Writers vs. Authors
What’s your epiphany?
Epiphany (feeling): a sudden revelation, realisation, or insight
Examples of epiphany in a sentence
- As she got ready for bed, anxious about her competing job offers, a striking epiphany arrived in her dream.
- Maya’s comment over brunch presented a valuable epiphany.
Think of an epiphany as inspiration’s more mature, spiritual, and wise older sister. She is all-knowing and arrives at the right time, penetrating your inner voice, quoting what your best friend said last week at brunch.
“I didn’t think I would be less happy with more money if it just meant nicer groceries but no me time” — Maya, mid-slicing a San Sebastian.
The funny thing is, you never paid attention to her when she said that (too busy drooling over that perfect cheesecake, wondering why you decided to share).
Except later that evening, you replayed that moment over and over again. You understood fulfillment in a whole new way when previously, you thought it was always about climbing the corporate ladder.
“Finally got that?” epiphany provokes.
She’s so subtle, like a soft accident.
Online Writers vs. Authors
My latest epiphany was understanding that the main difference between online writers and authors is this: writers sell writing skills while authors sell epiphanies.
Successful authors bet on an epiphany and transform it into a best seller. Mark Manson was an online writer for eight years before he became a successful author in 2016. What marked the switch, you wonder?
He did what authors do — capitalizing on a timely epiphany.
Manson perceived traditional self-help was no longer working, so he rebranded it. Opting for an in-your-face approach resonated with a new audience of self-help readers who were tired of the redundant “you’re great!” approach. His book, Subtle Art became a massive bestseller. Manson himself attributes 90% of his success to this rebranding, which he calls “having correct contrarian ideas at the right time”. That’s a brilliant way to explain an epiphany.
Conversely, successful online writers are reliable skill teachers but also, good marketers. Expert online writers know how to consistently market a set of writing advice, using their copywriting skills to introduce you to a masterclass that teaches you how to execute their advice. They ramp up your excitement with four email chains about writing daily and finding a niche, slowly introducing one free seminar and three free guides, until you are ready to receive their sales pitch for the big thing. Tim Denning does this brilliantly.
Successful authors produce epiphanies, while successful writers capitalize on aspirational writing advice in different formats (newsletters, seminars, masterclasses, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc.)
This is a useful epiphany if you are wondering why you are not “making it” as a writer. If you don’t have an interest in producing and marketing writing advice, consider if you want to become an author instead.
Which means… get working on that epiphany.
Epiphanies come in sizes
Grand epiphany: Prophet Mohammed receives the first verses of the Qur’an from Allah through the angel Gabriel (The Night of Decree, Ramadan).
Big epiphany: I think I’m ready to marry her.
Small epiphany: That time I forgot to refrigerate my cream cheese resulted in a much creamier cheesecake. I should do that every time!
What to do with epiphanies
While we may not receive holy epiphanies from God’s sacred angels, we must notice and appreciate the significance of the small-grand revelations we often experience. These insights, though not grand in scale, hold a charming significance.
When you receive an epiphany, record it. You might feel an urge to dismiss or underplay it, but writing it down will help you to process it. Keep a diary if you have to. Your epiphany will make sense with time, if not in the moment.
“and you try to quiet your mind so you can hear…”
― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
But to put an epiphany to good use, practice it. Make it sacred — let it guide your decisions. Then, write about how it changed your perspective.
Epiphanies Make Great Books
Books are epiphanies wrapped in neat bows.
To Kill a Mockingbird, 1984, Pride and Prejudice, and The Great Gatsby are but a few examples. Be it racial injustice, totalitarianism, preconceived judgments, or the ‘Great American Dream’, every classic knows how to draw a contrast between ‘expectation’ and ‘reality’ — with reality striking as the grand-breaking epiphany.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout Finch believes in a world free of prejudice, hatred, and injustice. Learning the opposite, everything about her changes. Epiphanies are valuable teachers and eye-openers, to be approached with compassion — as Atticus urged consistently in the book.
But epiphanies are not always novel findings but nuances to our understanding of the world and ourselves. Elif Shafak’s novels explore common themes like love, personal growth, identity, and feminism. But it’s her magical storytelling and unique trajectories that transform everyday ideas into aspirational epiphanies.
“Article One: If you cannot find a reason to love the life you are living, do not pretend to love the life you are living.”
― Elif Shafak, The Bastard of Istanbul
Exercise: Think of your favourite book and draw the epiphany. The point is not to reduce the book to a single idea but to extract an all-encompassing theme that encapsulates its essence. It’s a valuable exercise to apply to each read.
How To Write an Epiphany
An epiphany is good “click-bait” material, except it’s not clickbait.
An epiphany is a sudden knowing and suddenly revealing it is how you should do it. Good reveals take you by surprise. You had no idea it was approaching; you never made the immediate connection. Yet it made all the sense when you learned it.
But there’s more than one way to reveal an epiphany. If you’re writing an article, reveal your big epiphany at the start. Say your epiphany is: You lost more weight when you portion-controlled for one month than when you dieted for four. Start with that and put it in your title. It’s bold, direct, and intriguing. Then, explain how your experiment went, what you ate, how you felt, etc. Hint: An epiphany is good “click-bait” material, except it’s not clickbait.
Hint: An epiphany is good “click-bait” material, except it’s not clickbait.
When writing a novel, the idea of the book could be the big epiphany or what your characters unfold throughout the story. Your epiphany should highlight an emotional truth. It can be philosophical and spiritual, comical or cynical. While you can reveal it dramatically or explicitly, suggestions work best with epiphanies.
If you made it this far, perhaps now’s a good moment to answer: “Do I want to be a writer or an author?”
Isra A. is a passionate writer based in Bahrain, a little island in the Middle East.
