calling, though, is never finished. It’s an ongoing pilgrimage that lasts your whole life. The author and ghostwriter Jeff Goins said, “Your calling is not a destination. It is a journey that doesn’t end until you die.”

None of us ever “arrives” as a writer in the sense that we have learned all we can learn or that we have somehow completed the mission. The mission, your calling, never ends. It is not just about how many books you write or what other accomplishments you might have. It is also about embracing the creative life, the life of an artist.

And that’s always a journey worth taking.

Question: Do you feel a calling to write? Why or why not?

The post Your Calling is Never Complete appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

Dan has been helping people find their place and their work in the world since 2005, starting with high school students and then initiating and organizing groups and guest lectures in graduate school. He started working professionally with clients one-on-one in 2011. Since then, he has facilitated classes, taught, and spoken often on the topic at various events, schools, and forums.

His work has also been featured in Fast Company, Entrepreneur Magazine, ​the Chicago Tribune, US News and World Report, CBS, and many other places.

On this call, we work through Dan’s initial idea for his book, how it ties into the big picture of his business, and some potential outlines for his book.

* * *

Today’s episode is sponsored by the Book Marketing Mastery course. If you’re tired of being disappointed by your book sales and want to sell more books faster, easier, and with more fun than ever, sign up today. Use the code “DailyWriter” to get 10% off.

The post Book Coaching Call with Dan Cumberland, Founder of The Meaning Movement appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

Social media is not only a great place to connect and network with other writers… it’s also a low-stakes environment to work on your writing skills.

For example, you can tell a story about something that happened to you today. You can give somebody a shout-out or acknowledge another writer. You can share a quote you liked. You can ask an insightful question. You can comment on other people’s posts. You can share what books you’re reading. You can share something you’re learning right now.

People’s greatest emotional need is to be affirmed and validated. If you make a list of all the things that make a big difference in your writing career, your writing talent is not item #1. A far more important item is the way you make people feel.

If you can make people feel good, if you can validate and affirm and encourage them through social media, you will go a long way.

Question: Can you think of an example of a social media post that impacted you or inspired to take action? How could you do the same for others by writing on social media?

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