Be Bold

Darling hubby and I have been visiting churches in our area since moving into our townhouse. We’re looking for a church that retains the best of tradition but incorporates a contemporary means of expression to make that tradition relevant in today’s world thus bringing out the best of both.

I think we found it in the church we attended this morning which had a young married couple as co-pastors, a unique situation we had not encountered before.

Stats Show Culture

I was particularly struck by the pastor’s sermon about prayer. He gave some interesting statistics about prayer in America. Apparently, there are more people praying for their favorite sports team to win than there are praying for the leaders of this country. That sounds very similar to the percentage of people who vote for reality shows versus those who vote in government elections. Sad, isn’t it?

The pastor gave 4 “rules.” Prayer should:

1. Recognize God.
2. Be rooted in God’s word.
3. Relinquish control.
4. Reach out in boldness.

How Does This Apply to Today’s Blog Post?

Yes, the above applies to communicating with God, but #3 and #4 can also be applied to life, particularly your entrepreneurial life, especially if you’re a writer. I’ll go so far as to say that Relinquish Control and Reach Out in Boldness make a pretty good blueprint for happiness as a writer.

Relinquish Control

You’re heard: “Let go and let God.” That’s what #3 meant, but Relinquish Control in the writing/publishing world is really good advice too.

Once you write something and put it out into the world, let go of it. It’s gone. You can’t change its fate unless you un-publish it. Emotionally, relinquish the book. You can’t control whether it gets good reviews or bad reviews. You can’t control whether it sells or doesn’t sell.

You can even say Amen if you wish, because Amen means “so be it.” The book is out there. So be it. Let go and move on to a new book.

Reach Out in Boldness

Shakespeare wrote: “Boldness be my friend.”

So often writers are timid about what they do. They’re uncertain of their talent and skill. Many times they’re scared to submit to an editor or agent, scared to even self-publish for fear of bad reviews and/or no sales. Scared to guest blog or to take other opportunities to talk about their books, talents, or skills.

Make boldness your friend. The road to success is filled with potholes, and many of those potholes are filled with shy introverts who were too afraid to call attention to themselves and their books. Even introverts can be successful authors if they will be bold enough to create their own way to call attention to their books.

Most introverts I’ve known — me included — never have a problem talking and laughing with friends and family. That’s the key to marketing and promotion for introverts. Get it down to a personal, friendly level where you view marketing as sharing information and your own personal excitement about writing with friends. (Maybe I should write a book about this? *g*)

One of my favorite quotes is from W. H. Murray: “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”

Takeaway Truth

Dream it. Do it. Begin it. Let go and be bold.