Here at the Daily Writer, we talk a lot about the habit of writing regularly. That’s nothing new. Every good writing teacher talks about the importance of a good writing habit.

Another habit that is equally important, yet for some reason emphasized much less, is the publishing habit. If you want to impact other people with your words, you must not only write them… you must also publish them.

I don’t necessarily mean publishing every single thing you write. That’s not realistic. For example, I don’t publish anything from my personal journal. But, if you write something you intend for other people to read, you should edit it, and then publish it.

This may seem like a silly thing to mention. After all, why would someone write a blog post, podcast content, or even a whole book… and yet never publish it? The answer is that we get scared of what others will think. We believe it’s not good enough. We wonder if we have any talent to begin with.

I confess that I have done this. In fact, there are at least two full-length books I wrote a few years ago that have never seen the light of day. So, I’m working through that material now to try and figure out the best strategy for publishing it or re-working it.

This is more common than you think. There are many people who have written screenplays, books, speeches, and other material that they simply didn’t publish. They ran out of steam and just gave up. It’s easy to do.

So, this is my challenge to take what you have written and publish it somewhere so that it can help others. You’ve heard that saying, “If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound?” Here’s a related saying: “If you write a book but never publish it, does it impact anyone’s life?”

Yes, there is some value in going through the exercise of writing. There is always value in writing, no matter what it is. But imagine how much more valuable your words can be if you publish them, if you give those words an opportunity to inspire, educate, or entertain others.