Put Your Blinders On

You can still clap for other writers without comparing yourself to them

Wake Up and Write is an advice column from Moms Don’t Have Time to Write. Today, we have Tami Charles— author of award-winning children’s, middle-grade, and young-adult novels, including All Because You Matter — who shared writing advice on the podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books, hosted by Zibby Owens.

“Writing is not easy.”

“I’ve had friends and family members along the way who probably thought it was, but after they’ve seen this — years and years of the journey — they’re like, ‘Oh, this is harder than I thought.’ It’s not easy, but it’s so worth it. It’s so rewarding. If this is your dream, you just have to keep going.

My biggest piece of advice is put your blinders on. Just focus on whatever those writing goals are for yourself. Focus on those because it can be very tempting to see how other people are doing, how other writers are doing, and feel like, ‘Oh, man, I’m not writing fast enough or my writing isn’t good enough.’ No. You have to put your blinders on.

You can still clap for the other writers. There are so many writers that I admire and adore. Your process is your process. You have to celebrate every moment along your journey. Just don’t give up.”

Listen to the episode:

https://zibbyowens.com/transcript/tamicharles

Buy the book:

https://bookshop.org/books/all-because-you-matter/9781338574852