Celebrate

This is going to be an unusual blog post.

It’s not going to have any subheads and it'll be shorter than normal, but it’s just as important as every other post.

Today, I want to give you a very significant piece of advice.

I don’t know where you are in your writing journey. I don’t know if you’ve written a book or are going on your 5th piece of work. Maybe you’re trying to publish or already have.

But right now, it doesn’t matter.

Because we’re all the same. We’re all writers: new, experienced, young, old, published, or still trying to finish our first book.

We are a writers.

Writing is no easy task.

It can be a bit like a roller coaster ride, no matter how cliché that analogy is. We have our up days when words are just flowing out of us as naturally as breathing—even if those days are sometimes rare. And we have our down days where we just can’t seem to get a single word on the blank page in front of our face.

As a writer myself, I know that you are always going to be your harshest critic.

You are the one that compares your writing to others. You are usually the one that picks apart you’re words the most. Even if someone tells you your work isn’t good or critiques it, you’re going to be the one to beat yourself up about it.

Sometimes we all just need to take a deep breath and remind ourselves that we are doing great.

Yes. I know. Crazy.

But it's true.

We can be too hard on ourselves with our writing. And since there's a time to critique your writing, there also needs to be a time to celebrate your writing.

So everyone, right now, I don’t want you to think about all the things you’re doing wrong with your work. I don’t even want you to think about that pile of unfinished stories you have in your closet. I just want you to take a second and celebrate all the writing you've done.

Why?

Because celebration is good.

When you acknowledge what you've done, when you celebrate those small victories, such as writing a 100 words after having writer's block, writing everyday for a certain amount of time, or even just finishing a chapter in a book, you allow yourself to receive praise for what you've done. And that encourages you to do more so you can celebrate that.

That's what I want to encourage you guys to do.

Celebrate.

I want you to start celebrating when you do something amazing.

It doesn't have to be a huge celebration. You could just pat yourself on the back if your victory is a smaller one, or if it's a larger one, such as finishing a book—which is a HUGE victory that deserves a ton of celebration—you could reward yourself somehow with a treat or by doing something fun.

You can get creative with this.

You could even set a goal. Let's say you want to write 7,000 words a week—roughly 1,000 words a day. Then, if you finish that, reward yourself somehow. Celebrate that victory.

Recently, I made it to chapter 5 on a book I'm writing.

That wasn't very far into the book, but I felt accomplished for getting that far. So I celebrated.

I celebrated the fact that I'd made it that far during a single writing session by going outside to enjoy the sunshine. And I mentally celebrated. I told myself good job.

Let me tell you guys, this was so beneficial to me.

The next day, when I sat down to write, I still had some of the excitement from the previous day.

Because I celebrated that little victory, I felt like I'd actually done something in my writing and was more motivated to continue.

You guys are doing great and you deserve to acknowledge that.

That's all I want you to do this week.

Celebrate your writing and celebrate your victories.

I wish you all luck in your writing endeavors!

If you have any questions or you just want to chat, you can message me in the contact box below or on my Instagram which you can find at the top of my website in the socials bar.

Happy writing!

-Jocelyn