“Death of a Salesman” tells the story of the last 24 hours in the life of Willy Loman, a salesman who never quite achieves the success he always dreamed of. He has a faithful yet disappointed wife and two sons who are equally as lost as he is.

By the end of the play, you come to understand Willy’s main downfall: he is unable to truly be himself. He has spent his whole career trying to manufacture a winning personality and measuring his success by how much money he makes.

It’s tempting to criticize Willy Loman for being misguided and superficial. But this character isn’t just confined to the stage. The ghost of Willy Loman is alive and well in each one of us.

Every day, you are tempted to play by other people’s rules and conform to their definitions of success. That’s why you need the courage to carve out your own identity as a writer.

And isn’t that one of the defining qualities of a writer, anyway? You have a voice that is unique, and you must have the courage to share it.

The actress Lily Tomlin once said, “I always wanted to be somebody. Now I realize I should’ve been more specific.”

Of course, you want to be somebody. We all do. But you’re not just somebody or anybody. There is only one person who can be uniquely you… and that’s YOU.

Don’t settle for the death of a salesman. That’s a sad, depressing story. Instead, embrace the life of a writer, sharing your own story so you can, in turn, give life to others.

Today’s Challenge: Get a copy of “The Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller. You can find copies of the stage play online or in used bookstores. If you’ve never read it, you might be surprised at how much of yourself you see in Willy Loman… and you’ll be motivated to strive for something different in your life.

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As they say, there is nothing new under the sun. When you look at the millions of books, blogs, podcasts, and magazine articles that have been created, what could you possibly say that is unique?

The answer is simple. What makes your writing unique is not that you’re writing about something new. It’s the fact that it’s you who is writing it. You are the unique factor in the equation.

Unique means “one of a kind.” And there is only one of you in the world.

Your unique combination of skills, experience, and viewpoint is what makes your writing worth reading. You might be writing about the same things as a hundred other people, but they’re not saying it in the way you say it.

So, how does this inform your writing? The novelist Barbara Kingsolver has the answer. She said, “Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.”

Well, as it turns out, the only thing you have to offer is also the best thing you have to offer. There will only ever be one of you in the world. There is only one person who can speak with your voice.

Don’t waste the opportunity to let us hear it.

Today’s Challenge: Ask yourself if you’re holding back because you mistakenly believe you don’t have anything unique to share. Be honest.

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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.

As they say, there is nothing new under the sun. When you look at the millions of books, blogs, podcasts, and magazine articles that have been created, what could you possibly say that is unique?

The answer is simple. What makes your writing unique is not that you’re writing about something new. It’s the fact that it’s you who is writing it. You are the unique factor in the equation.

Unique means “one of a kind.” And there is only one of you in the world.

Your unique combination of skills, experience, and viewpoint is what makes your writing worth reading. You might be writing about the same things as a hundred other people, but they’re not saying it in the way you say it.

So how does this inform your writing? The novelist Barbara Kingsolver has the answer. She said, “Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.”

As it turns out, the only thing you have to offer is also the best thing you have to offer. There will only ever be one of you in the world. There is only one person who can speak with your voice. Don’t waste the opportunity to let us hear it.

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The ones who are competing against everyone else take running very seriously. They like to set records and get the glory of being known as a winner. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that.

The runners competing against themselves aren’t worried about anyone else’s time. They just want to run their own race and hopefully beat their previous record. At the very least, they want to finish the race, which is a phenomenal achievement in itself since the vast majority of people never participate in a race.

This happened to me recently when I ran a 10k race. I wasn’t competing against anyone else. I went at my own pace, which happened to be pretty slow. But I still finished the race!

Many writers look at the creative journey as one where they are competing against everyone else. They worry too much about rankings, comparisons, and what everyone else thinks of them.

Writing is about running your own race. Are you getting better over time? Are you consistently publishing your work? Are you leaning more and more into your own unique voice?

Those are the kinds of metrics that matter most.

The novelist David Morrell, who wrote the bestseller First Blood, said this: “You have to follow your own voice. You have to be yourself when you write. In effect, you have to announce, ‘This is me, this is what I stand for, this is what you get when you read me. I’m doing the best I can—buy me or not—but this is who I am as a writer.’”

The only person you are responsible to become is you. And the only race you need to run is the one against yourself.

Question: Do you get overly distracted by what other writers are doing and forget to run your own race? Be honest.

The post The Only Person You’re Competing Against is You appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

Even though we live in an age when anyone can self-publish and potentially reach millions of followers and readers through social media, most writers seem hesitant to really make a go of it.

Why? Because they’re waiting for someone to give them permission to go ahead and reach for their dreams.

Our society is based around permission-giving. As kids, we couldn’t do anything without the permission of parents and teachers (or maybe older siblings!). Then as adults, we feel hamstrung by needing permission from bosses, leaders, our social circle, or society in general.

A lot of people spend their whole lives just waiting for someone to give them permission to go ahead and be a writer. But I’m here to tell you—you don’t need it. Just do it. We’re all waiting for you to share your wisdom, your voice, your knowledge, and your perspective on life.

But if it helps, I’m here to be your permission-giver. If nobody else is giving you a green light, remember that your friend Kent is GIVING YOU PERMISSION TODAY. Go ahead. Do it. You have something important to share. We’ve all been patiently waiting.

Question: Have you been waiting for permission to be a writer?

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Kent talks to author and coach Ally Fallon about the ins and outs of writing memoir. What happens when you’re not sure where to start or end your story? How do you go about the process? Ally helps us walk through the process and do so with courage and conviction.

Ally Fallon is a bestselling author and founder of Find Your Voice—a community that offers workshops, coaching, editing and support for anyone who wants to write a book. She has written and published 13 books and counting, including The Power of Writing It Down and her memoir Indestructible.

She has also coached hundreds of writers from total beginners to New York Times Bestselling authors, hosted workshops all over the country and world, and helped hundreds of thousands of people use writing as a tool for their own personal growth.

Ally is also collaborating with Donald Miller on the Write Your Story Workshop, which sounds like a blast.

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On July 4th, 1776, the Second Continental Congress pronounced that it was officially independent of British rule. Known as the Declaration of Independence, this document made it clear that the thirteen colonies had their own sovereign identity. They would no longer be content to stay under the rule of another entity.

July 4th is a uniquely American holiday, but there is another kind of declaration that every writer should make, no matter their nationality. This declaration communicates a simple truth to the world. The writer Jeff Goins alluded to it in the title of his profound book: You Are a Writer.

But what does it mean to declare to the world that you are a writer?

It means that you call yourself a writer. You tell others about your work. You aren’t afraid of other people’s reactions when you tell them you’re a writer. Ultimately, it means that you courageously stand up and tell the world, “I have something to share.”

When you embrace your identity as a writer and begin sharing your voice, other people will embrace you as a writer, too. So go ahead. Make the declaration. Today is a great day to tell the world you are a writer.

Daily Question: Do you believe you are a writer? Are you ready to declare it to the world?

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So, you hang back. You pretend to go get something to drink or use the restroom. But really, what you’re doing is hiding—all because you don’t think you have anything worthwhile to say.

We do this with our writing, too. We hang back, because we see so many other books getting published or having success. We see people launching podcasts and writing articles and being busy on social media.

And we swallow the lie that we have nothing to add.

Don’t believe it for a second. You have your story, your insights, your knowledge, and wisdom. You have so much to add to the conversation.

And it’s not even so much about the opportunity, it’s also about responsibility. You owe it to others to add to the conversation. Part of “paying rent” as a human being on planet Earth, part of the responsibility of being alive, is that you contribute to the human experience. If you had nothing to offer, you wouldn’t be here to begin with.

So get busy sharing your voice. Don’t hide in the shadows. We need you in the conversation.

Daily Question: What can you do today to add to the conversation?

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When we talk about your “writing voice,” we usually mean the unique way you communicate. It involves tone, language, turns of phrase, attitude, and more. But for a moment, let’s talk about your actual voice and how you can use it to improve your writing.

When you are editing your work, you will go through the usual process of proofreading it yourself, probably using some beta readers, and having it professionally edited at least once.

But another way to edit your book is to read it out loud. When you hear yourself speak the words, you will catch errors you will not catch otherwise. Your eyes play tricks on you. Once you have seen the same sentence or paragraph many times, the errors can be almost invisible.

However, when you read it out loud, you’re using your ears, instead of your eyes to catch errors. It is amazing how many errors and needed improvements you will catch this way.

So yes, use your author voice in your writing, but use your actual voice in editing. Read your work out loud to make edits and improvements that will help your writing flow. If it sounds better to the ear, it will read better on the page.

Daily Question: How do you think reading your writing out loud before publishing could improve it?

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