On this podcast, we talk a lot about giving. I want you to be a generous writer. But what does that mean, exactly?

I look at it this way. Being a generous writer means that you give more in value than you receive from others. It means that you are always looking for ways to serve your audience through good content and great stories. It means you are connecting with others and connecting them with each other. It means you are filling your own creative well so that it overflows, and you can give to others.

There is a twist to generosity, though. It’s not just about receiving. It’s also about giving. In their fantastic book The Go-Giver, Bob Burg and John David Mann share the 5 Laws of Stratospheric Success. The laws concern giving, but the last one is “The Law of Receptivity,” which says, “The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.”

This can be hard to practice if you are a generous person because you’re so used to giving. But you must also be open to receiving from others who want to support you, encourage you, buy from you, hire you, and give back to you in many other ways.

When you refuse to let others help you, you are refusing a gift they want to give. So make sure to stay open to receiving if you want to keep the flow of giving and generosity active in your life as a writer… and also as a human being.

Daily Question: What is a way you can receive from someone today?

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In your author journey, it is easy to view yourself as the hero. You’ve worked hard on your writing, books, and marketing. You’ve conquered emotional obstacles. You’ve proven to yourself that you can do it.

All of those are heroic acts, to be sure, but it may surprise you to learn that in your author story, you are not the hero. You are not the main character. You are not whom the story is about.

So who IS the hero, then? The hero is your reader.

No matter if you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, your goal is always to serve your reader. They are the one you’re trying to influence, entertain, inspire, educate, or change. They are the reason you’re writing in the first place.

You’re not the hero. You’re the mentor, the wizard, the guide. You are the Obi-Wan Kenobi to the reader’s Luke Skywalker. You’re the Gandalf to their Frodo. You’re the Glinda to their Dorothy.

What you are doing as a writer may be heroic, but you’re not the hero—the reader is. Make sure to do everything in your power to help them get what they came to your writing to find.

Daily Question: As the mentor to your reader, what do you hope they take away from your writing?

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