A lot of would-be writers don’t get started because they wonder if they have anything truly unique to offer.

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.