Heart of a Writer

Heart of a Writer  

by Reba Hoffman (used with permission from My Book Therapy)

Let’s face it. You’re cut from a different cloth. You see the world through a strange set of eyes. You look for ways to murder people and get away with it and talk about it with friends in a crowded restaurant. You routinely express both sides of a conversation… with yourself… OUT LOUD!

Behind all that bizarre behavior is the catalyst of what makes you who you are and compels you to do what you do. It’s the heart of a writer. And it lives inside you.

The heart of a writer is unique in many ways. Here are a few:

You see the entire world differently. Things that others let pass by unnoticed catch your eye. You view them more deeply that those who do see them.

Your writer’s heart causes you to feel emotions on a much deeper level that the average person. Yes, even those weepy, sappy, cry-at-the-drop-of-a-hat women in old movies.

You’re compelled to create stories. No matter what’s going, your mind always drifts to the voices in your head and the story in your heart. If you simply can’t write, you feel guilty about it.

You’re never good enough. At least that’s what your heart tells you no matter how hard you work polishing that story before it goes to the editor for publication. You always wonder what you could have added or subtracted, rewritten or reworked that would have.

It ALL matters to you. Yes, what the critics say matters. How many reviews you get on Amazon matters as much as what each and every one of them says. You’ll forget all 823 glowing reviews and agonize over the one who gave you three stars. It will keep you up at night and rob you of peace in daylight.

I confess I had a difficult time at first accepting the fact that I have a writer’s heart. Sometimes I feel I wear my feelings on my sleeve and I’m fickle, particularly when I get negative feedback. I’m sure you’ll agree that when I put it like that, it’s pretty unappealing.

But there is no perfect heart. Not the heart of a champion. Not the heart of a soldier. Each has a downside. But we don’t look at their downside, do we? We salute them and pay them the honor they are due.

You have the heart of a writer. You are to be honored. Respected. Oh, and that starts with you. So, accept that you have the heart of a writer—with all your wacky quirks—and respect it. Honor yourself in your craft. You deserve it. It’s who you are. You have the heart of a writer!

Do you believe you have the heart of a writer? Do you honor that in yourself? Share it here.

Reba J. Hoffman is the founder and president of Magellan Life Coaching. She is passionate about helping others live their dreams and uses her PhD in clinical counseling to do just that. She is the author of Facing Fear and Finding Freedom and Dare to Dream. In 2013, Reba rode a bicycle all around America alone on the Road to Freedom Tour to help women who survived violent assault. She volunteers as the Member Care Coach at My Book Therapy. You can connect with her at www.RebaJHoffman.com.