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Writer's pictureAuthor Becoming-Clair Brett

Your Thoughts are Lying to You!

I’ve got a question for you. Have you paid attention to your thoughts lately? I know, I know, like you don’t have anything more important to do than sit and think about the random thoughts that run through your head during the day. We are busy, and for many writers it is hard enough to carve out our writing, marketing, promoting, editing, etc., etc time as it is. But here is why this is so important to protect your writer identity.



Your unchecked thoughts become your beliefs which affects your decisions, and in turn create an identity that doesn’t serve your goals. So, if you are going through your day and thinking about a difficult scene, or even considering that critique you got that didn’t go the way you thought and you catch yourself thinking things like, “I’m horrible at this”, “Who am I to think I could do this?”, “I’ll never be as good as XX.”.


Your brain is designed to do one thing—keep you safe and alive. So, as much as we like to think we can just go on autopilot and not worry about our unconscious mind, the reality is if we are not careful with our conscious thoughts, they become ingrained into our sub-conscious and becomes red flags to our brain and our inner voice to wake up and work to deter you from doing those things you are attempting to do, because your brain “thinks” you need to be protected.


Instead of allowing your unconscious mind to take the wheel and drive you over the cliff of negative, limiting beliefs here are some things you can do now to begin the process of

clearing these limiting beliefs and stopping new ones to creep in. You can either journal about these following questions, or just take some time to consider your answers and possible solutions to these questions.


1. Why did you begin writing in the first place? And, what about who you were then allowed you to believe it was something you could do?


2. If there is proof that these thoughts may not be as accurate as they feel in the moment? (For example, do you have book that has more good reviews than bad ones? Have you finaled in a contests? Are ALL your critiques in the past bad as well?) Often when you have a thought that uses words like, Always or Never that is good indication they are not a true as you feel in the moment.


3. Even if these were true statements, what could you do to fix the problem? (Read more craft books? Get a writing coach? Ask for support in groups you belong to) You have figured out hard things before I am sure, this may just be one of those things.


4. Will this stop me from writing ever again? If your answer is not here, which it should be, you need to acknowledge the hard thing, vow to improve and then let it go, because if you are still going to try and write there is no reason to give the thought any more space in your mind, because it won’t get the outcome your brain desires, which is to stop.


5. This is not a question, but something that you can do to put your concerns into perspective a bit. All authors get negative feedback. Did you hear that, I said ALL. Search your favorite book of all time and read the one-star reviews. I assure you there are one-star reviews. Why? Because writing is subjective and in no way can be made objective because as writers we deal with emotions. You are never going to be everyone’s cup of tea darling and that is fine. As a writer you should always strive to be better than you were yesterday, because if we don’t grow, we die, but you also need to acknowledge the fact that you are trying and improving by the day, so if someone doesn’t like your current story that’s ok, because it will not be the same as your next one.


hope this helps you understand the importance of not living your life on autopilot when it comes to your thoughts. Your thoughts about who you are as a writer WILL become the story you have as your writer identity. It is your responsibility to grow and protect your writer identity and part of that is the story we tell ourselves.


Want to work more closely with me to rewrite your writer identity and learn how to protect it? Check out my personalized 3-month program to rewrite the story you tell yourself and the world!


Have you noticed when your thoughts have been lying to you? How do you combat it? I'd love to hear in the comments!

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