What is a Hope*Writer?

Once there was a  little girl who loved to write.

While other kids were outside riding bikes or playing tag, she was curled up with a journal and a pen. Words flowed easily from head and heart to hand. Her imagination would run wild, and she felt as energetic as the kids playing outside her window.

In her journals, she processed the transitions of girlhood to adulthood.  She wrote about crushes and heartbreaks and dreams for her future.  She sometimes made up stories or scribbled poetry.  Her journals were her sanctuary.  Her safe place.

Throughout high school and college, her teachers recognized, in her, a gift of writing.  Secret hopes would flicker of someday publishing words for the world to read.  But she felt as if that were a fairy tale and she’d snap herself back to reality.

As she grew older, her desire to write didn’t diminish. Over time, she acknowledged a crazy, relentless thought. It came to her at night and during the day...

I want to be a writer. A real writer.  

She never admitted her dream to anyone.  One ordinary day, while surfing the internet, she found a group of like-minded people. Others who shared her passion for writing. It took a great deal of courage, but she mustered up her nerve, made sacrifices, and invested financially to become part of the writing community. 

At first, it was wonderful. She was exhilarated by the joy of finding her people. She discovered a world of others who shared her dreams and passions. 

But then, she started looking around at what all the other writers were doing. And it wasn’t wonderful. It was overwhelming.  Suddenly, her words were not enough.  She began to feel small and insignificant. Something in her soul started to shift.

As she learned about the craft of writing, the process of publishing, and strategies for branding and growing a platform,  she couldn’t help but think she was lacking.  She had no platform, no visual images to pair with her work.  She barely knew how to create documents on a computer, let alone turn them into pretty fonts on a website.  

Instead of writing for joy and pleasure, as she always had, her work became laborious. She began to measure her words. New thoughts crowded out her passion for writing.

I’m out of my league. My words don’t matter. Everything has already been said. I have nothing to offer.  Who do I think I am? I don’t belong here. 

Comparison is the thief of joy.  But it can rob us of so much more. It can steal imagination, inspiration, and creativity.  It can silence our voice if we let it. 

I’m warning you now, so you recognize it when it comes. When you feel yourself getting overwhelmed and feeling like you don’t belong, because others are farther down the path, or you start to believe the lie that you aren’t a real writer, please come back to this truth: You have a gift. It was given to you to share with the world.  There is space enough for your story. And only you can tell it. 

...What became of the girl in our story? I’m happy to say, she didn’t give in to the lies.  She pressed ahead, one small step at a time. She chose to go at her own pace.  She discovered a voice birthed in confidence. Instead of thinking, not me, she began to think, why not me? Instead of choosing fear, she chose courage. She began to see the “experts” as humans, fellow strugglers who simply refused to give up on their calling. She listened, learned, and accepted the truth that she has her own story to tell. Out of discouragement, she let hope arise. Joy returned. She picked up her pen. 

Today, she calls herself a hope*writer.

****I want to tell you that nothing has been as instrumental in helping me get my words into the world as hope*writers. It’s an online community dedicated to helping writers take their next step.

Do you dream of publishing your writing but you’re not sure what to do next (or where to start )? Hope*Writers can help! Learn more here:

A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit. - Richard Bach